Yup, Mea Culpa time at the ‘Grok. Based on an email and a look-see at the Eagle-Tribune, we wrote some posts about a tax on kayaks & canoes that was being proposed by NH State Senator Bob Odell. Well, I got a call from Tom Cronin, the Communications Director at the NH State Senate, letting me know that some of our huffing and puffing was just hot air:
Thank you both for taking my calls regarding the recent fish and game pieces. As I mentioned, we would appreciate a correction to both the original story as well as the editorial, specifically as it relates to Sen. Odell filing legislation to create or increase a tax on small boats. Sen. Odell has not filed such legislation (you can view all of the bills he has filed using the drop down menu here) and I do not believe it has been filed in the House either.
With regards to the committee recommendations, attached you will find a copy of the full report and at the end you will see a handful of recommendations. While the commission did include asking the legislature to consider a number of fee adjustments, it prefaced that recommendation by writing: “While the Commission was able to explore some revenue options during its deliberations, there are more ideas and input from stakeholders that should be explored before a final set of recommendations to implement a comprehensive sustainability model for the Department is brought to the legislature.”
To my knowledge, the only committee recommendations that is moving forward in bill form at this time is to extend the life of the commission in order to continuing looking at this issue. Regardless of the committee recommendations, however, the key point is that Sen. Odell has not filed nor sponsored legislation to create this tax.
So, we apologize to Senator Bob Odell for claiming something that he did and has not done.
We stand by the Principles that were espoused in our posts – we are sorry that the Senator was the target. We have no problem with our rhetoric but we do try to get facts straight and right. Vast majority of the time, even as hobbyist bloggers, we get it right. But we feel honor bound, when we DO get things wrong, to try to make it right. So we retract the “fact” that we ran on a tax that hasn’t been proposed by someone who never set it up. If anyone is to take “the hit” for this at the ‘Grok, blame me.
