Kevin Landrigan of the Nashua Telegraph reported in the Concord Monitor today that “sagging receipts from taxes on business owners and on the sale of cigarettes caused state revenue to fall 3 percent short of expectations last month.”
While the state’s business taxes came in “6 percent less than forecast,” the July 2011 cut in cigarette taxes “continues to depress revenues,” despite proponents’ belief that cutting the cigarette tax would increase sales and tax revenues. “Through the first three months of the fiscal year, the sales of cigarette packs were off 8.7 percent compared to the same period in 2011,” Landrigan writes.
Republicans have been trying to pass legislation transitioning new employees to a defined contribution retirement plan, in order to reduce the cost of the state’s retirement system. However, a report commissioned by the House subcommittee on the subject suggests the Republicans’ plan needs revision.
“Total pension funding costs will rise as the State implements the DC plan for new hires,” writes The Segal Group, a benefits and human resources consulting firm contracted by the House subcommittee. Continue Reading →
We all know that Americans are living and working longer. According to AARP, only 13 percent of Americans expect not to return to work after they hit “traditional retirement age.” But just as Americans are able and wanting to work longer — the recession has left many aging adults out of work. And those older adults are having a harder time returning to work than their younger counterparts, says the Government Accountability Office.
Joyce Goodwin started the Granite Start Early Learning Center in Nashua when she was 54.
After being unable to find employment in early education management, Joyce Goodwin, 56, started the Granite Start Early Learning Center in Nashua, which now has 70 children and 10 staff members. “My age was prohibitive in some of the jobs that may have been available,” she says. She considered buying an early learning franchise, but didn’t like being pigeon-holed into educational principles she didn’t believe in. Starting her own business seemed like the only option. Continue Reading →
Republican Gubernatorial candidate Ovide Lamontagne says Medicaid expansion will siphon money away from seniors on Medicare.
At a debate over healthcare issues hosted by the New Hampshire Health Policy Council, the New Hampshire Hospital Association, and NHPR, Lamontagne argued that the Affordable Care Act will take $716 billion over 10 years from Medicare to fund Medicaid expansion. “My parents are on Medicare, I don’t want them to be in a worse position after the fact that we turn over the keys to Washington,” Lamontagne said.
“What Ovide just said was outrageous,” countered his opponent, Democratic candidate Maggie Hassan, who supports Medicaid expansion. Continue Reading →
Public and private workers in New Hampshire are among the most evenly compensated, finds a new report from the right-leaning Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW). Still, the report shows, the New Hampshire’s public sector pays on average, $4.51 more, per hour, than the private sector. The report states that “State governments pay on average 6.2 percent more per hour in wages and benefits, including pension benefits, than the private sector for the 22 major occupational categories that exist in both sectors.” Continue Reading →
New Hampshire may have weathered the recession relatively well, but as other states’ economies are growing, New Hampshire’s is slowing down. That’s the word from the Center for Public Policy Studies, which released a report this week outlining some discouraging trends in New Hampshire’s economy. One of the study’s authors, Dennis Delay, spoke with NHPR’s Brady Carlson about the study.
“Over the long term, places with strong, distinctive identities are more likely to prosper than places without them…. Livability is not a middle-class luxury. It is an economic imperative” – Robert Solow
Delay says the CPPS turned to the celebrated economist Robert Solow, whose model of economic growth relies on three elements: (1) the availability of labor; (2) an increase in skills and productivity of that labor force; and (3) investment by companies in things like machinery and software.
Today, 2nd District Congressman Charlie Bass did a bit of campaigning close to home. He spoke at the Jaffrey-Rindge Rotary Club meeting at Franklin Pierce University this morning. It wasn’t a campaign event per se; Rotary International has strict rules about clubs not endorsing candidates, although politicians can address Rotary groups. And so, Bass spent his time this morning making the case for reelection.
He has a tough race ahead of him. He barely eked out a win against Democratic rival Ann McLane Kuster in 2010. And now she’s back for a rematch.
So on his home turf this morning, Bass campaigned in front of a politically diverse–but friendly–group, many of whom were more likely to call him “Charlie” than “Congressman.” Continue Reading →
Democrat Ann McLane Kuster focused heavily on the economy during her stump speech in Plymouth
StateImpact’s been on the campaign trail! And the race in the Second Congressional District is looking like a nail-biter. Democrat Ann McLane Kuster is running against incumbent Republican Congressman Charlie Bass in a rematch following her narrow loss in 2010.
Given the interest in this particular election–a fiscally conservative, socially moderate Republican versus a progressive Democrat who stresses her family’s “Yankee frugality” and “Republican roots”– we thought we’d go ahead and pop in on the candidates this week to hear their thoughts on the economy.
Small business owners are a contested demographic for the battling presidential campaigns. A September poll from George Washington University suggests the President is leading Governor Romney in support from small business owners, while an August poll by Manta put Romney in the lead with a wide margin. Continue Reading →
New Hampshire’s economic strength relative to its neighbors has declined over the last year – and over the last decade. That’s concerning some economists in the state, who came together this week to discuss challenges at a lunch sponsored by the Manchester Chamber of Commerce. Continue Reading →
About StateImpact
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives. Learn More »
