Sunacom - Bowers: "…few casino customers would come from Massachusetts…"

In his May 20, 2013 column on Sunacom, Spec Bowers writes...

'Nobody is predicting which way the [casino bill] vote will go.' 'The vote will be bipartisan for and against.'

'In the short time that the House committee has been evaluating the bill, the committee discovered all sorts of problems.... but one month was not enough time to find solutions.'

'...opponents think that the words of that bill are badly flawed.'

'...lottery machines are allowed in thousands of businesses all over the state.' 'A casino would be a state-protected monopoly allowed in just one place.'

'Very few casino customers would come from Massachusetts where there will be bigger and brighter casinos.'

'The proposed casino location is very close to the Mass border and workers could easily commute from Mass....'

'If [Governor Hassan] is like too many politicians she will promise one thing to one representative, something else to another, promising whatever it takes to get the member's vote...'

 Sunacom.com is the only non-commercial, community service, online source for local town reporting, news and information for the Lake Sunapee region of New Hampshire... since July, 2008.

Sunacom - Odell: Trust the Feds to not shift all Medicaid costs back to states?

In his May 19 column on Sunacom, NH State Senator Bob Odell writes:

'The Supreme Court ruled... that states cannot be mandated to sign on for Medicaid expansion, and about half the states have decided to not join up...'

'Governor Maggie Hassan is a strong advocate of expanding Medicaid...' 'The House also supports expansion...' '...expansion could add between 40,000 and 63,000 to the 130,000 residents who already receive Medicaid benefits.'

'...local school districts over the years have added $1.5 billion dollars to property tax payers' burden for the promise not kept by Washington.'

'[Congregate housing services program] costs were to be shared... 40 percent by the federal government...' 'Federal funding ended and all government costs were shifted to the state.'

'...can [the Federal government] be trusted to not shift costs for Medicaid expansion back to states?'

'If the Senate decides to not go along, then Medicaid expansion could be the biggest issue separating Republicans from Democrats, and the Senate from the House and Governor...'

Sunacom - Odell: "… would it be more prudent to rol l the 2013 surplus into the next biennium…" ?

In his May 5, 2013 column on Sunacom.com (http://sunacom.com/columnists/odell/odell_05-05-13.html#.UYaPbutolFI), Senator Odell writes...

'Taking out one-time transactions, the state still took in $278 million from our [March and April] regular revenue sources or $21 million above budget plan.'

'...with business taxes up 6.7 percent over our revenue plan, this could be an indicator that the New Hampshire economy is turning the corner and doing better.'

'...the Governor on Thursday was quick to want to take some of the surplus now predicted for this fiscal year and rebuild our 'rainy day' fund.' '...would it be more prudent to roll the 2013 surplus into the next biennium to make sure, as much as possible, we meet the needs of the people of New Hampshire without new or increased taxes and fees[?]'

 Sunacom.com is the only non-commercial, community service, online source for local town reporting, news and information for the Lake Sunapee region of New Hampshire... since July, 2008.

Sunacom - "…the gas tax is dead on arrival" - Spec Bowers

In his April 28, 2013 column on Sunacom.com, Sullivan County GOP Chairman Spec Bowers writes:

'Most people don't know it, but our State legislators are also county legislators.'

'Last year, [Sullivan County] commissioners recommended a budget that raised taxes by 2%. The county delegation consisting of nine Republicans and four Democrats voted instead to cut taxes. It will be interesting to see if this year's delegation, now controlled by Democrats, will go along with a tax increase...'

'Word from the Senate is that the gas tax is dead on arrival.'

'The gambling bill, SB 152, is being considered by a special joint committee of Finance and Ways & Means.' 'We heard at the public hearing that it will not be possible for the rules and regulations to be written and approved before the bill's stated deadline for choosing the winning bidder.'

'Perhaps the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) is more difficult than the tests used in other states, but it does seem appalling that a large majority of NH high school students are ranked Not Proficient in math.' 

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 Sunacom.com is the only non-commercial, community service, online source for local town reporting, news and information for the Lake Sunapee region of New Hampshire... since July, 2008.

Sunacom - Sen. Odell's comments on gambling and SB168

In his Feb. 24, 2013 column on Sunacom.com, Senator Odell writes:

'...Governor Maggie Hassan has put $80 million into her two year budget proposal from a one-time license fee.' '...this is the first time a governor has put money into his or her budget from a casino license fee.' '...the revenue should not have been included in the Governor's budget given the House's history of killing gaming bills.'

'If a casino bill does not pass with a sitting governor personally pushing it and with the same party as the governor controlling the House, I think the casino form of expanded gambling will be off the table for a decade.'

'New Hampshire entered into agreements for tens of millions of dollars of funding for environmental infrastructure projects including drinking water, wastewater and landfill projects.' 'In addition to Newbury, other area municipalities impacted include Claremont, Newport, Unity, Marlow and Hillsborough.' '...in the fall of 2008 the governor decided to 'delay and defer' the state's payments.' 'When the state does not pay its share, the state and local costs fall on the community...'
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  Sunacom.com is the only non-commercial, community service, online source for local town reporting, news and information for the Lake Sunapee region of New Hampshire... since July, 2008.