(The Center Square) — New Hampshire Democrats are pitching a raft of new bills in the upcoming session aimed at reducing costs in the state, but Republicans are panning the proposals as more tax and spending.
Senate Democrats unveiled Wednesday their “More Money in Your Pocket” agenda that bundles several bills into a package aimed at bringing down the cost of housing, property taxes, health care, child care and energy. The lawmakers said they plan to file the bills in the legislative session that gets underway in January, urging Republicans to support their plans.
One proposal, called the “Afford Your Home Act,” would provide $5 million in funding to the state’s Housing Champions Grant Program to support infrastructure upgrades requisite for new housing development. The bill would also provides $10 million to the state’s affordable housing fund, while “cutting red tape” to help expand the number of childcare centers.
“By investing much needed resources into the housing champions program, and the affordable housing fund, we are putting our money where our mouth is,” state Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, D-Portsmouth, the bill’s sponsor, said in a statement. “Our children and our families deserve ample opportunity to make a comfortable living and deserve a place to grow and receive respite.”
The Lower Your Property Taxes Act, filed by Sen. Pat Long, D-Manchester, would recommit the state to contributing 7.5% to municipal pensions, which she said would reduce the financial burden on our towns and cities. Long said the states high property taxes mean “seniors are being priced out of their homes” and “children have lost hope at owning one themselves.”
Meanwhile, the Lower Your Energy Costs Act calls for capping utility rate increases, providing for multiyear rate-making, and encouraging grid investment and modernization “to stabilize rates and enhance the state’s energy capabilities.”
“New Hampshire consistently tops lists of the highest energy rates in the country,” said the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Suzanne Prentiss, D-Lebanon, said in a statement. “With these common sense incentives, and policies, we hope to invite further business investment, modern industry, and public consumption in a renewed, capable, and empowered Granite State.”
Another proposal, the Save Our Mom and Pop Shops Act, calls for a 25% business tax credit to small manufacturers, and small businesses to “shelter” them from tariff-related expenses.
Democrats didn’t lay out a plan to pay for the $46 million in new spending, but suggested it could be funded by tightening the income eligibility requirements for state’s Education Freedom Account program, which provides taxpayer funds for parents to send their kids to private, religious and parochial schools.
The Democratic proposals face an uphill fight in the state Senate, where Republicans have a 16-8 majority. In the House of Representatives, the GOP has a 218-177 advantage over Democrats.
New Hampshire Republican Party chairman Jim MacEachern criticized the Democrats’ proposals as “the less affordable agenda” and said it would be paid for by higher taxes and increased highway tolls.
“Democrats talk a big game on affordability, but every policy they put forward would make New Hampshire look more like Massachusetts,” MacEachern said. “You can’t claim to help working families when you’re trying to slap them with an income tax, a sales tax, and a toll hike all at once.”
