New Independent Business Council Chaired by Frank Guinta

New Independent Business Council, chaired by Frank Guinta, Advocates for a Win-Win Business Environment in the Granite State

MAY 20, 2013, Manchester, NH – The Independent Business Council of New Hampshire (IBC-NH) formally announces its board of advisors and mission of pro-business advocacy.  Encouraged by small business leaders looking for expertise and policy navigation, the IBC was founded in February 2013 by former United States Congressman Frank Guinta.

“New Hampshire’s success depends on the success of our small business owners and entrepreneurs,” said Frank Guinta, the group’s Chairman.  “Policymakers can and should understand and support small businesses more, and our organization will aid in making that possible.  We see numerous opportunities to increase the benefits of small business to our great state… it’s a win-win outlook that I am proud to be part of.”

The Independent Business Council assists with strategic analysis and organization, issue monitoring and leadership, case management and advocacy, and communications.  Members work together on identifying critical issues that can be improved to further strengthen the State’s pro-business reputation.

The IBC’s inaugural Board of Advisors includes:

Andy Crews – CEO, AutoFair

Curtis Coleman – President, Coleman Concrete

Hon. Dick Danais – President, Danais Realty

Mark Ginnard – CEO, NH Steel Fabricators

Dan Morrison – President & CEO, Optima Bank & Trust

Zach Gregg – CEO, IOS Business Centers

Hon. Tom Dublois – President Tokena Corporation

Renee Plummer - President Two International Group, Real Estate Developers. 

Mike Benton – CEO, Executive Health & Fitness

Jim Boyle – CEO, Portsmouth Toyota

Bill Root – GM LAARS Heating Systems Company

Larry Thibodeau – President NH Fire Protection

Carl Thibodeau – CEO Tee Enterprises

Laura Morgan – President Morgan Records

Ron Ciotti, Esq. – Partner Hinckley, Allen & Snyder

Rusty McLear, President and CEO, Mill Falls

The Independent Business Council of New Hampshire (IBC-NH) is a member driven organization consisting of entrepreneurs, independent business owners and operators, which provides policy expertise and advocacy for economic and business policies in the State of New Hampshire.  Spearheaded by United States Congressman Frank Guinta, the group works to strengthen the economic vitality of New Hampshire through education and connection among agency regulators, government representatives, and business leaders.

AFPNH - Can we do better than 48th?

New Hampshire is currently ranked 48^th for our business tax rate by the non-partisan Tax Foundation.

Can we do better than 48^th out of 50?! Not if the House has anything to say about it.

As you may know, the House passed budget contained several business tax increases that send the wrong message to job creators and undermine our competitiveness with other states, as evidenced by our current ranking of 48^th by the Tax Foundation.

I encourage you to contact your State Senator and ask them not to include these business tax increases in the final state budget!

Click here tell your Senator you oppose these business tax increases! You can also Tweet or Share your opposition using the links below.

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It is not the job of state government to make it more difficult to start or run a business in our state. Yet that is exactly what the House is doing by attacking businesses and increasing their taxes.

Every additional dollar that businesses pay to the state in the form of increased taxes is one additional dollar they don’t have to create jobs or expand or grow their business. In addition, businesses located in other states will be less likely to move here if we have a hostile business tax environment.

The House wants to grow state government. We want to grow businesses and better the economy. 

If you agree, join our fight and contact your Senator today!

Thank you for all you do to promote economic freedom in New Hampshire.

Sincerely,

Greg Moore

State Director

Americans for Prosperity New Hampshire

P.S. For more updates, be sure to Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter.

NH House Republicans Comment on Senate Amendment Blocking DRA From Taxing Businesses Based on Tipped Employees

CONCORD - Today House Republican Leader Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett) and Rep. Pat Abrami (R-Stratham) offered the following comments following the hearing on a Senate proposed amendment that would block the Department of Revenue Administration from being able to use tips received by employees in their calculation of Business Enterprise Tax owed by businesses.

House Republican Leader Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett)

“I’m hopeful that the Department of Revenue Administration would not try to seek new and interesting ways to circumvent the legislative process to reach into the pockets of our small business owners. A clear reading of existing statutes prohibits this type of taxation The livelihoods of many restaurateurs and their employees are at stake. This amendment is good for business and our State’s hospitality industry. I’m happy the Senate is working to address this issue, and we will work to ensure the House concurs with this amendment.”

Rep. Pat Abrami (R-Stratham), House Ways & Means Committee

“Our State’s business community would appreciate transparency and predictability in how taxes are assessed. In this instance, it appears as if the DRA has taken it upon themselves to reinterpret their rules. The State’s hospitality industry employs tens of thousands of people. Without this amendment, each one of these employees is subject to becoming an increased tax burden to their employers. If we’re looking to help our job creators in this recovering economy, we need to step in and prevent the DRA’s new nickel-and-diming scheme.”

ALG - Threat of Obamacare continues to hurt job creation

May 3, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the latest job numbers:

"There is little that can be learned about the direction of the economy from the tepid April unemployment report.  The modest job growth combined with the lowest labor participation rate since 1981 may be the new normal under Obama policies that punish job creation.  The good news is that in spite of these government headwinds exemplified by Obamacare's costly penalties on hiring, the number of private sector jobs increased by 176,000 while economic growth sucking government jobs decreased by11,000.  The significant increase in temporary services hiring in the private sector shows that demand for labor is increasing, but employer uncertainty about the long term prospects of the economy are impinging a commitment to growth.

"With bi-partisan agreement in Congress that the upcoming Obamacare law is likely to be a 'train wreck' at a minimum, they should delay it's  implementation for a two year period to provide more certainty for job creators that will allow them to move forward with plans for additional full time hiring."

To view online: http://getliberty.org/threat-of-obamacare-continues-to-hurt-job-creation/

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Americans for Limited Government is a non-partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free market reforms, private property rights and core American liberties. For more information on ALG please call us at 703-383-0880 or visit our website at www.GetLiberty.org.

CEI - Small Business Owners Sue Over IRS Obamacare Power Grab

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 2, 2013 - A group of small business owners and individuals in six states today are suing the federal government over an IRS regulation imposed under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which will force them to pay exorbitant fines, cut back employees’ hours, or severely burden their businesses. Complaint can be viewed here.

The Affordable Care Act authorizes health insurance subsidies to qualifying individuals in states that created their own healthcare exchanges. Those subsidies trigger the employer mandate (a $2,000/employee penalty) and expose more people to the individual mandate.  But last spring, without authorization from Congress, the IRS vastly expanded those subsidies to cover states that refused to set up such exchanges.  Under the Act, businesses in these nonparticipating states should be free of the employer mandate, and the scope of the individual mandate should be reduced as well.  But because of the IRS rule, both mandates will be greatly enlarged in scope, depriving states of the power to protect their residents.

Michael Carvin, partner at Jones Day, who co-argued the Supreme Court Obamacare cases in March, 2012 and who represents the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, stated: “The IRS rule we are challenging is at war with the Act’s plain language and completely rewrites the deal that Congress made with the states on running these insurance exchanges.”

“Agencies are bound by the laws enacted by Congress,” said Sam Kazman, general counsel of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI).  “Obamacare is already an incredibly massive program.  For the IRS to expand it even more, without congressional authorization and in a manner aimed at undercutting state choice, is flagrantly illegal.”  CEI is coordinating the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs are filing suit for a number of reasons.  One business can only afford to employ some full-time workers without providing health insurance, another wants to convert its employee health insurance to a completely consumer-driven health plan, and several individual plaintiffs (most of them self-employed) object to paying for costly insurance packages that they neither need nor want.

“Contrary to the clear language in the Affordable Care act, government is directly impeding my ability to design a quality affordable health plan for my employees,” said Chuck Willey, M.D., one of the plaintiffs and head of Innovare Health Advocates in St. Louis, Missouri.  “The IRS will extra-legislatively extend this onerous benefit requirement (which will increase premiums and costs of care) and impose the employer penalty in states with federally-run exchanges. I maintain the right to choose my own employees' health plan without government intervention into its benefit design and without penalty.”

Thirty-three states have exercised their congressionally-created option to not create an exchange in order to spare their businesses from the employer mandate. The IRS rule, however, deprives them of this choice.

“The IRS cannot rewrite the law that Congress passed,” said Tom Miller, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “Its regulation expressly flouts the statutory text of the ACA, the intent of Congress, and the reasoned choices of 33 states.”

“The Obama administration plans to tax, borrow, and spend more than half a trillion dollars in clear violation of Obamacare, yet still says Obamacare is ‘the law of the land,’ said Michael Cannon, director of health policy at the CATO Institute. “The courts should stop the administration before it starts imposing these illegal taxes on millions of individuals and employers in January.”

This legal complaint, available here in pdf, seeks to strike the illegal IRS rule, arguing that the agency has no power to rewrite an essential part of the law. The suit is being filed in federal court in the District of Columbia.


> View the complaint