A handful of New Hampshire Republicans put on a show this week. The message? Thank you, Governor Healey, for keeping Taxachusetts, taxachusetts.
Mass Fiscal and the New Hampshire lawmakers pointed to a list of 15 taxes implemented in Massachusetts, 12 of which New Hampshire does not have.
Those include an income tax, a millionaire’s tax, an interest & dividends tax, an inventory tax, sales tax, business profits tax (New Hampshire has 7.5% business profit tax compared to 8% in Massachusetts), a corporate minimum tax, capital gains tax, death tax, cigarette tax per pack (New Hampshire cigarette tax is $1.79 per pack compared to $3.51 in Massachusetts), a local cigarette tax, liquor taxes, vehicle excise tax, a meals and rooms tax (8.5% in New Hampshire compared to up to 11.7% in Massachusetts), and the net zero emissions by 2050 mandate.
Gov. Maura Healey shot back with how Massachusetts is the GDP engine of New England. That tens of thousands of Granite Staters commute to the Bay State to work. And that while she loves New Hampshire, she thinks we ought to be working together, not bashing one another. Fair enough, and I’m happy to be a team player, so how about leading the way on competitiveness?
New England has some of the highest electric rates and energy prices in the nation. This drives business south and west, where the high fixed costs are much lower because there is less reliance on unreliable, very expensive wind and solar.
As we’ve written in the past, the Bay State’s net zero energy plans would cost more than the entire GDP of New England to implement, let alone sustain and replace within a decade.
This cripples the rest of us tied to the ISO New England Grid, which dilutes the real cost of bad energy policy and net-zero mandates onto everyone else tied to the grid. This is why New Hampshire is looking not just the other way but for a way to leave ISO New England, which would mean your state would have to bear a greater share of the full cost of the expensive and unreliable energy policies you embrace. A result that would likely shift a lot more of the GDP-creating business you brag about to other states, including New Hampshire (if they want to stay in New England).
It is also worth noting that, as Vermont and Maine become more like Massachusetts or maybe as Massachusetts becomes more like Vermont, your only redeeming quality is transportation infrastructure. Logan Airport, Routes 28 and 495, and 93, along with the Mass Pike, create the illusion of needed access that makes all the taxes and regulations a price of doing business. But given the opportunity, they’d leave, and Massachusetts isn’t getting less Democratic.
In fact, the only thing that will continue to keep that GDP advantage is the threat of New Hampshire electing Democrats who will make any relocation a pointless effort. Dems’ priority, should they win any majority, is to undo every advantage to make us look as much like Massachusetts or Vermont as possible, as quickly as possible.
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