Kuster charts a ‘bipartisan’ course

2nd District Congresswoman Ann Kuster is one of six House Agriculture Committee Democrats who voted with the Republican majority and approved legislation last week that would deregulate Wall Street derivatives.

Huffington Post reports the proposed legislation “would expand taxpayer support for derivatives and create broad new trading loopholes allowing banks to shirk risk management standards created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank bill:”

Prior to the vote, the top Democrat on the Agricultural Committee, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), gave a speech warning that the legislation could repeat the deregulation debacles of the 1990s.

“You’re putting taxpayers on the hook…. At the time we did the Modernization Act, there were $80 billion in swaps, in derivatives. We gave ‘em legal certainty, we eliminated the regulation requirements, and it went to $700 trillion and it blew up on us. So just be careful: You can vote any way you want, but this could come back and haunt you.”

Kuster’s vote repeats a pattern of siding with House Republicans on key legislation.

Kuster, who represents the more Democratic of the the state’s two congressional districts, was one of 86 Democrats who crossed party lines in January and supported a Republican measure that tied a raise in the debt ceiling to congressional pay.

Kuster said she voted for the measure to “remove the immediate threat of default and ensure that America will continue to meet its obligations.” 1st District Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter voted against the bill. “The debt ceiling should not be tied to any political issue, no matter how desirable the goal may be,” she explained.

In February, Kuster again split with Shea-Porter and joined 43 Democrats who voted with the Republican majority to block a 0.5% pay raise for federal workers. “Leadership should concentrate on closing loopholes and reforming the tax code instead of shrinking middle class wages,” said Shea-Porter.

In a series of budget votes last week, Kuster was one of 35 Democrats who crossed the aisle and voted against the Senate Democratic budget and one of 28 who voted against the House Democratic budget. Kuster said the budget proposals did not “reflect the type of bipartisan compromise that New Hampshire families expect and deserve.”

Shea-Porter supported the Democratic budgets, noting they would “protect the middle class by investing in things like education, transportation, and research and development” and would “reduce the deficit in a balanced manner that closes tax loopholes, replaces sequestration’s irresponsible cuts, keeps our commitment to seniors, and cuts spending through a targeted and steady approach.“

Grafton “starting to push back on the Free Staters”

Voters in Grafton, which has become ground zero in the push by Free Staters to dismantle government services, have rejected an attempt by group members and their allies to slash the town’s budget. Valley News staff writer Chris Fleisher has the details:

The $825,956 budget lost, with 270 voting against to 256 in favor, forcing Grafton to move forward with the larger default budget of $940,366. The default budget is slightly less than the $954,523 plan the Selectboard had originally proposed, but will nevertheless keep in place some of the services that may have triggered cuts had the budget that was put before voters yesterday been approved.

Graftonites also approved warrant articles authorizing additional spending to buy a new police vehicle and tow truck, pave roads and make improvements to the town’s fire and ambulance building. They rejected a 2% tax cap and an article that would have instructed the Board of Selectmen to reduce the budget by 10% each year for the next three years.

Selectman David Rienzo, who lost his re-election bid yesterday to Sean Frost, said Grafton voters sent a clear message to the libertarian activists in town who have sought to scale back local government services.

“I’m seeing the town starting to push back on the Free Staters,” Rienzo said last night.

Free Staters claim another budget scalp

After taking credit for budget cuts in Weare and Keene, Free Staters have claimed another scalp. In Grafton last week, Free Staters joined forces with local libertarian activists and voted to cut the town’s budget by 10%. Tim Condon, former Free State Project board member, described the action:

The power of native New Hampshire activists joining with Freestater immigrants was demonstrated Monday night…. An initial motion to reduce — instead of increase — the annual town spending budget by 20% failed by a single vote. A following motion to reduce the budget by 10% passed. Successive motions to reduce various spending warrant articles by 10% also passed….

The votes were driven by people born and raised in Grafton, joined by long-time residents, joined by relative newcomers who have moved to the small town in recent years as part of the Free State Project migration.

Free Staters take credit for blocking school spending

Free Staters are taking credit for turning back attempts by some Keene residents to fund programs and positions slated to be eliminated in the upcoming school budget.

Last night, the Keene School District held a deliberative session to finalize the budget that will go before voters in March. The school district’s proposed budget eliminates the full-time athletic director and an English teacher at the high school, foreign language classes for the fifth grade and a district-wide program for gifted and talented students.

Amendments that would have funded one or more of those positions were all defeated. Blogging on New Hampshire Freedom, “Keith” credited the Free Staters in attendance:

Five free staters were at the First Session meeting. … The difference between yes and no votes for the first budget motion was equal to the number of free staters in the audience. The difference between the yes and not votes for the last budget motion was equal to the number of free staters in the audience plus 1.

Keene area free staters will have likely saved the Keene taxpayers at least $50,000 in taxes.

Though, technically, this doesn’t mean free staters in Keene are actually freeing Keene. It just means that they are able to stop some of the growth in statism. Still, that’s a big improvement from what was possible in Keene, politically, even a few years ago. It might even be worth celebrating.

Another member of the group, Conan Salada, proposed slashing the budget by an additional ten percent. His amendment was defeated after residents and school board members called the proposal “a political stunt that would result in the cuts of hundreds of teaching positions.”

Last month, Free Staters took credit for cutting the Weare Police Department’s budget despite objections from Chief Gregory Begin and other residents.

Krasucki: University funding request is ‘extortion’

In an interview with the Nashua Telegraph editorial board, GOP state Rep. Joe Krasucki referred to efforts by the University System of New Hampshire to restore deep budget cuts as “extortion.”

The Legislature slashed funding for the state’s public universities in the last budget cycle by $50 million, the largest single cut to a public higher education system in the nation’s history, said UNH President Mark Huddleston.

Krasucki, who running for the state Senate, supported the cuts and pledged to oppose their restoration unless the schools eliminate “superfluous” courses and professors.

He said he didn’t support restoring the historically deep higher education cuts from 2010 unless state universities “audit themselves.”

“I am strongly in favor of quality education,” Krasucki said. “Those who are working hard at trying to teach the principles of the subject matter. But there are courses that I think are superfluous in some of the schools.”

And the universities’ willingness to freeze college tuitions is not enough to automatically restore all the funds they lost, he said.

“Where is their effort that says ‘do we really need this type of professor?” Krasucki said, “Is there any effort to do that? Otherwise it’s extortion.”

Krasucki is seeking to replace incumbent state Sen. Gary Lambert in the Democratic-leaning 13th District (PVI: D+5). His Democratic opponent is Bette Lasky, a former selectman, state representative and state senator, who lost the seat in 2010.

Lamontagne and Smith on lost revenue: What, me worry?

Associated Press reporter Norma Love points out that Republican gubernatorial candidates Ovide Lamontagne and Kevin Smith both propose slashing the state’s business taxes, but neither says how he would balance the budget.

Kevin Smith’s proposed tax cuts could potentially cost the state more than $1 billion in lost revenue by 2020 — if his premise that lower tax rates will boost revenue isn’t realized.

His main rival, Ovide Lamontagne, has a more modest tax cut proposal that could mean $120 million in lost revenue during the same time frame.

Both also propose other tax changes that are more difficult to estimate, such as credits. Those could mean even more revenue losses.

Neither candidate has outlined specific budget cuts they would seek to pay to offset the tax cuts.

Lamontagne responded saying his plan would require spending cuts if tax revenues fall. “He did not specify what those cuts would be,” wrote Love, “but pledged to take ‘a hard look’ at the budget.”

Smith claimed that “he could make state government more efficient to make up for the lost revenue.”

Poll: Large majority opposes university funding cuts

On  September 11, 2012, the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees is expected to formally ask the state legislature to restore $50 million in funding cuts. In return, the board will agree to a two-year tuition freeze for in-state students.

A newly released survey by the UNH Survey Center indicates the state’s residents support the funding increase. 64% of those surveyed disapproved of the legislature’s funding cuts for the state’s public colleges and universities.

71% favor restoration of the $50 million cut from the University System budget in exchange for freezing in-state tuition rates. 81% would favor the budget increase if additional funds are made available for financial aid for lower income students.

The Granite State Poll is sponsored by WMUR-TV and conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. The results are based on telephone interviews of 581 adults with a margin of error of +/- 4.1%. It was conducted on August 1-12, 2012 on landline and cellular telephones.

Rep. Frank Guinta: Ryan budget didn’t go far enough

With Mitt Romney’s selection of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, attention has focused on Ryan’s proposed 2012 budget. The plan was based on a “flawed theory that new budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy, while placing greater burdens on the middle class and seniors, will somehow deliver a stronger economy,” wrote Obama campaign manager Jim Messina.

Ryan, like Romney, proposed an additional $250,000 tax cut for millionaires, and deep cuts in education from Head Start to college aid. His plan also would end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher system, shifting thousands of dollars in health care costs to seniors.

New Hampshire Congressman Frank Guinta voted in favor of the Ryan budget — but only after the House rejected an alternative plan he supported that was even more extreme than the Ryan budget.

Guinta is a member of the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of the House’s most conservative members. The RSC proposed an alternative budget that Talking Points Memo labeled “a radical plan that annihilates the social contract in America by putting the GOP budget on steroids.”

The RSC budget proposed huge cuts in domestic spending, $9.5 trillion over the next decade compared to $6.2 trillion cut by the Ryan plan. It delayed coverage for Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries by raising the eligibility age to 70. It made the privatized Medicare program optional and transformed Medicaid into a block-grant program that would receive even less funding than the Ryan plan.

Guinta voted in favor of the Republican Study Committee alternative budget. No wonder he was ranked the 31st most conservative member in the House by the National Journal. Compared to Guinta, Ryan (#150) is a milquetoast moderate.

GOP argument ‘flies in the face of independent analyses’

State House Democratic Leader Terie Norelli says a CNBC study, “America’s Top States for Business 2012,” confirms state budget cuts are damaging New Hampshire’s economy. In a Concord Monitor op-ed, she points out the Republican claim that their budget cuts and legislative priorities are good for the economy “flies in the face of independent analyses.”

According to the study, New Hampshire’s ranking dropped in infrastructure, transportation, and education — all areas that received devastating funding cuts in the GOP’s state budget. New Hampshire’s overall “economic” ranking suffered the biggest drop of all, plummeting from 10th to 34th nationwide.

What is frightening is the GOP’s promise to double down on their failed policies if re-elected this fall. Despite the job losses that would follow, O’Brien wants to cut another $400 million from the budget if he returns as speaker next term.

Like the economists who conducted CNBC’s “Best States for Business” study, Granite Staters know that quality infrastructure and an educated workforce are critical elements to a growing economy. If New Hampshire is to regain its role as a national leader in economic development, the Legislature we elect this fall needs to share those values.

Rep. Foose: Voters Should Reject O’Brien’s Enablers

Writing in the Concord Monitor, Democratic state Rep. Randy Foose cautions that voters should not be “distracted” by their frustration with House Speaker Bill O’Brien. Rather, he says, “the focus, the debate and the glare of publicity” should be on the 250 Republican lawmakers who gave him power.

O’Brien’s enablers constructed a budget “based on the simplistic notion that financial management focuses only on reducing expenses.” This radical approach, Foose writes, is antithetical to “the kind of fiscal conservatism that has always supported the New Hampshire Advantage.”

If the enablers are honest about their radical approach, we can begin to carefully examine the consequences of cutting the tobacco tax…. The result, as broadly reported, is that the state has lost millions in tax revenue.

If the enablers are honest about their radical approach, we can begin to carefully examine the consequences of cutting the number of Department of Revenue Administration auditors and then watching audit collection revenue drop by more than $10 million.

If the enablers are honest about their radical approach, we can begin to carefully examine the consequences of reducing the state contribution to the University of New Hampshire by nearly 50 percent and watching tuition rates rise by 10 percent while state funding of financial aid was eliminated.

If the enablers are honest about their radical approach, we can begin to carefully examine the consequences of failing to take advantage of historically low interest rates to complete the upgrading of Interstate 93.

Speaker O’Brien Vows to Cut $400M in Next Budget

After slashing state spending for higher education and cutting services for seniors, the disabled and at-risk children, state House Speaker Bill O’Brien says, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

O’Brien told Kevin Landrigan he anticipates cutting another $400,000 from the 2014-2015 budget. State Senator Lou D’Allesandro, who serves on the Senate Finance and Ways and Means committees, wants to know where the cuts will be made. 

“Will they eliminate all funding for higher education, pushing through another double-digit tuition increase? Will they cut additional aid to cities and towns, raising local property taxes? Will they cut health care for seniors, people with disabilities and children? The people of New Hampshire deserve to know.” 

Senate Democratic Leader Sylvia Larsen and Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, a member of the House Finance Committee, called on the GOP gubernatorial candidates to level with New Hampshire voters about their plans for the budget.

“Ovide Lamontagne — and Kevin Smith — should tell us now if they support Bill O’Brien’s radical new plan,” said Larsen, “and if so, they should tell New Hampshire what they would cut.” 

“The people of New Hampshire deserve to know what Republican leaders plan to cut in order to pay for their next round of tax giveaways,” echoed Rosenwald.

Tobacco Tax Cut Costs State $12-$15 Million

Last spring, when the GOP House leadership insisted on cutting the state cigarette tax by ten cents a pack, the Department of Revenue Administration estimated the tax cut would cost the state $14 million in revenue if sales were consistent with the previous year.

House Speaker Bill O’Brien, however, argued the tax cut would actually increase state revenue:

“This tax cut is an important step to regain our advantage and bring business here to New Hampshire. We strongly believe that reducing this tax will result in more revenue, more economic growth and more tax cuts.”

Kevin Landrigan reports state officials now project that the cut will result in a revenue shortfall of — surprise, surprise — $12-$15 million for the year.

[Administrative Services Commissioner Linda Hodgdon] confirmed that through nine months the tax is $11 million off forecast, and $9 million of that is attributed to the tax break.

State officials can now accurately compare pack sales through this nine-month period to the previous three quarters last year when the tax was higher.

At this rate the tax cut could cost the treasury at least $12 million and as much as $15 million for the year.