Tax Cut

Freedom and the New Hampshire Advantage

New Hampshire’s six-year run of business tax cuts should have made the state’s corporate income tax rate the second-lowest in New England. But a funny thing happened along the way. New Hampshire was joined by an unexpected rival.

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John Hancock - Declaration of Independence

Preserving a Culture of Freedom in NH

On July 6, 1776, John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, wrote to the Committee of Safety at Exeter, N.H. to inform them that Congress had declared independence from Great Britain. (Here’s a copy of his letter to Georgia).  

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Young,Crazy,Cool,Man,With,Dollar,Banknotes,Against,White,Wall with money

Josiah Bartlett: “Does Anyone in New Hampshire Make the $7.25 an Hour Minimum Wage?”

Officially, New Hampshire’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Finding someone who actually earns that, though, could be harder than finding a vegan in a Brazilian steakhouse on Flank Steak Friday. “You wont’ find it,” Mike Somers, president of the New Hampshire Restaurant and Lodging Association, said.

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Help Wanted

Josiah Bartlett: Low Labor Force Participation Holds Back NH Economy

As a few lawmakers engaged in a publicity stunt last Saturday to press for a state-imposed $15 minimum wage, New Hampshire employers were raising wages and offering cash incentives in desperate efforts to attract workers.

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Josiah Bartlett: NH Switches from Mandates to Guidance — A Year Late

On April 29, Gov. Chris Sununu announced that the state’s long list of mandated COVID-19 restrictions for various industries will expire on May 7, to be replaced by a Universal Best Practices Guidance.

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Woman wearing an anti virus protection mask to prevent others from corona COVID-19 and SARS cov 2 infection

Vaccinations Killed the Mask Mandate, and Now Show the Way Forward

Gov. Chris Sununu lifted the state’s mask mandate on April 16, and much hand-wringing ensued. And scolding. And partisan attacks. 

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Cigar Bar Liquor Tobacco

J Bartlett: Over-Regulating Small Businesses, Cigar Bar Edition

One of the consequences of regulating business by statute is that statutes are categorized, and therefore businesses have to be categorized too. The rigid legal classifications for businesses can lead to some restrictions that make sense only to lawyers, legislators, and scientists who catalogue animal and plant species.

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Hands, money dollars counting

A $15 Minimum Wage Would Make NH Poorer, Less Populous

Raising New Hampshire’s minimum wage to $15 an hour would cost the state nearly 6,000 jobs and more than 9,000 residents, raise consumer prices, reduce economic output, and cause serious harm to small businesses and the leisure and hospitality industries, a new report from New Hampshire Employment Security concludes 

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Uprising chart

Josiah Bartlett: Amid Enrollment Decline, NH School Spending Has Risen Sharply

A review of public school spending, staffing, and enrollment numbers going back to the 1994-95 school year might surprise a lot of Granite Staters who have heard for decades that New Hampshire public schools have been underfunded.

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Right To Work - Liberation

Josiah Bartlett – Two Ways to Decide Whether Right to Work Is Right for New Hampshire

Most U.S. States (27) have Right to Work laws, and that includes a growing number in the industrial Midwest. Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin have them, and every state bordering Ohio, save Pennsylvania, has one.

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School Closed by WuFlu

Josiah Bartlett: Why Are We Still Debating School Openings?

President Biden on March 2 announced a goal of administering at least one vaccine to every educator in the United States by the end of the month. The head of the American Federation of Teachers praised the announcement, saying, “vaccinations are a key ingredient to reopening schools safely.”

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Kids thumbs up

New Hampshire’s Education Choice Moment

“I think that eventually, school choice is going to be part of education.” Those were the words of Democratic state Rep. Barbara Shaw of Manchester, as she voted in the House Education Committee on Thursday to retain House Speaker Sherm Packard’s Education Freedom Accounts bill. 

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Ice formation icicles

Northeast ‘Energy Policy’ – How About Freezing to Death My Pretties….

The ‘Grok been sharing the declining fortunes of the New England Energy grid (As well as energy in general) for years. As the left has swept up political power, forward-thinking means green “capacity.” This is useless in the bitter cold when we need it most while what we need – natural gas – is blocked by the same politics.

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Homeownership

N.H. Is Running Out of Places for Our Families, Friends & Coworkers To Live

The No. 1 reason people move to or stay in New Hampshire is not jobs or low taxes or the environment. It’s family, according to University of New Hampshire Granite State Poll results summarized in the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority’s October Housing Market Report. We’d like to thank Drew Cline, President of the Josiah … Read more

Cigarettes stacked

Massachusetts Banned the Sale of Flavored Tobacco in June. What Happened Next Was… Totally Predictable

Massachusetts’ June 1 ban on the sale of flavored cigarettes is driving higher sales, and higher tax revenue, in New Hampshire, state and retailer data show.

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Welcome to portsmouth

Josiah Bartlett: Mask Mandates and the Urge to Control

Portsmouth’s City Council approved a mask mandate on a 7-2 vote last week. The city had fewer than five known active coronavirus infections the day the ordinance passed, meaning more councilors voted for the ordinance than there were active cases in the city, NH Journal pointed out.

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Covid test positive

A September Surge in Coronavirus in N.H. Finds no Surge in the Disease

There was big coronavirus news for New Hampshire this week, and most of the media missed it.  At his Thursday press conference, Gov. Chris Sununu displayed a graphic (pictured below) showing that the average number of coronavirus tests per day has more than doubled since mid-August.

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schoolbooks

Croydon grandparents sue over state law that bans religious schools from tuition program

A Croydon couple on Wednesday filed a civil rights lawsuit against the state, challenging a law that forbids local school districts from paying tuition to religious schools.

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August’s big drop in COVID-19 numbers brings N.H. back to spring levels for top three metrics

August is on pace to record New Hampshire’s lowest numbers of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths since May. The dramatic, summer-long decline in all three metrics occurred as the state reopened its economy. But it has been hard to see by looking only at the daily reporting.

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Without a Mask Mandate, N.H.’s COVID-19 Cases Fell Sharply this Summer

For months, Democratic gubernatorial candidates Dan Feltes and Andru Volinsky have criticized Gov. Chris Sununu for not issuing an emergency order mandating that people wear face masks.

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