The governor’s State of the State Address was delivered to the NH House on February 17, 2022 and I believe that Granite Stater’s are deserving of more than a mere campaign speech. While listening to his comments, I felt there were many statements that needed more explanation and clarification. The following are a few of the thoughts and concerns I would like to see more fully addressed.
It is a fact that local property taxes are the highest in the nation, and many believe that free speech is being restricted, personal freedoms have been revoked, and New Hampshire’s housing crisis is putting our economy at risk.
The continued gutting of adequate education funding is only increasing fiscal disparity throughout NH with local property taxpayers picking up even more of the $2.8 billion devoted to funding public schools and using taxpayer dollars for religious and private schools who are not subject to government regulation.
One out of every four towns in the state are seeing a decrease in state education because of the majority budget.
• One-half of all NH communities lost some aid relative to FY21.
• Nine communities would lose more than $1 million each.
• If every city and town held their property tax rate steady, over 60% of cities and towns would be worse off under the current budget.
Revenue increases are a surplus from state taxes and fees, not an overall surplus which included deductions from what the state spends, and recently passed state legislation relating to business taxes will cost hundreds of millions.
There are simply not enough affordable homes and apartments in NH. The rental vacancy rate, as of July 2021 was .9% compared to 6.8% in the entire Northeast.
There are 65,000 job openings in NH or 8.6% of total jobs. The national average is 6.8%. Living and working in NH with our property taxes and housing costs make it harder for young families to stay, work and play in NH.
Unemployment in NH has gone up relative to the US. NH had the lowest unemployment rate in America at 2.7% in 2016.
The reduced Meals, Rooms and Rental tax from 9% to 8.5% reduces funding for state programs by $30 million this biennium.
The 22-23 budget bans individuals and agencies including schools and private businesses that contract with the state from speaking on race and sex. A 2022 bill accuses teachers of “indoctrinating” students by teaching them American history and bans from teaching any “negative” account or representation of the founding and history of the U.S.
There was a failure to enact common sense background checks on firearms, critical procedures to protect against persons who pose an immediate risk of harm to themselves or others, and protect vulnerable adults from abuse, exploitation and neglect.
NH’s COVID response created a crisis in our emergency rooms, classrooms and nursing homes. Millions were delayed in critical funding for COVID-19 relief, while NH remains the least vaccinated state in New England by far.