New Hampshire: The Real Facts

A message from the Deputy Republican Leader.....
May 30, 2008

Next Wednesday will bring down the curtain on what
has been a painful two years for the taxpayers of our
state. From increased taxes to overspending, House
Democrats have put the state of New Hampshire into a
financial crisis that will have long range repercussions for
future legislatures.
I would like to thank all of you who served on a
committee of conference this week and who worked hard
to support the Republican position on many key issues.
The results that came out of a number of committees of
conference will certainly help in the coming campaign to
point out the differences between Republicans who fought
for the taxpayer at the State House and the Democrats
who increased spending by 17% to match overestimated
revenue figures, and increased fees and taxes.

Broken Rules
I am proud of our conferees on SB 530, relative to
kindergarten aid, who stood their ground despite the
majority party’s failure to follow House Rules. By attempting
to add an amendment that protects donor towns,
House Democrats ignored House Rule 49:g, which is
quite clear, “a non-germane amendment is any subject
matter not contained in either the House or the
Senate version of the bill.” This does not bend the
House Rules, it totally breaks them. While protecting
the donor towns is a laudable goal, adding it to SB 530
goes against everything the House stands for. I anticipate
a floor fight on this issue when we convene next
Wednesday.
“We have rules for a reason,” noted former Speaker
and current House Republican Policy Leader Gene
Chandler. “If we didn’t have these rules, the legislative
process would be never ending and chaos would set in.”

Expanded Gambling, Increased Taxes
It is pretty evident that Democrats are looking to
help the governor close the gap on his budget deficit at
the expense of those who use tobacco and
play games of chance. Rep. Hawkins, wholed the fight on the
committee of conference, was removed sothat betting limits could
be doubled and a poker tax enacted. We will carry the fight against this expansion of gambling to the floor of the House on Wednesday as well.
The “Lynch tobacco tax” also prevailed in the committee of conference on
SB 321, the legislation that Democrats have chosen to
use as their “Christmas Tree Bill” in an attempt to help
the governor deal with his budget crisis.What the Democrats are “spinning” to the public is that the $.25 increase in the tobacco tax won’t go into
effect for at least three months and then only if tobacco
revenues fail to meet specified targets. We know what
will happen in the end, and it will be the taxpayer who
suffers.

Charter Schools
House conferees stood firm against the Senate with
regard to aid for Charter Schools in New Hampshire.
Under HB 1642, these schools will receive $5,000 for
each student they enroll next year. The funding includes
$3,832 that the state now provides public schools for
each student, and an additional $1,168 per pupil. The
Our leader, our colleague, and our friend.
agreement is a onetime, one-year deal that will end when
a new school funding plan takes effect on July 1, 2009.
That plan gives charter schools a minimum of $5,540 per
student. The Senate wanted to deny Charter Schools
any funding, but were willing to put $1 per student into
the bill.

No to Bonding
Fortunately the House conferees stood together in
opposition to an attempt by the Senate to do the
governor’s bidding by tacking on the bonding of $80 million
of school building aid to HB 1646, the 10-year transportation
improvement plan. We have been adamant in
the past that this is something that should be paid out of
the operating budget and there is no reason to change
this practice.
Using this method to close the governor’s budget
deficit is like using one credit card to pay off another
credit card and is fiscally irresponsible. As we mentioned
in an earlier Republican Report, it was only due to
the initiative of Republicans on House Finance that a
number of changes were made to SB 321, however the
huge reductions necessary to bring our level of spending
down in line with our revenue stream are not there. The
ONLY cuts made were those required by state statute.

Retirement Stalemate
As of late Friday afternoon, conferees on the Retirement
Bill (HB 1645) were at a complete stalemate. We
will have a full report of their final outcome with a discussion
of our Republican position at the caucus on Wednesday.
This Wednesday will be our final opportunity to show
the voters of this state that we Republicans have continued
to serve in their best interest over the past two years.
The voters wanted change two years ago and what they
got was a change in tax policy, a change in the spending
policy, and a change in the open way in which business
is conducted at the State House in Concord. I urge our
Republican Caucus to stick together on Wednesday. We
will hold a caucus on Wednesday morning at 11:00 AM
in Rooms 305-307 of the Legislative Office Building.
I am looking forward to a good turnout.
Please remember that our office will be open
throughout the summer to assist you with putting together
information for your campaign. We cans supply you with
the voting records of your Democrat opponents on issues
that are important to your constituents.
I thank you all for your hard work in what has been
a most difficult year with the loss of our Republican
Leader Mike Whalley, as well as other members of
our caucus Jim Oliver, Don Buxton, Bruce Hunter, and
Bob Forsing. On behalf of our Republican Leadership
team I thank you for your support during those very
trying times.
I hope to see many of you back here in the fall and,
to those of you who will make the decision to step down
from elected service, I thank you for your contribution
to the Republican cause. We have worked hard to
maintain and protect the New Hampshire Advantage.

Republican Caucus and we will resume the fight again in January.
Wed., June 4
11:00 AM

RMS 305-307-LOB