Emily Corwin reported on economics for the StateImpact New Hampshire blog until the project merged with the New Hampshire Public Radio site in July 2013. She is now NHPR’s Seacoast Reporter. You can follow her on Twitter at @emilycorwin, and find her stories on NHPR.org.
Word clouds may be a little “last year,” but that won’t stop us from posting one here — originally published by the Center for Public Policy Studies.
It turns out the word “health” came up a lot in Governor Hassan’s budget speech. That’s interesting because it stands out in the budget spreadsheets, too. The Department of Health and Human Services is seeing the biggest spending increase within the Hassan budget — a “$573 million increase,” according to the Center for Public Policy Studies. Much of that, however, is federal funding, coming from health care expansion under the Affordable Care Act.
Should New Hampshire put local beers in state liquor stores? Or, should liquor commission revenues fund advertising for local wine and beer makers?
These were two of the questions a House Commerce Subcommittee began to discuss Tuesday. But the conversation could end there. That’s because some lawmakers feel the state should consolidate its efforts in supporting what they call “local agro-tourism,” which is not just local beer and wine producers, but other local products, like meats, or maple syrup.
Nicole Carrier – a nanobrewer on the Seacoast – says some of the existing bills would help her business. But, she says, other kinds of promotion from the state would go a long way too. For example, she says, Vermont has detailed beer, cheese and wine maps. New Hampshire’s beer map hasn’t been updated in years, so her two year old business isn’t on there.
Representative Kermit Williams said he’d like to see lawmakers do something for local beer and wine makers, this year.
Dominique Vasquez-Vanasse stands with her two sons at a press conference. Later, she'll testify before the Ways and Means Committee in support of an education tax credit.
The House Ways and Means Committee heard testimony Thursday on a bill that would repeal the School Choice Scholarship Act, which passed last year. The act allows businesses to receive a tax credit when they donate scholarship money to private schools.
Many of the same arguments that were heard last session came up again this time, as lawmakers debated whether or not a tax credit for businesses that fund private and even religious schools is wise – or even constitutional. Continue Reading →
Thursday, the New Hampshire Senate unanimously approved a bill that increases the state’s research and development tax credit funding from $1 million to $2 million beginning this year. Last year, 111 qualifying businesses shared that $1 million – so that the 58 businesses who qualified for the maximum credit of $50,000 received $12,065 each.
Who qualifies?
Flickr/CIMMYT
In New Hampshire, R&D tax credits are available to businesses that pay wages to employees whose research is “technological in nature,” and “intended to be useful in the development of a new or improved business component.” The federal government also offers businesses an R&D tax credit, which can also be used against supplies and services, not just wages.
One big misnomer, national tax expert Dean Zerbe says, is that only large manufacturing firms can qualify. He says small and medium sized businesses – doing anything from architecture to software development to medical device technology – can qualify for both federal and state R&D tax credits. Zerbe is a former senior council to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, and currently works for alliantgroup, a business tax services company.
Business leaders gathered at the Grappone Center in Concord Friday to meet with Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte, who says many came to her with their concerns about the federal fiscal policy.
“Most of all I think they want they want some certainty about the tax and regulatory climate,” Ayotte says.
Earlier in the day, Ayotte met with community bankers to discuss the impact of the Dodd Frank Act regulations on their businesses.
Ayotte sits on the Senate’s committees on the budget, commerce, and Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs.
The event was sponsored by the Business and Industry Association.
It’s that time of year when taxes begin to be on peoples’ minds. But the IRS is worried not enough people know about the Earned Income Tax Credit – which is the federal government’s biggest anti-poverty program. So – they’ve pronounced today Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day.
Last year, more than 77,000 needy Granite Staters received a total of $140 million dollars through the EITC. But those numbers could be higher. Nationally, the IRS estimates that one in five people who are eligible don’t know how to receive their money. And the sums are nothing to laugh at – some families can receive as much as $5,800.
One problem, says New Hampshire Attorney Barbara Stewart, is that people make mistakes while filing an income tax return – even if they go to a professional. Another problem is that “people don’t realize it’s out there,” Stewart says. If your income is below a certain threshold, you aren’t required to file a tax return. So, many low income people “never get to the point of seeing a form or a question that would make them think Oh maybe I do qualify for this.”
If you earn under $50,000 you can get free in-person tax preparation assistance from VITA or the AARP. Call 211 or go to 211nh.org for more information.
The New Hampshire Bar Association’s Low-Income Taxpayer Project provides assistance for many tax problems at no charge: (603) 228 6028 (between 8:30am and 5:00pm).
Governor Hassan has issued an executive order creating a panel of experts to advise her on state revenue projections. Once a budget is adopted by the legislature, the panel will meet regularly to review revenue estimates, and share those estimates with legislators.
Earlier this month, the state’s Legislative Budget Assistant Jeffry Pattison told us why predicting revenues for a biennial budget can be difficult.
Considering you’re going to be sitting here in January, 2013 projecting what kind of money is going to be coming in in April, May and June of 2015… you have wars, you have a fiscal cliff, you have all these potential things that could happen. You can’t account for those extenuating circumstances.
Nevertheless, New Hampshire ended 2012 within one half of one percent of the state’s projected budget.
The Governor’s Consensus Revenue Estimating Panel will be chaired by Gerard Murphy, the Governor’s Budget Director.
The members are: Linda Hodgdon, Commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services (or designee) Kevin Clougherty, Commissioner of the Department of Revenue Administration (or designee) Richard Samuels, a director of the New Hampshire Business and Industry Association and an attorney at McLane, Graf, Raulerson and Middleton Dennis Delay, economist with the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Jeff McLynch, New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute Ross Gittell, economist and Chancellor of the Community College System of New Hampshire
The Senate Ways and Means committee has unanimously agreed to send to the floor a bill that doubles New Hampshire’s research and development tax credit – a priority of both the Business and Industry Association, as well as Senate Democrats.
Senator Odell, who is chairman of the Ways and Means committee, says he introduced a similar bill last year, but it failed despite unanimous support in the Senate and strong support in the house. Odell says the House added a non-germaine amendment in committee of conference. “The goal was to force the Senate to accept an amendment that dealt with abortion,” Odell says, “and the Senate would not do that. That’s just not our style.”
The bill, if passed, will increase the total amount of available funds from $1 million to $2 million, while maintaining the current maximum of $50,000 per credit. The Senate will debate the bill on January 31st.
The city of Franklin will hire a lobbyist this legislative session to follow the Northern Pass project.
The town stands to gain about $4.2 million dollars annually in property taxes, if the Northern Pass project goes through. The taxes would be paid by PSNH on a converter station, which will be built in Franklin.
Elizabeth Dragon, the city manager of Franklin, says the city is looking for someone to follow relevant legislation and alert Franklin officials when necessary, “so that if there is a bill that requires us to travel to Concord to testify, we can do that.”
Dragon says the revenue from property taxes paid on the converter station would allow them to better fund their schools and maintain their roads. She says infrastructure funds have been so low, the town has had to convert paved roads back to dirt to save money.
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