HRA ANNOUNCES 2011 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

Concord-The House Republican Alliance (HRA) announces its legislative agenda for 2011, focusing on: Jobs and the Economy; Education; Personal Liberty; and Affordable Government. “Besides providing a budget balanced without accounting gimmicks or additional taxes, we believe these are the most important areas for legislation this coming session. We have proposed bills in each of these four key areas that will help to restore prosperity, reestablish New Hampshire as a state that attracts newcomers, and encourages its citizens to live their lives with minimum government interference”, said Representative Pam Tucker, R-Greenland, HRA co-chair. Listening sessions were held this summer to collect information from various constituencies, focus attention on the most critical areas, and identify needed legislation.  Over fifty Representatives and candidates for the State House met with business and social groups, state agencies, employers, taxpayers, and other interested parties, then filtered hundreds of ideas into these, the most critical legislative needs of the next biennium. “Of course, we’re individually submitting other bills, and many of those will be supported by the HRA. The Legislative Agenda defines the bills that the HRA members will be leading, lobbying for, and working together to pass. These are the big ones,” said HRA co-chair Representative Bob Mead, R-Mont Vernon.

JOBS & ECONOMY

1. Increase Net Operating Loss limits.
2. Guarantee Right to Work.
3. Allow purchase of health insurance policies across state lines.
4. Reduce Business Profit Tax rate.
5. Repeal health insurance mandates (LSR 2011-H-0090-R).
6. Reform reasonable compensation allowances for business tax purposes (LSR 2011-H-0160-R).
7. Study ALL business taxes to make NH more competitive.
8. Analyze streamlining business licensing and permitting.

EDUCATION

1. Constitutional amendment to correct Claremont decision.
2. Redefine educational adequacy (LSR 2011-H-0122-R).
3. Provide property tax abatements for home or private schooling (LSR 2011-H-0070-R).
4. Remove the Department of Education’s authority over home schooling (LSR 2011-H-0013-R).
5. Resolution rejecting foreign educational standards, such as the International Baccalaureate.
6. Impeach the Commissioner of Education for creating rules contrary to law.

PERSONAL LIBERTY

1. Parental notification before performing abortion on a minor (LSR 2011-H-0008-R).
2. Parental rights declaration (LSR 2011-H-0081-R).
3. Repeal same sex marriage (LSR 2011-H-0003-R).
4. Alaska-style concealed carry handgun permits (LSR 2011-H-0012-R).
5. Allow video and audio recording of public officials (LSR 2011-H-0068-R  & LSR 2011-H-0089-R).
6. Healthcare freedom (LSR 2011-H-0084-R).
7. Join Obamacare lawsuit (LSR 2011-H-0072-R).
8. Repeal state acquiescence to Obamacare (LSR 2011-H-0166-R).
9. Proclaim State’s Rights.
10. Jury nullification (LSR 2011-H-0091-R).
11. Allow defendants to appeal rulings of the human rights commission to court.

AFFORDABLE GOVERNMENT

1. Change rule-making process so all rules meet legislative intent (LSR 2011-H-0086-R).
2. Reform Election Law: require photo ID to vote; inhabitant status on ID; clarify domicile requirements. 
3. Authorize state enforcement of immigration laws.
4. Reform the state employees pension system (LSR 2011-H-0137-R & LSR 2011-H-0144-R).
5. Create a defined contribution pension plan for government workers.
6. Disentangle state and federal government.
7. Repeal evergreen clauses in government employee contracts (LSR 2011-H-0088-R & LSR 2011-H-0099-R). 
8. Authorize municipal spending caps (LSR 2011-H-0073-R).

The NHHRA is comprised of members of the NH House of Representatives striving for

legislative support for bills supporting the NH and U.S. Constitutions and NH Republican party

State House Republicans to Submit Legislation Amending SB500 Democrats to Block Necessary Suspension of the Rules Concord— House and Senate Republicans today announced plans to bring forth language that would exclude persons convicted of violent or sex crimes from early release on probation or parole. SB500, signed into law by Governor Lynch on July 1, 2010, brought with it unintended consequences by mandating that prison doors be opened early for violent offenders as well as those incarcerated for non-violent crimes. The language agreed upon this week by Republicans in both chambers would not only exclude a prisoner convicted of a violent crime or a sexually violent offense from early supervised release, but would also provide the parole board with greater discretion to recommit a person who re-offends while on early supervised release. State House Republicans face an uphill climb in their attempt to amend the language of SB500 however, because the motion will require a two-thirds vote in order to suspend the rules to allow in the new legislation. Speaker of the House Terie Norelli (D-Portsmouth) and Senate President Sylvia Larsen (D-Concord) have both indicated an unwillingness to suspend the rules when the two bodies meet to deal with the governor’s vetoes on Wednesday. In signing SB500 into law last summer Governor Lynch claimed that it would save taxpayers money by working to ensure that released offenders became productive members of our society. State House Republicans are calling tomorrows vote to suspend the rules a “de facto” vote for the safety of New Hampshire citizens over any money that might be saved by the early release of violent offenders. “The voters of this state should watch closely on Wednesday and remember those lawmakers who refuse to allow this legislation to be brought forth when they step into the voting booth in November,” said Rep. Packard. “This is not a partisan issue; this is an issue of public safety and an opportunity for the New Hampshire Legislature to correct its mistake. I call upon Democrats in the House to do the right thing and join us in supporting our motion to suspend the rules.” ##

http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Sex+predators+among+those+granted+early+release&articleId=c2e5a4ed-f566-45d9-8616-0abecc63c7bd

• All three State Reps in my district (Derek Owen, Gary Richardson and Christina Hamm) voted for SB 450.  This bill raised taxes on tobacco, enabled towns and cities to raise rooms and meals taxes on their own.  It also increased the insurance premium tax, an estate tax and a tax on electric generation.  I would have voted against this bill because in NH we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.  We must stop burdening NH citizens with more taxes and fees to pay for the states irresponsible spending habits.

• All three State Reps in my district (Derek Owen, Gary Richardson and Christina Hamm) voted against HB 1661!!  This bill would have repealed the LLC income tax on small businesses.  I would have never voted for the LLC income tax. Repealing it and giving small businesses the relief they need to prosper and create jobs will be at the top of my list. 

• All three State Reps in my district (Derek Owen, Gary Richardson and Christina Hamm) voted against HB 531!! This would have restored the parental notification law mandating that parents be notified when their MINOR child gets an ABORTION. I would have voted to restore that law. Nobody and I mean nobody has a right to perform a medical procedure of any kind on a minor without notification and consent of the parentperform a medical procedure of anykind on a minor with out notification and consent of the parent..

• Both Derek Owen and Gary Richardson voted against HB 1296 that would have prohibited any state agency from establishing a fee without legislative approval. If I was a State Rep in one of those seats I would have voted for it. State agencies have no business establishing fees without the consent of the legislature.

• All three State Reps in my district (Derek Owen, Gary Richardson and Christina Hamm) voted for HB 415.  The “Bathroom” bill was designed to allow people experiencing a “gender crisis” to use any bathroom they wanted.  I would have voted against this because it’s just plain old silliness to even entertain the idea.

Click to view slideshow.

This past week the House voted, 187-182 for the budget plan in SB 450. The bill repeals the LLC tax and replaces it with all new taxes, budget cuts and some creative borrowing and spending schemes. Among the many new tax increases are areas such as a Pet Shop License Fee Increase, Tobacco Tax, Marriage License Fee Increase, Estate Taxes, Vital Records Tax, Taxes on Insurance Premiums, Electricity Generation Tax and potentially too many more to list. The recent passing of this new plan shows just how out of touch our state legislators really are. Raising taxes and spending our money seems to be all they know how to do. The areas that concern me the most are the taxes that affect all of us in our everyday lives. Shifting more costs to NH families simply cannot be tolerated anymore especially when money is already tight. The electricity generation tax is definitely a tax to note. Currently NH puts its energy out to bid and the electricity tax would need to be added which would give you a higher priced bid. I find it shocking that nobody thought of the possibility of lost revenue due to competition from other states that would potentially bid at a lower price. This new tax puts our state at a competitive disadvantage and forces all of us to pay higher energy costs since the tax would just get passed onto the consumer. This will put more of a strain on NH residents. The idea that the revenue projections of this electricity tax are reliable is deeply misguided. The other tax that is a red flag for me in this bill is the Insurance Premium Tax. This new tax is, simply put, yet another job killer that should concern all of us. An interesting part of this tax is, when it takes effect; it will be retroactive to July 2009. So brace yourself for higher premiums. If the House was serious of about balancing the budget they would call for a line by line audit of state spending and cut taxes across the board. This constant kicking of the can down the road needs to stop and some tough decisions need to be made. This of course would require leadership, something we are lacking in Concord. The November election can not come fast enough, we need leadership now more than ever.