New Hampshire Businesses Are In Trouble

Being a former New Hampshireite, I try to follow state news fairly regularly. This past Tuesday, I was fortunate enough to see a column by former State Commissioner of Health and Human Services John Stephen of Manchester, a health care and government solutions consultant, regarding the state budget, which the majority Democrats have grown outrageously in the last few years, and apparently plan to do again next year.

Unfortunately, being Democrats, Governor Lynch and his friends in the state house aren’t going to seriously cut budgets, though to Lynch’s credit he did stand up to the state employees union, which rejected a compromise with the governor to save jobs. Instead, they want to, and have passed, a five percent tax on LLCs in the state, according to Stephen.

This is really bad- there are over 10,000 businesses that fall under this category, including my father’s general contracting business (soon to be my brother’s). When former Governor Benson held strong on a budget veto, he also created a state budget surplus. Lynch, meanwhile, proposed to raise taxes his first year in office. That has not stopped, and continues with this bill, HB 2.

Fortunately, the people can still voice their opinion. Thanks to the New Hampshire chapter of the Americans for Prosperity, this information was sent to me: “Mark your calendar for December 16, 2009 and promise yourself that you and others will take the time to testify at the only public hearing for the 5% Tax on LLC?s and Partnerships which the Department of Revenue Administration (DRA) plans to hold at 10:00am at their Concord office on 109 Pleasant Street.”

The New Hampshire Advantage is at risk, and so are thousands of small businesses. I say small businesses because Wal-Mart and other big businesses will not be hit by this tax, as they are not LLCs. Thus, the party of the little guy is showing its true colors as the party of Big Business- note, not free markets- and is willing to crush the backbone of New Hampshire’s economy to brown nose to Big Business. Realtors, restaurants, and many other industries are going to be hit hard by this. Of course, given how the Democratic-controlled New Hampshire government passed a minimum wage raise in 2007, something Big Business loves, and passed a law essentially banning payday lenders in the state, this is no surprise.

New Hampshire citizens, this is on your shoulders. Make your voices heard. Good luck.