GMCC Capitol Insight

Capitol Insight - Holiday/Winter Storm Late Edition

With the pomp and circumstance of inauguration week behind us, the Senate and House had a few dozen hearings slated last week (although some were postponed due to Wednesday's wonderful snowfall) and activity around the State House began to look like the legislative session was well under way. A few bumps in the road have occurred at the start for the new leadership but nothing terribly out of the ordinary for a new team that is having its first round of public leadership.

This past Thursday saw the House Republican team announce its agenda for 2011 with heavy focus on business and economic issues as well as addressing the next two-year budget cycle. They will certainly not be short in number of issues that they will be able to choose from when it comes to looking at issues that may be able to assist the business community during this current economic downturn.

When one reviews the bill titles introduced for consideration in 2011, the amount of bills relative to taxation jumps out at the reader. Predominant tax issues this year will focus on the following:

Ensuring there is no income or sales tax;
Potentially reducing the rate of the meals & rooms tax;
Bringing more certainty to the issue of reasonable compensation deductions under the business profits tax;
Increasing the threshold amounts for taxation under the business enterprise tax;
Reducing the rate of the business profits tax;
Eliminating various taxes, fees or tax and fee increases enacted since 2006.

In addition to the significant debate these tax issues and the development of the state budget will generate, there are many other proposals that New Hampshire's business community will want to watch closely and be involved in shaping final outcomes. Some of the high-profile issues include:

Whether NH should join the more than 20 other states in filing a lawsuit challenging the federal healthcare law as well as the US EPA's cap and trade program;
Allowing individuals and businesses to purchase health insurance from out-of-state insurance companies;
Potentially repealing mandated health insurance benefits;
Potentially opting out of the requirement for individuals to purchase health insurance in the federal health care law;
Regulating electronic tracking devices (RFID);
Establishing a commission to study business regulations.

And if these lists of issues are not enough to make you realize what a busy year this will be, two other major issues not mentioned so far are state aid to school districts and its impact on budgets at both the municipal and state levels, and the effort that will be made to repeal the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Both of these issues will have major debates in each body and we can expect Governor John Lynch to very involved in these deliberations as well. More will be written about these two significant matters in future editions of Capitol Insight.

So, clearly there will be many issues and opportunities for businesses throughout New Hampshire to participate in a constructive manner during the 2011 legislative session. We urge you to be involved in order for legislators to make informed decisions when they are taking votes on issues that matter to you and your business.