Granite State Taxpayers Secretary Dan McGuire summarizes the New Hampshire Budget proposal:
While the Senate version of the budget is somewhat better than the House’s (no capital gains tax), it has many of the same flaws:
– Spends all but $5M of the $166M left over after the 18-19 biennium. Much of this spending is for ongoing expenses rather than one-time items.
– Raises business taxes $125M over current law, and $35M over the House budget. This is about an 8% increase in business taxes at a time when such revenues are already way up.
– Adds taxes on vaping, the most successful way to reduce smoking.
Rather than pump up taxes and spending as though these good times will never stop, it would be much more prudent to take last year’s excess and pay down some of the state’s debts and unfunded pension liabilities.
How about going a year without new borrowing?
When times are good and school enrollments are down, government should be declining, not increasing.
Where has our Yankee frugality gone?