The Granite State has a way of doing very well on just about every metric. But we’ve got a few Achilles heels. We rely too much on federal money, and our pension debt is an ugly bruise we’re trying to heal. And then came COVID, which also impacted our Truth in Accounting’s Financial State of the States report ranking.
Related: NH Democrats Are Giving Unelected Bureaucrats the Power To Raise Taxes
But wait, Steve, we’re in the upper 50%, that’s not so bad. No? If you were applying to colleges, would you brag about barely making the top 50% of the class? Probably not. And this is no honor either. Sure, we could do a lot worse, like these popular Democrat role models.
50. New Jersey
48. Connecticut
46. Massachusetts
43. California (the Dems Dream outcome for NH)
42. Vermont
41. New York
36. Rhode Island
30. Maine
All Northeastern Democrat enclaves, some for longer than others, plus California their poster child for utopia, see also social, cultural, and economic ruin. None of these states can pay their bills, and most of them were kicking increasingly larger cans down the road before COVID became a political football.
A year or two of unobstructed Democrat rule could pitch New Hampshire down into this deep blue crowd of misery poverty and ruin.
But what does that mean? Examples from the report are in order.
- New Hampshire had $2.4 billion available to pay $4.6 billion worth of bills.
- The outcome was a $2.2 billion shortfall, which breaks down to a burden of $3,900 per taxpayer.
- This means that each taxpayer would have to pay $3,900 in future taxes for which they would receive no related services or benefits.
Not great. We need to cut spending—a lot of it. Democrats want to raise spending, which means many new taxes plus the taxes to cover this deficit. A situation that will worsen if they continue to play the Casedemic game and keep the economy hobbled.
For an example of what that might look like, gaze south across the border to Massachusetts.
- Massachusetts had $25.3 billion available to pay $106.2 billion worth of bills.
- The outcome was a $80.9 billion shortfall, which breaks down to a burden of $30,100 per taxpayer.
- This means that each taxpayer would have to pay $30,100 in future taxes for which they would receive no related services or benefits.
Then there’s New Jersey which, like many NH Democrats, promised to lower property taxes with a small statewide tax. The problem is Democrats never stop spending, and that looks like this in 2020.
- New Jersey had $24.9 billion available to pay $214.5 billion worth of bills.
- The outcome was a $189.6 billion shortfall, which breaks down to a burden of $57,900 per taxpayer.
- New Jersey’s unfunded retiree health care benefits decreased by $15 billion due to changes in health care costs and the elimination of the Affordable Care Act Health Insurer Fee.
New Jersey’s only improvement came as a result of the elimination of a portion of the Democrat’s signature Health Care reform. A thing they’ll put back as soon as they are able if you let them.
Lessons?
New Hampshire’s pension problem is decades old and has actually improved some, but that burden would only get bigger under Democrat rule. A bill we are passing down onto future generations. A situation we were at least on our way to resolving with record-setting economic growth before COVID. A feat we can only repeat with Republican leadership and common-sense cuts to state spending to create growth, which will then create the extra revenue.
New Taxes will do the opposite.
You took a pay cut for them (not that you had much choice with the COVID mandates), now it’s their turn to take one for you. As we exit the Casedemic (assuming we ever do), the government needs to take a back seat to private citizens for a while.
And who knows, maybe you’ll like that and have the sense to keep them there.
