RAYMOND – The national unemployment rate is now over 10% and will grow more over the winter. New Hampshire has been lucky that we haven’t gotten that bad yet, but we are creeping upward at an unacceptable rate.
The real backbone of the NH economy is our small, local, mom and pop businesses and we need to ease their tax burden, not keep increasing it. Reducing their tax burden will free up some capital that they can then use for growth and possibly hire more employees. We must also stop increasing all the taxes and fees. I just don’t understand the mind set in Concord. With all the news about the economy, it seems to me that they just want to keep adding more burden.
I have been attending all the sub-committee meetings of the Ways & Means Committee, working with the very serious problem of the maintenance fund for the state owned dams. The fund will be broke in 2011. The sub-committee will be voting on their answer, and bringing it to the full committee for a vote. Their answer is a “50cents a lineal foot” fee on shoreland property upstream of the dam. These people in many locations are already hit with a “view tax” in addition to the regular property tax. But who does the repaired dam really help? You got it, the people downstream, who don’t get the fee imposed on them. If HB-490 comes to the House floor like this, I’ll be voting against my own bill. I just can’t support this idea.
SB-65 I co-sponsored “relative to the acceptance of in lieu payments for the restoration or creation of wetlands and established a committee to study the fees” passed. The committee has been meeting. Last week, the chairman of the committee came to me and wanted me to author an amendment to the current legislation to increase the fee from 5% to 20% for two years, then sunset. As far as I’m concerned, the 20% has already sunset, I refused to author the amendment and if it comes to the House floor, I’ll vote against it. We must stop raising everything.
Business NH Magazine had an article this month about wines, but they weren’t New Hampshire wines. The next paragraph is a Letter to the Editor I wrote and sent to them.
“Business NH? The days of white wine with chicken and fish, and red wine with beef is history. So should the idea that the best wines are from France, Germany, Spain, and other foreign places, including California. I say, “buy New Hampshire wines.” Support our own local businesses. The ‘Spirits of the Holidays’ at our home are all local wines. Our guests bring a new wine for pre-dinner tasting, and if they would like, another to enjoy during the meal.
“For this Thanksgiving, my wife and I have: Vignoles 2008, and River’s Edge Red, from Jewell Towne Vineyards; Cranbreez, from Zorvino Vineyards; Blueberry and Apple Wine, from Sweet Baby Vineyards; Noiret (red) and La Crescent (white), from Candia Vineyards; and North River Tawny Port, from Flag Hill Vineyards.
“Also, by buying these local wines, you are helping other local stores and suppliers. As an example, take Sweet Baby Vineyard’s: blueberries come from Taylor Brown Blueberry Farm, in Barnstead, for the Blueberry wine; for the Raspberry wine, the raspberries are from High Hope’s Farm in Westmoreland; and for the Apple and Strawberry wines, the supplier is Hampton Falls Apple Crest Farm. It’s one local business helping another.
“So please support and enjoy the ‘Spirit of Holidays’ by sipping our local “Business NH” wines. Whenever you go out to eat, ask your server if they serve NH wines. If no, ask for the manager, and tell them it would be nice to have NH wines with your meal.”
Every time you drive down a road, unfortunately, you see another business that has closed its doors, or cut its business hours. We really will have to stick together this winter and help all our local businesses. Losing a business not only is a business loss, but it is also more people out of work. Even while Christmas shopping, try your best to buy your items locally.
My quote for this week is from my daughter Lisa: “Put your car keys beside your bed at night.” If you have your keys on the night stand, when you hear a noise outside, or someone is trying to enter your home, just press the panic alarm button on your car key pad, and the horn will blow, scaring off anyone approaching your home.
Editor’s Note: NH State Representative Mike Kappler can be reached at l.mikekappler@comcast.net
