NH House Republicans - "Stop The Spending" Presentations

Fellow Republicans:

The three presentations made at the "Stop the Spending Summit" by  Charlie Arlinghaus, John Stephen, and Steve Norton, as well as the Arlinghaus presentation to the Democrats' "Income Tax Summit" are now available on our website (www.nhhousegop.com).  Hard copies will also be available in the House Republican Office beginning on Thursday.  The documents on the website may be download and printed. 

NH State House Republicans Host Forum on Spending

Concord—An overflowing room full of taxpayers and lawmakers heard several experts lead a thought provoking discussion on controlling government spending today in Concord.  Coming on the heels of a “tax summit” held by the House Ways & Means Committee less than a week ago, House Republican Leader Sherm Packard opened the forum by reminding the attendees that the State does not have a revenue problem, but rather a spending problem.   “The standing room only attendance today is a clear indication of how many people are genuinely concerned with the spending that has been going on at the State House over the past three years,” said Packard.   The House has witnessed an increase in General Fund Spending of nearly 25% over the last two bienniums.

Senate Republican Leader Peter Bragdon also pointed to the increased spending in running both chambers of the legislature.  “If leadership cannot control their own spending, how can we expect them to control spending for the rest of the State?  We need to first look inside and make necessary  changes as to how we are spending money at the State House,” said Bragdon.

Included among the speakers was Steve Norton, the Executive Director of the NH Center for Public Policy Studies.  “The primary dynamic for the last 20 years in New Hampshire is that we have spent more money than we have raised.  Every two years, we have to reassess our tax structure in order to meet the demands of what we want to spend,” said Norton.

Charlie Arlinghaus, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, told the audience, “There are two ways to fix today’s $200M shortfall.  That’s to either raise taxes or cut spending.”

Former Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services John Stephen told the gathering that the State can do a much better job of controlling spending. “We need to take control of the spending issue soon. We must make a commitment to run government the way other states have been running government---by cutting spending.”

The nearly three hour long discussion on government spending concluded with Rep. Packard telling the audience that cutting spending would be the focus of State House Republicans for the next year.  “The testimony that we have heard today supports our belief that spending is a very serious problem in the State House,” he concluded.  Packard also said that State House Republicans will not only continue to keep the issue of spending on the forefront but intend to hold another forum on the issue during the upcoming House Session.

NH Republicans - $top the $pending $ummit 10/27

Reminder........Save the Date & Join Us for the    

$top the $pending! $ummit

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Grappone Conference Center,

Concord, NH

8:30-9:30 Coffee & Donuts

9:30-Noon --Discussion on the excessive spending in the last two state budgets and the impact on the New Hampshire Advantage.

Guest speakers: Steve Norton, Executive Director of the NH Center for Public Policy Studies Former Health and Human Services Commissioner John Stephen Charlie Arlinghaus, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy   Rep. Neal Kurk, House Finance Committee Speaker Doug Scamman, House Finance Committee (sponsored by House  &  Senate Republicans)

NH Republicans Respond to Democrats’ “Income Tax Summit” With "Stop The Spending" Forum 10/27

With the future of the New Hampshire Advantage and our quality of life in the state at stake, State House Republicans today announced plans to hold a public forum to discuss ways to cut state spending and the positive impact any cuts would have on future state budgets.

 “We have seen nearly a 25% increase in General Fund spending since Democrats took control of the State House three years ago,” said House Republican Leader,  Rep. Sherman Packard (r-Londonderry).  “But instead of trying to live within our means and looking for ways to cut spending, Democrats increased or created more than 40 taxes, downshifted millions to our cities and towns, and used $400M in one-time money to cover their spending spree. Now they are holding a summit under the guise of a ‘Revenue Structure Informational’ session when, in reality, their goal is to study and eventually pass an income tax.”

The “Stop the Spending” forum will be held on Tuesday, October 27 from 9:30 am until noon at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord.  It will bring together a panel of experts to discuss ways that state government can cut spending and return fiscal sanity to the State House. Included in the group are Steve Norton, Executive Director of the NH Center for Public Policy Studies, whose mission is to raise new ideas and improve policy debates through quality information and analysis on issues shaping New Hampshire’s future.; former Health and Human Services Commissioner John Stephen; and Charlie Arlinghaus, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, a non-partisan, independent think tank focused on state and local public policy issues that affect the quality of life for New Hampshire's citizens

"The problem with the Democrats' income tax summit is they are not getting to the root of the problem, which is spending.  We should be sitting at the table discussing how we can hold the line on spending, not where we can raise taxes.  Raising taxes during these difficult economic times is a horrible idea and would balance a bloated budget on the backs of the taxpayers," stated Senate Minority Leader Peter Bragdon (R-Milford)

According to Rep. Norm Major, the Republican Policy Leader for the House Ways & Means committee, New Hampshire continues to lead the way in a number of categories both nationally and here in New England because of the quality of life that we enjoy.  “The current tax structure is a diversified portfolio of taxes and fees—that does not include a broad based tax.  As a result, when the economy goes into a downturn as we are currently experiencing, the New Hampshire does not witness such a large swing in our revenue stream, as do those states that rely heavily on broad based taxes,” said Major.  “We simply don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem and that’s what we should be looking at.”

The program will conclude with Rep. Neal Kurk (r-Weare) and former Speaker Doug Scamman (r-Stratham), both veterans of the House Finance committee, who will discuss the excessive spending in the last two budgets and the impact on the New Hampshire Advantage.

The forum will be open to the public and, unlike the Democrats’ “Income Tax Summit” being convened in Concord this week, the panel will take questions from the general public.

NH House Republicans Begin the Charge to Cut Spending & Taxes

Concord—House Republicans have wasted little time in setting the tone for the upcoming legislative session.  If the minority party under Rep. Sherman Packard (r-Londonderry) has their way, the next session will once again be a battle over high taxes and increased spending.  This week marked the first opportunity for legislators to file legislation for the 2010 session.  On Monday, House Republican leadership delivered six bills to repeal taxes and return money back to the cities and towns, while at the same time cutting the overspending that has been the mantra of the Democrats since they took control of the New Hampshire House three years ago.

 “Back in April we offered an alternative budget that balanced the state budget without creating any new taxes or raising any of the existing taxes.  But the Democrats chose to ignore our suggestions and instead proposed a budget that would cost the taxpayers of New Hampshire $133 million in additional property taxes,” said Packard.  “While budgets across the country saw an average two percent decrease in their state spending, the Democrats in Concord increased state spending by nearly 7 percent.

In the last session, State House Democrats passed more than 30 tax and fee increases that, added to the nearly two dozen increases in the previous biennium, brought the total to over 50 new or increased taxes and fees under their leadership.  This week House Republicans filed legislation to:

     Restore revenue sharing to cities and towns.

     Repeal the $30 surcharge on motor vehicle registrations.

     Repeal the “campground” that was added on to the Rooms & Meals Tax.

     Repeal the LLC tax.

     Repeal the freeze on the share of Rooms & Meals taxes that goes to municipalities.

According to Rep. Packard the House Republicans will be prepared to offer matching cuts to make sure that the repeal of any taxes does not have a negative impact on an already huge budget deficit.

 “The Democrats didn’t care to listen to us last April and they probably will ignore the citizens of this state again this session.  But Republicans are committed to a balanced budget and cutting the necessary taxes and spending to accomplish this.  It’s time for us to return to fiscal sanity and put an end to the ‘income tax’ talk that Democrats have recently brought to the table*,” concluded Packard.

* http://tinyurl.com/yda34ej