Amherst Republican Committee

NHGOP CALLS ON NH DEMS TO DENOUNCE OBAMA’S INTERNET SALES TAX BILL

Also Blasts Speaker Norelli For Leading Organization That Supports It

Concord – New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Jennifer Horn called on New Hampshire Democrats to reject President Obama’s endorsement of a disastrous internet sales tax bill (AP, 4/22). The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has also endorsed the legislation. New Hampshire House Speaker Terie Norelli serves as the president of the NCSL.

“The internet sales tax bill endorsed by President Obama will hit consumers with higher prices and burden New Hampshire small business owners with onerous new regulations. It is a disastrous piece of legislation that would hurt the Granite State and empower states with a sales tax to grow government by taking more money out of the pockets of working families.”

“Governor Hassan, Senator Shaheen, Congresswoman Kuster and Congresswoman Shea-Porter have refused to stand up for their constituents and actively oppose this legislation. It is time for them to denounce President Obama’s endorsement of this sales tax bill and join Senator Ayotte in the fight to protect New Hampshire small business owners and middle class families.”

“Furthermore, it is a disgrace that the National Conference of State Legislatures has also endorsed this legislation given that this organization is led by NH House Speaker Terie Norelli. By supporting this bill, Speaker Norelli has turned her back on New Hampshire and sided with out of state politicians who are desperate to collect more sales tax revenue. The speaker’s actions are shameful and speak volumes about the priorities of the House Democrat leadership.”

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Communications
New Hampshire Republican State Committee
(603) 225-9341 | press@nhgop.org

The New Hampshire Senate
MAJORITY OFFICE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 5, 2013

CONTACT
Tom Cronin
603.264.5659

GOP Members of Joint Health Care Oversight Committee Call Out Governor Hassan on Broken Promises and Lack of Transparency

Concord, NH – Republican members of the Joint Health Care Reform Oversight Committee today issued the following statements after disclosure from Governor Hassan’s office as well as the Department of Insurance that her administration would no longer be pursuing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the federal government with regards to the implementation of the Health Care Exchange Partnership as was originally promised to the committee last month. The Hassan Administration has instead indicated an intention to move forward with the proposed partnership without an agreed upon MOU.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Andy Sanborn (R-Bedford) said:

“The Governor’s suggestion that she can single-handedly implement ObamaCare in New Hampshire without a contract or MOU of how the federal government is going to take over providing insurance to New Hampshire citizens is astonishing. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) will forever change how insurance is provided to the people of this state and the Governor’s office is now deliberately pulling back on a promise to be transparent and disrespecting the legislative process. This act of purposefully withholding details on ACA implementation only further suggests the Governor and Washington bureaucrats do not want the legislature, taxpayers, or small business owners to know the details or costs of this expansion. New Hampshire government does not operate under the cover of darkness, and the Governor needs to bring an MOU to the Oversight Committee, as promised, showing a complete, detailed plan of how she intends to implement this costly venture.”

Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) said:

“I am extremely disappointed that, after promising legislative oversight, Governor Hassan is seemingly reneging on that promise. I am concerned a Health Care Exchange partnership will not protect taxpayers, will increase consumer confusion, and subvert New Hampshire sovereignty. Those concerns are heightened when it appears the Governor’s office is choosing to not layout the next steps of this process in a MOU as they had earlier indicated they would.”

Representative John Hunt (R-Cheshire 11) said:

“After listening to the presentation from the Executive Branch, I conceded to considering the state enter into a partnership exchange to protect New Hampshire’s interests, specifically because the Governor’s office committed to providing an MOU to our committee which would provide complete details on how the ACA would be implemented. Now that the Governor has refused to share an MOU, the people of this state have no idea on the cost, timing, affects and options associated with how the exchange, partnership and plan management will be enacted and operated. It is exceptionally disturbing to see the Governor attempt to implement the ACA, void of real, honest transparency on this important issue and I do hope the Governor reconsiders such a reckless action knowing how much money, time and effort is at stake here.”

Note: The next meeting of the Joint Health Care Reform Oversight Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, April 9th at 8:00AM.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 3rd, 2013
Contact: 603-271-3665

House Republican Leaders Comment on Passage of Fiscally Irresponsible Budget

CONCORD – House Republican Leader Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett) and Ranking Republican on the House Finance Committee, Rep. Neal Kurk (R-Weare), offered the following comments in reaction to the passage of HB1 and HB2, the bills dealing with the State budget.

Rep. Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett), House Republican Leader

“When 40,000 people in our State are looking for work, this budget will squeeze an additional $39million out of our small businesses that they would have otherwise been able to reinvest to grow and create jobs. When incomes are stagnant, this budget raises the gas tax, tobacco taxes and down shifts costs that will raise property taxes. When our roads and bridges need attention, this budget diverts and additional $27million from the highway fund to other agencies. When our economy is struggling to grow at 2% per year, this budget grows government by more than 5% per year. It’s not a logical plan to grow our economy.”

“Republicans have fought for a more affordable, more efficient and more accountable state government, but being in the minority, we don’t always win. The majority party, unfortunately, has created and passed a budget that overspends, expands government and adds taxes and fees on our already over taxed families and businesses. This is not the right direction for New Hampshire. House Republicans will continue to bring attention to what we believe are better ways to help our citizens and our economy.”

“Today, Republicans offered several amendments to make reasonable changes to the budget, all of which were defeated. Unfortunately, the majority party does not seem interested in listening to New Hampshire citizens or observing what is happening in the real world outside of Concord.”

“Our amendments included provisions to avoid downshifting costs to county governments, which would avoid higher property taxes. It was rejected. We offered to restore school building aid, which was also rejected. Amendments that would have prevented the raiding of dedicated funds, such as LCHIP, State Parks and other funds were also defeated, giving the Governor carte blanche to turn these fee based funds into taxes by funding general government. Our amendments to keep school choice tax credits and continue funding for new charter schools were denied. Lastly, our efforts to lessen increases in the tobacco tax and keep in law business tax reforms set to take effect this year fell flat. These amendments failed not because they were unreasonable or egregious, but because the majority party doesn’t seem interested in creating jobs, a friendlier business climate, and lowering the tax burden on our citizens.”

Rep. Neal Kurk (R-Weare), Ranking Republican on House Finance

“This budget is balanced on unrealistic revenue estimates that simply put off the eventual day of reckoning. It includes millions in increased taxes on working families and businesses that will hurt the economy and job creation. It spends 10.2% more money than the previous state budget. This budget also increases the state’s exposure to massive future liabilities as a result of expanding Medicaid. It suspends new school building aid imposes a moratorium on charter schools. It shifts costs of nursing home services to county property tax payers. It purposefully underfunds line items that can be paid for later, outside of the more transparent budget process. We have a real concern about where this budget will lead our State. It’s unaffordable and sets us up for failure both in the short and long terms.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 27th, 2013
Contact: 603-271-3665

House Republicans React to Committee Approval of Budget Bills

CONCORD – Today House Republican Leader Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett) and Republican Members of the House Finance Committee offered the following comments in reaction to the committee recommendations on HB1 and HB2, bills dealing with the State budget and appropriations. In separate votes, the committee voted 14-8 to send the amended versions of HB1 and HB2 to the full House.

Rep Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett), House Republican Leader

“I’d like to thank the Republican members of the House Finance Committee for their tireless efforts in looking out for the taxpayers of our State. Republicans have fought for a more affordable, more efficient and more accountable state government, but being in the minority, we don’t always win. The majority party, unfortunately, has created a budget that overspends, expands government and adds taxes and fees on our already over taxed families and businesses. This is not the right direction for New Hampshire. House Republicans will continue to bring attention to what we believe are better ways to help our citizens and our economy.”

Rep. Neal Kurk (R-Weare), House Finance Ranking Republican

“This budget is balanced on unrealistic revenue estimates and gimmicks that simply put off the eventual day of reckoning. It includes over $70million in increased taxes that will hurt the economy and job creation. It spends 10.2% more money than the previous state budget. When the economy is growing at 2% per year, at best, and the government is growing at 5% per year, we should have a real concern about where this budget will lead our State. It’s unaffordable and sets us up for failure both in the near future and in future biennia.”

Rep. Lynne Ober (R-Hudson), House Finance Member

“This budget cuts entirely the state’s aid for school construction for the next biennium. School building aid is vital to the safety and well being of students across the state by aiding local districts in building and renovating our aging or over crowded education facilities. The previous legislature saw the benefit of state aid for these projects. The Democrats on the committee apparently would prefer to grow our state government rather than aid localities in building 21st century facilities for our children.”

Rep. Ken Weyler (R-Kingston), House Finance Member

“This budget unfairly targets charter schools by issuing a moratorium on them and also ends the education opportunity scholarship program. By stifling charter school innovation and taking away school choice options from needy families, it’s clear that the Democrats are looking to protect failing public schools and continue their tradition of ceding to public union interests.”

Rep. Karen Umberger (R-Intervale), House Finance Member

“I find it unbelievable that the Democrats on House Finance would vote to cede nearly all legislative discretion and allow the Governor to sweep millions of dollars out of dedicated funds to cover a budget deficit. This could affect as many as 300 state programs or agencies that rely on dedicated funds including Fish & Game, State Parks, Enhanced 911 System or even unemployment compensation. Responsible budgeting starts with transparency. This is a terrible precedent to set. When people buy into these funds via a fee or license, they expect that those dollars be used for that purpose. Why have dedicated funds if the Governor can use them as an ATM?”
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