October 30, 2012                                                                                                   
Children's Alliance
 


NH CAN: Vote NO on Question 1
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Protect Our Constitution:Vote NO on Question 1 

 

Greetings!

One week from today, New Hampshire voters go to the polls. After voting for President, Governor, Congress, State House and County candidates;voters will be asked to weigh in on three questions that may change our Constitution. In some ways, this may be the most important part of the ballot for NH's kids.

In particular, Question 1, which prohibits and income tax, seeks to enshrine our tax structure in the Constitution. This will limit budgetary options to future legislatures. NH CAN members saw this as such an important issue, that it is one of the NH CAN's 2012 Priorities for NH's Children. Now, we have the ability to protect children by voting NO on Question 1.

This amendment requires 2/3 (66%) of those voting to approve the measure. We urge voters not to leave the question blank, but to VOTE NO. An empty ballot will not be counted for or against the two-thirds vote required for passage.

Please forward this email to inform your networks, clients and friends. Together, we will defeat this measure and keep budgetary decision making in the hands of the legislature, where it belongs.
NH CAN Partners, NH Fiscal Policy Institute (NHFPI) and Granite State Priorities are leading this Priority. The information below was developed by NHFPI. Additional information is on their website at NHFPI.org.

On November 6, New Hampshire voters will be asked to [make] changes to the New Hampshire Constitution. We urge voters to think carefully about what it means to change our state constitution and to consider the following:

  • Changes to the state's most basic and foundational document should be rare and demonstrate a clear need. Question 1 fails to meet this test.
  • The current NH Constitution was ratified in 1784 and served us very well for more than two centuries. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
  • Passage of Question 1 would tie the hands of future lawmakers, taking power away from our children and grandchildren when we don't know what issues they will face - or how they may want to solve them.
  • Question 1 seeks to fix a problem that doesn't exist. Neither the governor nor the legislature has seriously considered an income tax in years, and prior efforts to adopt an income tax were stopped over the course of the normal legislative process.
  • Question 1 takes options off the table and leaves New Hampshire dependent on already high property and business taxes to raise revenue.