Latest Links: N.H. Banks Return TARP Money; Lawmakers Challenge Smart Meters; Congressional Delegation Rallies With Defence Workers

New Hampshire’s Business And Economic News In Brief

Nashua BAE Workers, Politicians Turn Out For Rally – Elected officials joined a rally with approximately 350 defense workers Monday, warning that a national defense crisis could be looming if action is not taken. All four members of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation gathered on the eve of the 9/11 terror attacks to share concerns about $500 billion in automatic spending cuts required by the Budget Control Act of 2011. They stressed that defense spending is already absorbing a 10-year, $487 billion reduction. The Union Leader

Manchester School Board Votes To Hire At Least 12 Teachers – he Board of School Committee has rejected the superintendent’s proposal to eliminate some sports programs, while voting to reallocate other funds to hire more teachers. The committee voted at its meeting Monday evening to provide the district with up to $650,000 to hire at least 12 full-time teachers to ease classroom crowding. The Union Leader

Boston’s Tourist Taxes 2nd Highest In U.S. – The Global Business Travel Association, in a new survey, said Boston has the third highest overall taxes for visitors, and the second-highest levies in tourist-related areas like hotel-motel, meal, and rent-a-car taxes that are overwhelmingly paid by visitors, not residents. Specifically, the GBTA found Boston visitors can expect to spend $34.83 a day in overall taxes, trailing only Chicago ($40.31) and New York ($37.98), and in tourist taxes, $19.17 a day, exceeded only by Portland, Oregon, at $22.45. NECN

Lawmakers May Again Weigh In On Just How Smart A Meter Can Be Before Consent Needed – Last month, the Grafton County Commission voted two-to-one — with Commissioners Omer Ahern and Ray Burton in favor and Commissioner Michael Cryans against — to advise the NHEC to abandon the mandatory installation of smart meters in favor of a consensual program. Soon afterwards Representative Paul Simard (R-Bristol) expressed concerns that smart meters compromised the privacy of individuals and families while risking the health and safety of customers and said that if necessary, he would introduce legislation requiring that they not be installed without the customer’s consent. The Laconia Daily Sun

5 of 6 N.H. Banks Pay Back TARP Money, Along With Interest – Five of the six New Hampshire banks “bailed out” through the federal government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program have paid back the government in full — and then some, according to “Eye on the Bailout,” a report by ProPublica, an investigative journalism website. NHBR