There is a growing trend among elected Republicans in New Hampshire. An awareness that courts and judges no longer have our leave to exercise taxing powers. I’m going to cover this more in Monday’s GrokTALK! But I wanted to share this statement from Executive Councilor John Stephen as a primer.
The tone and tack are similar to what we’ve heard regarding property taxes to fund schools, the AG is challenging Claremont, and there is a rising animus against judges who think they can hand down rulings that require a tax or fee, despite it being beyond their constitutional authority.
Here’s the statement I mentioned.
Councilor Stephen: A Federal Judge Cannot Override
the New Hampshire Executive Council
CONCORD, NH
Executive Councilor John Stephen (R-District 4) issued the following statement after a federal judge denied the State’s motion to stay a court order in Gordon-Darby Holdings v. NH Dept. of Safety:
“The New Hampshire Executive Council has existed since 1679. For nearly 350 years, it has served as a constitutional check on executive contracts and spending. Under the New Hampshire Constitution, no state contract moves forward without the consent of the Council. A federal district judge does not have the authority to override a lawful decision made by this body. The Council voted 3-2 to support the Department of Safety’s notice to terminate the state contract with Gordon-Darby Holdings, after we were assured that the Department would re-issue another RFP pending decisions by the Legislature — the duly elected policy body of the state — related to the state’s emissions testing program. That vote stands.”
“Make no mistake about what this contract actually is. Gordon-Darby collects mandatory fees from every driver in this state. That is a de facto tax on every Granite Stater who owns a car. The only people who have the authority to impose that kind of burden on the citizens of this state are elected legislators — not federal judges, and not government contractors with a 20-year monopoly. Because there was no enacted policy requirement at the time of our vote, we cannot be forced into any contract that is contrary to our state policy, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with that action.”
“What this court has done is unprecedented. A federal judge is attempting to compel a sovereign state to impose a mandatory fee on its own citizens against the will of its elected officials. If this precedent stands, no state constitutional office in America is safe from being commandeered by a federal court. The Executive Council will not accept that.”
“As I have said all along, there is no current state law requiring vehicle emission tests. The Council’s actions are a direct result of that fact, and we cannot be forced to contract when there is no existing law that requires such action.”
“Finally, I will reiterate: any company that uses a federal court to try to force a de facto tax on the people of New Hampshire should not receive another dollar of state business, and I will do all I can to assure that as long as I serve on this Council. That is a promise.”
I don’t really know John. We’ve met more than a few times. We run into each other at events all over the place. But he has generally been perceived by our authors and audience as just another connected insider who might let something like this slip. Well, you know, the system, what can we do, blah blah.
I do not require or expect anyone to agree with me or anyone else here all the time or even ever. It is presumed we will disagree on points large and small, but this statement strikes me as tectonic when taken alongside the AG’s challenge to the Claremont decisions.
Sure, we’ve been looking at the “wrong” constitution for decades. And that minor typo should have had a significant influence on decisions linked to school funding that, even without that, were not within any court’s power to decide.
For an alleged insider like John or the NH AG to push back, following Keith Murphy’s incredible floor speech in the NH Senate (and he’s no insider), while we have a tax revolt ongoing with regard to school funding abatements.
If ever you were to get a Keith Obermann-like tingle down your leg, this might be the beginning of that. I’ll close with this regarding the court’s vehicle Inspection demand and the rising gall against it.
