House Leaders Statement on Gov Veto of Payday Loans

Posted by Staff on Jan 27, 2012 in Press Releases | 0 comments

CONCORD – House Speaker William O’Brien and House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt today released the following statement on the Governor’s veto of Senate Bill 160.

House Speaker William O’Brien

“The Governor once again incorrectly assumes that New Hampshire citizens aren’t mature enough to make their own financial decisions. By closing off a free market choice for consumers, the Governor is putting citizens to the mercy of unregulated loan sharks. New Hampshire can, and will, do better than this.”

House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt

“We support individuals’ fairness in the marketplace. This legislation allows more choices for New Hampshire citizens and businesses while ensuring contract law is upheld and consumers enter these contracts with their eyes wide open. The House will work to override this veto.”

House Leaders Comment on New Hampshire’s Improvement from Worst Business Tax Rank

Posted by Staff on Jan 26, 2012 in Press Releases | 0 comments

CONCORD – House Speaker William O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon) and House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt (R-Salem) offered the following comments in response to news that, based on a recent report from the non-partisan Tax Foundation, New Hampshire no longer holds the distinction of being ranked 50^th for the state’s corporate tax rate, earning the rank of 46^th.  The Foundation’s last report showed the Granite State fell to last place nationally in 2007 and held the dubious honor of having the worst business tax rate until now.  On the whole, the state’s overall ranking for business moved up from 7^th to 6^th.

Last year, the Republican legislature passed three laws to reduce business taxes – one to reform reasonable compensation payments for small businesses (Senate Bill 125); one to extend the loss carryforward period for the state’s Business Enterprise Tax (House Bill 187); and one to expand the loss carryforward for the state’s Business Profits Tax (House Bill 2, section 363).

House Speaker William O’Brien

“When we came to Concord, we made a commitment to make the state more competitive to expand the New Hampshire Advantage and bring new employers here.  Now, we are beginning to see the results.  While we certainly can’t pat ourselves on the back for ranking 46^th for our business tax rate, it sure beats coming in dead last, and is a strong signal to businesses nationally that we are headed in the right direction.  Clearly, we have a long way to go, but we are making progress.  Now, we have more people working in New Hampshire than since the recession started, and our workforce is the largest it has ever been.  These are huge positives, and we need to continue to build upon them.”

House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt

“As soon as they took over, the Democrats drove our business tax rate to the highest in the nation.  Then, they tried to back an income tax onto small business owners in 2009.  It’s no wonder our economy sputtered along under their lead.  Now, we are beginning to lift the tax burden off our employers and we are seeing more jobs and more people moving back into the workforce, thanks to fiscally responsible, Republican leadership.  That said, we certainly are not satisfied with a ranking of 46^th, and we are going to redouble our efforts to provide tax relief so that we can attract more businesses and more jobs here.”