by Christopher Maidment
Next week, the House will meet for three marathon sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. For most of us Granite Staters, nothing good will happen. The House majority will approve bills that limit our freedoms, restrict our rights, raise our taxes, and make everyday life harder.
They’ll vote to restrict single-use plastic bags. The kind that are all over my house right now in every small trash can, the kind I use to scoop the kitty litter box, pick up dog excrement from the yard, bring my lunch to work, and safely store fragiles in when packing them away. In fact, these single-use plastic bags are hardly ever single-use in my household, but the Democrats will vote to take them away.
Democrats will also tell me that my children won’t ever be able to access education tax credit scholarships, nor will the 400 plus low-income students that currently use this program. Some have gone so far as to say that the money voluntarily given to this program “should be going into the general fund,” and is only used by “religious nuts.” They believe that these students should be shipped back to government-run “education” facilities and that only the government can provide an “adequate” education. Unless, of course, you’re rich and can afford private education all on your own. Low-income? SOL!
Republicans, at least, are looking out for us. They proposed a bill to prohibit collection of a personal income tax and to codify that into the constitution, so now future Democrat majority can ever impose one of us. This Constitutional Amendment is by far one of the best things to happen in Concord this session so far. Will it pass? No, unfortunately, because it would forever bind future legislators from enacting one.
Oh, and those pesky property taxes that nearly all Democrats used in their platform? The ones they claim to want to lower? There’s a bill that would lower property taxes by repealing collection of the state education property tax – approximately $2.60 on every thousand of value, which would lower property taxes by $363 million statewide. Democrats oppose it.
Can’t forget about the anti-second amendment bills that they’ll vote on, too, that have come out of Committee with Ought to Pass recommendations. One will impose a 7-day waiting period between purchase and transfer of a firearm or ammunition, not including weekends or holidays, so in reality it has a minimum nine day wait period. Now, keep in mind that most firearms purchases are made by those who already own firearms and ammunition, so that does nothing to improve safety on its face, but it also imposes a waiting period on a person who is under threat of imminent danger and keeps them from protecting their lives if they don’t already own firearms or ammunition. Furthermore, it hurts our tourism industry during hunting season. Imagine coming from Boston, or Connecticut, to hunt in our north country just to find out you have to wait until the end of your vacation to pick up the ammunition you purchase!
Another bill prohibits private transfers of firearms — all private transfers. You’d have to get a background check to let your friend shoot your firearm at the range, or to loan a .22 to your neighbor to take care of his weasel problem and save his livestock. You couldn’t even let someone hold your firearm without a valid FFL background check.
Construction in the Granite State is set to get more expensive, too, when Democrats pass a bill updating our state building code to the 2015 versions of the IBC, IRC, NEC, and more. Most contractors use these updated codes as much as possible, for various reasons, but by mandating the new codes statewide, it will make certain projects cost-prohibitive for many and limit an already tight housing market.
I could go on and on here for days, but you should check out the current calendar for yourself. I’m sure all of your representatives would appreciate your feedback as much as mine do!
