NH House Leaders Comment on Marketplace Fairness Act

CONCORD – House Majority Leader Pete Silva (R-Nashua) and House Ways and Means Chairman Stephen Stepanek (R-Amherst) today released the following statement regarding the National Conference of State Legislatures’ (NCSL) support of the Marketplace Fairness Act. NCSL has cited the legislation as one of its “top priorities.” New Hampshire House Democratic Leader Terie Norelli is sworn in as the new President of NCSL this week. 

House Majority Leader Pete Silva

“Republicans have been working hard over the past two years to make New Hampshire as competitive as possible. Democrats, on the other hand, want to undermine the New Hampshire Advantage. This year we eliminated the internet tax in New Hampshire and now Rep. Norelli, in her capacity as President of NCSL, wants to destroy New Hampshire's right not to have a sales tax. Norelli and the Democrats continue down the same road of taxing our citizens and growing government even though we saw the ill effects of what four years of making New Hampshire less competitive does to our employers and our job market. The 25% spending increase over the Democrats reign, fueled by over 100 tax and fee increases, was destroying the low tax, limited government environment. This positive environment built by Republicans, including no sales tax, is what makes our state special and differentiates us from the rest of the states around us and we need to make sure the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act that Norelli is pushing does not impede upon that advantage.”

House Ways and Means Chairman Stephen Stepanek

“We need to be working with our employers to give them confidence and means to invest, grow and hire. That means making, and keeping, New Hampshire a competitive place in which to do business. Forcing our businesses that sell online to collect a sales tax does exactly the opposite and we need to fight this disastrous legislation and those who seek to impose it in order to protect the New Hampshire Advantage. Our businesses need an advocate in government, not an enemy.”

NH House Leaders Comment on Democrat Party’s Disregard of Federal Copyright Law

CONCORD – House Speaker William O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon) and House Majority Leader Pete Silva (R-Nashua) today released the following statement regarding the New Hampshire Democrat Party (NHDP) web advertisement ripping off Siri, Apple Inc.’s digital assistant. Apple last week contacted the NHDP and demanded that the ad be taken down, citing copyright infringement, according to the Nashua Telegraph.  Furthermore, the Telegraph also reported that the ad contained numerous false statements about House Republicans and determined it was, “Mostly False.”

House Speaker William O’Brien

“Just as we saw with the New Hampshire Democrat Party’s illegal campaign robo calls last campaign cycle, we continue to see a pattern of law breaking and, now, a lack of respect for intellectual property rights.  This is one more example of a party whose leadership is totally out of control.  The Democrats of New Hampshire certainly deserve much better leadership than they are getting from a group of people who can’t follow laws and who are jeopardizing their party’s future.”

House Majority Leader Pete Silva

“It’s unfortunate that the Democrat party is so short on substantive ideas of their own they have to resort to ripping off others’. But then again it’s been a long time since the Democrats have brought original ideas to the table.  Instead they choose to use personal attacks on Republicans to distract from their record of raising over 100 taxes and fee to pay for their 25% increase in state spending.  I applaud the Nashua Telegraph for holding the Democrats accountable through fact-checking, but the term that they use – ‘Mostly False’ – should be updated for reality and be changed to ‘Full of Lies.’”

NH House Leaders Comment on Governor Not Signing Voter ID Fix

CONCORD – House Speaker William O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon) and House Majority Leader Pete Silva (R-Nashua) today released the following statement in response to news that House Bill 1354 passed into law without the Governor’s signature. HB 1354 aimed at fixing the affidavit requirement in the recently passed voter ID law, which was an issue the Governor Lynch had indicated he wanted to see addressed.

House Speaker William O’Brien

“It’s disappointing the Governor didn’t have the wisdom to sign this good bill into law. He said he had issues with voter ID, we fixed them, and he still chose not to show his support. Once again the Governor has shown a complete lack of leadership. We hope all candidates for governor plan to lead from ahead and not behind if elected.”

House Majority Leader Pete Silva

“The vast majority of New Hampshire voters will be disappointed to learn that in one of his last acts on legislation, this Governor has chosen not to act on this common sense solution to the pressing need to ensure honest elections. We need to protect the integrity of the ballot box and ensure the ‘one man, one vote’ principle. These actions will help improve the validity and equality of our election system while we join the 30 other states who have voter ID laws.”

NH House Leaders Comment on Override of Early Offer Veto

CONCORD – House Speaker William O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon) and House Majority Leader Pete Silva (R-Nashua) today released the following statement on the override of the Governor’s veto of Senate Bill 406, which would create an expedited process for those seeking malpractice claims. The bill was strongly supported by the New Hampshire Medical Association. The House overrode SB 406 247 to 111, within the necessary 2/3^rds of members present and voting.

House Speaker William O’Brien

“This makes New Hampshire the first state in the nation to give citizens the right to take an early offer of settlement and avoid the extra time required for trials. Early offer alternatives give patients the option to streamline the judicial process if they so choose, which could help lower the costs of healthcare, save valuable time, and avoid bogging down the court system. It is a valuable contributor to securing the rights of New Hampshire residents to be compensated for harmful medical errors. It’s disappointing the Governor couldn’t agree with us on giving more choice to New Hampshire citizens.”

House Majority Leader Pete Silva

“The average time it takes to settle a malpractice claim is four years. New Hampshire citizens now have a choice to work with their doctors for quick and fair resolve. This also gives more choices to those with smaller claims who before were ineligible to litigate.”

NH House Leaders Comment on Override of Voter ID Veto

CONCORD – House Speaker William O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon) and House Majority Leader Pete Silva (R-Nashua) today released the following statement on the override of the Governor’s veto of Senate Bill 289, requiring a voter present valid photo identification to vote. The House overrode the bill 231 to 112, within the necessary 2/3^rds of members present and voting.

House Speaker William O’Brien

“This voter ID bill is a well-structured approach to ensuring clean elections. New Hampshire now has one more tool to protect the integrity of the ballot box and guarantee that the ‘one person, one vote’ principle is not diluted by dishonest votes.”

House Majority Leader Pete Silva

“Passing voter ID and strengthening voter laws in New Hampshire have been priorities of House Republicans and we are thrilled to finally pass this into law. Today, our citizens have to show an ID to get on a plane, on a bus, to pick up a package and to enter a federal building.  It certainly is not a major imposition to ask for a driver’s license or other ID in order to protect the integrity of voting.”