Every two years, the State House MPs and the Governor meet, roll up their sleeves, and work on budgeting for the people of New Hampshire. Every budget requires compromise and balance to be successful, and most importantly, every successful budget is signed to reassure the people of New Hampshire that Washington-style traffic collapse is never acceptable here in our state.
This budget brings real, substantial progress to the people of our state, and citizens can count on us to deliver results. With the lowest unemployment rate in the country and the lowest poverty rate of any US state, New Hampshire is opening doors like never before.
This transformation budget for the people of New Hampshire will cut taxes across the board, lower property taxes, increase freedom of education for our children and finally offer a voluntary paid family vacation program – with no income tax.
There has been much discussion of the budget process this year, with misinformation and half-truths floating around. So let me explain why this budget works for the people of New Hampshire.
Tax relief. From seniors retiring in our state to family of four eating out to small businesses just getting started, this budget is cutting taxes across the board by increasing interest and dividends over the next few years five years and cuts the room and meal tax from 9% to 8.5%, lowering BPT and BET taxes for small businesses again and even exempting 30,000 small businesses from filing taxes by raising the minimum thresholds
I’ve always said that when times are good, you don’t increase spending, but give back to people. During the darkest days of the pandemic, we worried that our state would be half a billion dollars short. Due to strong management, our state has eliminated this deficit and made a surplus of more than 250 million US dollars. This budget adds money to the Rainy Day Fund to prepare for the next crisis. This is on top of the fact that this budget will create over $ 1 billion in total in tax savings for New Hampshire citizens over the next 10 years.
Real estate tax relief. Rather than cutting costs on communities, this budget will return $ 100 million in direct property tax relief to communities, increase the distribution of meal and room tax revenues, and give $ 50 million more back to cities and towns, so that They can target key areas of need and invest $ 30 million in school districts for school construction aid.
Providing a paid family vacation program – no income tax. This plan is truly voluntary, available to anyone who wants it and not imposed on anyone who does not want it; financially solvent, run by the private sector and will not add to the size of government; A big step forward for our country. For years, Democrats have tried to collect an income tax to pay for paid vacation, but we managed to do it without an income tax.
In addition to these historic achievements, this budget also increases educational opportunities for low-income families through the establishment of educational freedom accounts. These families, like everyone else, can now choose the best path for their child. In addition, our budget is spending more money per student on public education than ever before to ensure there are no funding gaps in the system.
One of the downsides of any budget procedure is that the legislature ultimately provides for extra-budgetary regulations. I do not like the inclusion of these amendments, but that has happened to every household since the beginning of time. Special interest groups outside of mainstream thinking will use these elements to spread any misinformation they need to advance their political cause.
Like most granite staters, I don’t live in extremes on either side. I am for the choice, but like most Granite Staters (and Americans), I support limiting the number of abortions that occur in months seven, eight, and nine of pregnancy. This change in law brings New Hampshire in line with 43 other states. So when lawmakers added that provision, I decided not to veto a $ 13 billion budget and shut down the government on it. That would have caused a Washington-style traffic collapse here in New Hampshire, and I’m not going to let that happen.
This budget, like any good budget, was the result of compromise, and the growth-enhancing initiatives it contains, such as tax cuts, paid family medical leave, and property tax breaks, are solid policies that benefit everyone in the Granite State.
(Chris Sununu is the governor of New Hampshire.)
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