January 20, 2013
Granite State Taxpayers (GST) announces that it opposes HB119 which would dilute the connection between right to vote and obligations, such as paying taxes, of being a resident. The last election featured a ballot question on a Constitutional Amendment concerning an income tax, and it also elected Representatives and Senators who will vote on taxes, fees and spending over the next two years.
“It is not right for a person to vote in New Hampshire to raise our taxes while not being subject to those taxes because they maintain a primary residence and drivers license in another state” said James Adams, Chairman of the Granite State Taxpayers board of directors. “If bona-fide residents get their votes diluted by these visitors, we can end up in a situation where we suffer taxation without representation. Taxation without representation has been recognized as an injustice in these parts since at least 1775.”
HB119 states that a person’s claim of domicile in this state for voting purposes shall not be conclusive of the person’s residence for any other legal purpose. This proposed change seems to set up a situation where a person could claim to be domiciled here for voting purposes but claim to be domiciled in another state for drivers license, vehicle registration, and Interest & Dividends Tax purposes. It also adds confusion to the meaning of the word “domicile”, which invites litigation and risks troublesome interpretations by the courts.
Granite State Taxpayers is New Hampshire’s oldest statewide taxpayer association. Founded in 1990 by former Governor Mel Thomson and former State Senator George Lovejoy, our mission is to inform, educate and motivate New Hampshire taxpayers and to lobby the legislature on their behalf. Visit GST on the web at: granitestatetaxpayers.org/gst