NHGOP BLASTS HASSAN ADMINISTRATION'S NEW HOSPITALITY INCOME TAX

Concord – New Hampshire Republican State Committee Chairman Jennifer Horn today blasted Governor Maggie Hassan for trying to impose a new tax on New Hampshire’s hospitality industry. The Union Leader reported today that the Hassan Administration is trying to reinterpret existing tax rules to force New Hampshire restaurants and food establishments to pay a new income tax on tips collected by food servers. Since Hassan became governor, the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration has started to harass restaurants with audit letters:

“The Hassan Administration’s new hospitality income tax is a backdoor attempt to squeeze more money out of New Hampshire’s business community to cover the reckless spending increases in the governor’s irresponsible budget. This onerous new tax places an even greater burden on our hospitality industry that will kill jobs, reduce wages for restaurant servers, and crush small businesses.

"On Governor Hassan’s watch, the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration is trying to bully and intimidate restaurants with harassing audit letters regarding the new tax. It should come as no surprise that the Hassan Administration would use such outrageous tactics given the governor’s previous attempts to force businesses to pay more taxes. As a state senator, Hassan spearheaded the effort to create and implement the job-killing LLC income tax that would have devastated New Hampshire’s small businesses.

“In 2010, Republicans stood up for New Hampshire’s job creators and successfully killed Hassan’s LLC income tax. Today, Republican senators are fighting to block Hassan’s new hospitality income tax and end her latest assault on our business community.”  

MPP - Lawmakers Call on Gov. Hassan to Recognize Patient Needs

State Lawmakers Will Join Advocates to Call on Gov. Hassan and the Legislature to Recognize Patients' Immediate Need for Legal Access to Medical Marijuana

Gov. Hassan is insisting legislators remove a provision from HB 573 that would allow patients with serious illnesses to grow their own supply of medical marijuana, leaving patients with no legal source of marijuana for two or more years while alternative treatment centers are being developed

Group will discuss a potential compromise at a news conference Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET following a Senate Committee on Health, Education, and Human Services meeting regarding the bill

CONCORD – New Hampshire State Reps. Donna Schlachman (D-Exeter) and Donald "Ted" Wright (R-Tuftonboro) and other legislators will join medical marijuana advocates – including a retired police sergeant and drug task force member – at a news conference Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET in the lobby of the Legislative Office Building, where they will call on Gov. Maggie Hassan and members of the state legislature to recognize patients' immediate need for legal access to medical marijuana. Gov. Hassan is insisting legislators remove a provision from HB 573 that would allow patients with serious illnesses to grow their own supply of medical marijuana, which would leave patients with no legal source of marijuana for two or more years while alternative treatment centers are being developed.

The news conference is scheduled to follow a Senate Health and Human Services Committee meeting regarding the bill. The Senate meeting will begin at 9 a.m. ET in Room 103 of the Legislative Office Building.

HB 573, sponsored by Rep. Schlachman and co-sponsored by Rep. Wright, whose wife has battled breast cancer for 20 years, was approved in March by more than 80% of the House of Representatives. It would allow patients with certain debilitating medical conditions to grow up to three marijuana plants in their homes or obtain marijuana through one of five state-licensed alternative treatment centers.

"The bill has strong support among state legislators, and we are willing to make any reasonable compromise in order to meet the immediate needs of seriously ill New Hampshire citizens," said Matt Simon, a New Hampshire-based legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project. "We are confident that legislators can arrive at a solution that recognizes the immediate needs of patients and addresses the governor's concerns."

WHAT:  News conference to call on Gov. Maggie Hassan and members of the legislature to recognize patients' immediate need for legal access to medical marijuana

WHEN:  Tuesday, May 7, 10 a.m. ET (following 9 a.m. ET committee meeting)

WHERE:  Lobby of the Legislative Office Building, 33 N. State St., Concord

WHO: Rep. Donna Schlachman (D-Exeter), prime sponsor of HB 573

Rep. Donald “Ted” Wright (R-Tuftonboro), co-sponsor of HB 573 whose wife, Cindy, has been battling breast cancer for more than 20 years

John Tommasi, Salem police sergeant (Ret.), former member of the New Hampshire Drug Task Force

Matt Simon, legislative analyst, Marijuana Policy Project

Devon Chaffee, executive director, New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union

Richard Vincent, Loudon-based multiple sclerosis patient and leader of MS Support Group in Concord

# # #

The Marijuana Policy Project, the nation’s largest marijuana-policy-reform organization, has been responsible for changing most state-level marijuana laws since 2000. For more information, visit http://www.marijuanapolicy.org.

PPP - Ayotte facing backlash over gun vote, Hassan off to a good start

Gun show background checks are pretty universally popular in New Hampshire...and Kelly Ayotte is facing some serious backlash from voters in the state for voting against them last week.

Ayotte now has a negative approval rating with 44% of voters giving her good marks and 46% disapproving. That's down a net 15 points from the last time we polled on her, in October, when she had a 48% approval with 35% disapproving. 75% of New Hampshire voters- including 95% of Democrats, 74% of independents, and 56% of Republicans- say they support background checks. And 50% of voters in the state say Ayotte's 'no' vote will make them less likely to support her in a future election, compared to just 23% who consider it to be a positive.

Ayotte won her seat in 2010 by 23 points. But in a very early hypothetical match up between her and new Democratic Governor Maggie Hassan, she trails by a 46/44 margin. This issue is really giving her some trouble.

Speaking of Hassan, she's off to a good start in her first term as Governor. 50% of voters approve of her to only 31% who disapprove, including a 47/29 spread with independents. She holds leads ranging from 14 to 20 points over five potential Republican foes for reelection that we tested against her.

Former Congressman Jeb Bradley does the best but still trails by 14 points at 52/38. He is followed by Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas and Sununu family member Chris Sununu who trail by 16 points each at 51/35 and 53/37 respectively, former Congressman Frank Guinta who trails by 18 at 54/36, and 2012 primary runner up Kevin Smith who has a 20 point deficit at 52/32. Hassan holds a double digit lead among independents and pulls double digit support from Republican voters in each match up.

A few other notes from New Hampshire:

-While Barack Obama's approval numbers have dropped in a lot of places since the election, his 52/46 spread in the state is pretty similar to what he pulled last November.

-Gay marriage has been legal for a little bit more than three years in the state now, and it is quite popular with 56% of voters supporting it to 34% who are opposed. When we asked voters how they felt about it in July of 2011 support ran 51/38, so there's been a net 9 point increase over the last couple years.

One reason for the increase in support might be that voters have found gay marriage isn't such a big deal- just 16% say its being legal has had a negative impact on their lives, and even among voters opposed to it 58% grant that it hasn't actually had any adverse effect on them.

This analysis is also available on our website:

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2013/04/ayotte-faces-backlash-over-gun-vote.html

A press release and full crosstabs are attached-

NHDP - ICYMI: Hassan Riding High in NH, Safe for 2014 Re-election

"Hassan has a +19 job approval rating with 50% of voters approving and 31% disapproving of her performance. Democrats (80/8) and independents (47/29) approve of Hassan, who also nabs 18% support from Republicans. She has 14 to 20 point leads over five possible GOP opponents. She leads Jeb Bradley 52/38, Chris Sununu 53/37, Ted Gastas 51/35, Frank Guinta 54/36 and Kevin Smith 52/32. None of these potential candidates have a positive favorability rating with New Hampshire voters." 

The larger release from Public Policy Polling can be found below and on their website here: http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_NH_042313.pdf

Public Policy Polling

For Immediate Release April 23, 2013

Tom Jensen 919-744-6312 

[LINK]

 

Hassan riding high in New Hampshire, safe for 2014 re-election 

Raleigh, N.C. - Maggie Hassan's high job approval rating and significant double-digit leads over five possible Republican challengers indicate that the incumbent Democratic governor will start out ahead for re-election in 2014 if she decides to run, according to PPP's first New Hampshire poll since the 2012 election.

Hassan has a +19 job approval rating with 50% of voters approving and 31% disapproving of her performance. Democrats (80/8) and independents (47/29) approve of Hassan, who also nabs 18% support from Republicans. She has 14 to 20 point leads over five possible GOP opponents.  She leads Jeb Bradley 52/38, Chris Sununu 53/37, Ted Gastas 51/35, Frank Guinta 54/36 and Kevin Smith 52/32. None of these potential candidates have a positive favorability rating with New Hampshire voters.

Kelly Ayotte's job approval rating is slightly underwater with 44% approving and 46% disapproving of her performance, a big drop since before the 2012 election. In a hypothetical 2016 Senate match-up, Hassan would lead Ayotte by 2 points, 46% to 44%.  

75% of New Hampshire voters support requiring background checks for gun purchases at gun shows, while just 21% are opposed. 50% of voters said Ayotte's vote against background checks legislation would make them less likely to support her for re-election, including 79% of Democrats 50% of independents and 17% of Republicans. 25% said it doesn't make a difference and just 23% said it made them more likely to support her.  

"New Hampshire is a good bellwether for fallout from the gun vote," said Dean Debnam,
President of Public Policy Polling. "There's serious backlash from voters toward Kelly Ayotte for how she handled this issue."

67% of voters said the state's legalization of gay marriage has had no impact at all on their lives, while 17% said the impact was positive and 16% said it was negative. 35% of Democrats said the law has positively impacted them, while 32% of Republicans said it has negatively impacted them. 56% support and 34% oppose allowing gay marriage.

PPP surveyed 933 New Hampshire voters from April 19th to 21st. The margin of error for the sample is +/-3.2%. This poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization. PPP surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews.

Statement from Governor Hassan on the Apprehension of Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect

Office of New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan

CONCORD - Governor Maggie Hassan issued the following statement on the apprehension of the second Boston Marathon bombing suspect:


"I join the people of New Hampshire in extending our most heartfelt gratitude to all those who put their lives on the line to keep us all safe today. Law enforcment officials, emergency responders and all involved have demonstrated unyielding bravery and expert skill in apprehending this suspect of these horrific acts of cowardice and terror. From the Town of Watertown, the City of Boston, the State of Massachusetts, the State of New Hampshire, and far and wide, they came together, stood together, and never wavered, and we will forever be grateful for their incredible dedication to the safety of our people. Thank you."