Whatever Happened to HB 330? - Granite Grok

Whatever Happened to HB 330?

A reader wrote me and said 1) the only info he could find on HB 330 was my post from February and 2) whatever happened with the bill?

HB 330 was (at that time) the latest effort from New Hampshire Democrats at a backdoor broad-based income tax.  Democrat Reps Burridge and Robertson, of Cheshire County, proposed HB 330 to allow each county delegation to vote for its own optional 1% income tax (to add further funding for public education, of all things).  Each county could decide separately so it would not technically be a broad based income tax, except that implementing it in even one county would require the same expanded bureaucracy to implement it in two, five, or all ten, paid for by the entire state….cramming costs down on every town and county to pump more money into public unions, basically.

So what happened to HB330?

It died with unanimous consent.

From the House journal…

HB 330-FN-L, allowing counties to adopt a county income tax to be administered by the department of revenue administration. INEXPEDIENT TO LEGISLATE.

Rep. Marjorie A. Porter for Municipal and County Government: This bill would allow counties to establish a 1% tax on income as determined by federal IRS tax filings, with the proceeds to be used to fund education. Collection and distribution of the tax would be the responsibility of the DRA. The committee found this bill fraught with difficulties and unwieldy to administer. NH has no way of accessing federal tax information, as we do not have a state income tax. The bill does not specify how the proceeds would be appropriated to schools within the county. DRA does not have the manpower or financial resources to administer the program and an undue burden would be placed on employers, who may have to report their employee’s earnings to many different counties. Vote 15-0.

Such damning words.  Fraught with difficulty.  Unwieldy to administer.  No way.  Does not specify.  Does not have the manpower of finical resources.  Undue burden.

The trail for HB330 dies in the Feb 20 House journal (and there was much rejoicing).

That is not to say it won’t get resurrected at some future date.  The tax and spenders are nothing if not persistent.  They tried to pass off this piece of crap, so anything is possible.  And to the House’s bi-partisan credit, they all stood up and said -dumb idea.   But taxes as a rule are an undue burden, difficult, and unwieldy for those forced to pay them, and that has not stopped New Hampshire Democrats form suggesting them by the bushel every single session.  We’re someone to find a way to make it easy to administer Democrats would flock to support any potential revenue they thought might help them expand government for any purpose.

So we must be ever vigilant.  There are other HB330’s out there waiting in the darkness.

 

 

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