OPINION: ‘House Dems Kicked Fiscal Recklessness into Overdrive’

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Dick Hinch's Facebook page photo

Rep. Dick Hinch speaks to New Hampshire Republican State Committee members Jan. 26 at Pinkerton Academy in Dover.

By Rep. Dick Hinch, House Republican Leader

MESSAGE FROM THE REPUBLICAN LEADER

House Republicans & Friends Across New Hampshire,

The next House session will be Thursday, January 31st, at 10:00AM. There will be a Republican caucus beginning at 9:00AM in Rooms 301-303, LOB.

Next week is another busy one in the House, well over 100 bill hearings are being held as well as multiple executive sessions. Members, if you are unable to attend an executive session in your committee it is critical that you alert the Ranking Republican on your committee as soon as possible. Ranking Republicans must give a minimum of 24 hours prior notice if a replacement is to be found. Not sure if your committee has an executive session? Check the calendar HERE.

House Democrats kicked their fiscal recklessness into overdrive with the Democrat Ways & Means Chair saying that “the state has been too frugal for its own good” while defending her proposal to raise taxes on New Hampshire businesses by $135 million. As if this wasn’t bad enough, House Democrats will be introducing a Carbon tax bill that will cost almost $800 million. Yes, you read that right, $800 million. This is only the beginning of the Democrats assault on our New Hampshire Advantage. We’ll be there every step of the way to hold them accountable with Granite State voters.

Please note that State offices will be closed in observance of Presidents’ Day (Monday, February 18th).

All the best,


Dick Hinch, House Republican Leader

Click here to view the latest House Calendar

House Republican Leader Reacts to Rules Committee Vote on Shutdown Rebuke

CONCORD – House Republican Leader Dick Hinch (R-Merrimack) issued the following statement in reaction to the House Rules committee vote to allow late drafting and introduction of a resolution, offered by Rep. Peter Schmidt (D-Dover), condemning the government shutdown. Details of the proposal are not available, and were offered verbally before the committee on Thursday.

“New Hampshire Democrats are doing a great job finding avenues to exploit the shutdown for political gain. By the time a resolution is drafted, introduced, and goes through the legislative process, it could be late March. At the end of the day, both sides in Washington, D.C. need to do their job, and do it quickly. Passing this type of resolution won’t do anything to solve the problem, and uses state resources to make a purely political statement.”

The committee voted on party lines to approve the request for the resolution to be drafted and introduced.

House Republican Leader Opposes $100 Per Day Vehicle Registration Fine Proposal

CONCORD – House Republican Leader Dick Hinch (R-Merrimack) issued the following statement on House Bill 563, relating to the fees for failing to register a motor vehicle. The bill proposes to modify the fine from $100 per occurrence to $100 per day.

“This is another Democrat-sponsored bill that finds a new way to squeeze more money out of our citizens. I’m not sure how you would calculate the percentage increase in the fine as proposed in the bill, but if you were a week late, you could have a $700 fine instead of a $100 fine. That’s a 700% increase in just one week,” Hinch said. “This bill is sponsored by the legislator who was appointed to lead the House committee that deals with taxes and fees. If this is how Democrats want to demonstrate to voters how they plan on running the state, we’re in for an expensive 2 years.”

Link to text of the bill: http://gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billText.aspx?sy=2019&id=497&txtFormat=html

House Republican Leader Responds to Latest Supreme Court Ruling on SB3

Concord, NH- House Republican Leader Dick Hinch (R-Merrimack) released the following statement today in response to the NH Supreme Court’s Ruling on SB3. The Supreme Court denied the NH Democratic Party and the League of Women Voters, et al. access to the voter database in their latest ruling.

“The latest ruling by the Supreme Court is a major win for New Hampshire privacy advocates. The secure voter database in question contains extremely confidential information, such as the last four digits of social security numbers, birth dates, drivers’ license numbers, and more. Allowing access to this information in order for a political organization to make a biased argument, is a breach of New Hampshire citizens’ privacy and trust. I am hopeful the Court will see the compelling need for this law as SB3 continues to be fully litigated.”

Upcoming Public Hearing Preview

Tuesday, January 29

HB 541 – relative to allocating electoral college electors based on the national popular vote
Election Law, LOB Room 308, 1:30PM.

HB 608 – expanding the law against discrimination based on gender identity to other areas of the law prohibiting discrimination
Judiciary, LOB Room 208, 1:00PM.

Wednesday, January 30

HB 697-FN-A – relative to Medicare for all
Commerce and Consumer Affairs, LOB Room 302, 2:30PM.
This bill establishes a single payer health care system in the state of New Hampshire.

HB 693-FN – relative to aid to persons funded by Medicaid and for persons who are uninsured and establishing a special fund
Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs, LOB Room 205, 10:30AM
This bill creates a $10,000/year tax on every licensed medical professional who doesn’t take Medicaid or uninsured patients.

HB 735-FN-A – relative to carbon pricing
Science, Technology and Energy, LOB Room 304, 1:30PM
This bill creates a carbon tax that will cost almost $800 million/year.

Republican Caucus Training
The team of Republican Advisors will be holding their second training session for Republican House Members on Friday, February 1st at 10AM until approximately 12PM. The training will take place in Legislative Office Building Room 301-303. The training will be focused on public speaking and should help giving you the tools necessary to effectively persuade colleagues and the public. The AFP Foundation has been invited to speak on the subject as well.

At the conclusion of the meeting, lunch will be provided to attending legislators in the Upham Walker house from approximately 12PM-1PM.

Please RSVP so we can have an accurate head count for lunch

What: Republican Legislator Training
When: Friday, February 1st, beginning at 10:00 AM
Where: Legislative Office Building, Room 301-303

2019 HOUSE DEADLINES

Friday, January 18, 2019 Last day to introduce House Bills, Last day to amend House Rules by majority vote
Thursday, February 21, 2019, noon Last day to report HBs going to a second committee
Thursday, February 28, 2019 Last day to act on HBs going to a second committee
Thursday, March 14, 2019, noon Last day to report all HBs not in a second committee, except budget bills
Thursday, March 21, 2019 Last day to act on HBs not in a second committee, except budget bills
Thursday, March 28, 2019, noon Last day to report House Bills, except budget bills, Last day to report list of retained HBs
Thursday, April 4, 2019 Last day to report budget bills, Last day to act on House Bills, except budget bills
Thursday, April 11, 2019 BUDGET CROSSOVER – Last day to act on budget bills
Thursday, May 2, 2019, noon Last day to report Senate Bills going to a second committee
Thursday, May 9, 2019 Last day to act on SBs going to a second committee
Thursday, May 30, 2019, noon Last day to report all remaining SBs, Last day to report list of retained SBs
Thursday, June 6, 2019 Last day to act on SBs
Thursday, June 13, 2019 Last day to form Committees of Conference
Thursday, June 20, 2019 Last day to sign Committee of Conference reports (4:00 p.m.)
Thursday, June 27, 2019 Last day to act on Committee of Conference reports

News Clips: Stay in the Know

The House Republican Office maintains a news clips service for the benefit of members, but anyone can sign up. We want you to stay informed on news and opinion being published across state media of importance to lawmakers, and activists. Just visit GraniteClips.com, and use the sign-up form on the top right of the content area. You can view today’s email as an example by clicking here.

NH HOUSE STATS

Republicans: 167

The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

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