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January 21, 2010

My Opinion: Jan. 21, 2010

By NH State Rep. L. Mike Kappler

RAYMOND – I would like to remind you that Raymond has a winter parking ban, effective from November 15th to April 1st. No vehicle shall be parked on any public street, or in the right of way, between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Our police department is strictly enforcing this and your vehicle will be towed at the owners expense.

Also along with winter, I would like to remind everyone that it is against the law to plow onto or across any town roads. When plowing, you must plow from the street into your property. This prevents problematic legal and safety issues. Winter sand is available outside the gate at the Transfer Station on Prescott Rd. for residents of Raymond. Residents may take two 5 gallon buckets of sand per visit.

Election time is coming soon with many decisions to be made. I would highly suggest that you attend the Deliberative Sessions, partake in the discussions, and vote. Raymond School District session is January 30th, and the Town of Raymond’s is on February 6th; both are held at the Raymond High School cafe.

The way I am looking at the start of this year is: if it doesn’t feed you, insure you, get you back and forth to work, or keep a roof over you, maybe you can do without it. The problem as I see it is, people who have never had to live without, don’t know basics from luxuries. Perfect examples of this are: your cable package, you only need basic; your phone bill, how many cell phones does your family need, especially the kids’ cell phones with unlimited calls; how about all the trips to the movies; how about all the computer games, when your children could be playing outside, playing sports, both of which are more healthy anyway. These are just a few ways to keep from going under in this poor economy.

And please don’t expect it to get better soon, as I don’t think it will, especially as the Democrats continue to spend at the State House. Many people I talked to lately, thought that the Democrats would ease up on spending, taxes, and fees, seeing the current economy and how far the State budget is unbalanced. I completely disagree with this idea. I think they will take this session to try every way they can to pass all their pet projects, fees, and taxes, before they’re gone.

The January 13th House Session continued on with the regular calendar 2009 retained bills, left from the previous weeks calendar.

HB-523-FN, requiring DNA testing of all persons convicted of a felony. Only three states currently do not have this requirement on the books, NH, Nebraska, and Idaho. Testing of convicted felons will certainly promote the safety and security for individual citizens. This is a good addition to the tools that help law enforcement solve crimes. Bill passed OTP-A.

HB-665-FN, This bill would have changed driving “under the influence of a controlled drug” to driving “under the influence of a chemical substance, natural or synthetic, or its metabolites (intertwining of various chemicals)”. Coming out of committee as OTP-A, the bill was ITL (killed) on the floor.

HB-368, relative to annual goals in a home education program. Laws should be implemented to encourage school choice and competition and allow all parents to choose the best public, private, charter or home school program for their children, not being monitored or mandated by the state. This bill would have placed numerous new regulations on homeschoolers. Happily this bill died (ITL), on a roll call vote of 324-34.

SB-59- this bill as amended clarifies that state school building aid can be applied to “major renovation” as well as new construction, which is already in current law. This is another TAX increase that came out of Education Committee as OTP-A. I support local control, whereas this bill is more state intrusion into the local education decisions. Unfortunately, the bill passed on a voice vote OTP-A.

HB-675-FN, requiring a refundable deposit on beverage containers. Yet another container TAX bill. What is really needed is for the towns to have a more active educational outreach program on recycling. This bill was bad for businesses, especially a state line border business; it’s unnecessary, and I am opposed to any tax or fee. Bill was voted as it came out of committee RFTS.

HB-304, relative to death with dignity for certain persons suffering from a terminal condition. Debate on the floor pointed out that in New Hampshire, if you commit suicide all by yourself, without any assistance, it is legal; but if you have any assistance it is illegal. The bill did not require the doctor to administer the medication, only prescribe it, if you picked up your prescription and then changed your mind, what happened to the prescription? Was it just put in your medicine closet? What happened with what was left of the prescription if you used some and died? After much fighting in the committee and a lot of debating on the floor, this bill was voted on a roll call vote 242-113 as ITL, thank God. The sponsor Rep. Weed said “It will be back”.

HB-630-FN-A, relative to live racing in NH. Bill repeals the statutory authority for live dog racing. Why, I thought NH liked gambling? Bill flew through the floor as OTP-A and was sent to Ways & Means as a second committee. I received no input from the Rockingham County tracks. Why? Are they happy to let dog racing die? Did they let the dogs die, hoping that by agreeing to that, they would get slots?

HB-681-FN, relative to aquatic resource compensatory mitigation. This bill enables developers and applicants to have a voluntary option to deposit funds into the Aquatic Resource Mitigation Fund (ARM). The state lost a federal grant supporting this program, and this bill raised the administrative FEE paid to the state of New Hampshire from 5% to 20%. DES claimed that without this raise, the program would fail. In committee I argued that this is a common problem with a grant, it’s good while you get it, but if you can not sustain witho , “Being a volunteer program, and in this poor economy, how many applications will DES get in these two years? Will this increase be enough? Why not use LAC or other volunteers to help administer the program?”

Now here’s a good one. HB-642-FN-A-L, establishing a flat rate education Income Tax and relative to the statewide enhanced education Tax and certain other Taxes. This bill came out of Ways and Means Committee on a vote of 16-1 to ITL (kill). Isn’t it ironic that the one vote not to kill the bill was a one day assignment of a person to sit in for someone regularly on the committee who was absent, and that assigned person just happened to be the bill’s sponsor. This bill that established a rate of $5.50 per $1,000 for the statewide education tax was sponsored by Democrats Rep. Osborne, D, Merr. 12; Rep. Weed, D, Ches. 3; Rep. Hamm, D, Merr. 4; Rep. Ken Gould, D, Rock 5; and Rep. French, D, Merr. 5. This bill is definitely not good in this economy and is against our New Hampshire traditions, cultures, and “Live free or die” motto.

HB-232, permitting the pesticide control board to establish pesticide fees. This bill raised the annual manufacturers’ registration fee from $80.00 to $120.00 per product for: restricted use pesticide; general use pesticide, other than a specialty/household pesticide; and specialty/household pesticide. I hope you don’t think for a minute that the manufacturer will absorb this 50% increase. It will be passed on to us, the consumer.

The Senate pushed through SB-300 and quickly brought it over to the House for passage. This bill, relative to Electric Utility System Benefits Charge, requires the public utilities commission to, “without increasing the aggregate amount of the system benefits charge, increase the portion of such charge used to fund the Electric Assistance Program (EAP) for low-income customers as necessary to adequately fund the program, up to 1.8 mills per kilowatt hour”. What this means is: there is currently a 3.3 mils charge on your electric bill; 1.5 mils of this was used to fund EAP; 1.8 mils was used for energy efficiency. This bill moves the energy efficiency money, as needed, into the EAP to adequately fund it. This move is to assist the low-income customers and will be of no extra cost to electrical customers. This was a good bill to help our less fortunate neighbors.

(Editor’s Note: NH State Representative Mike Kappler can be reached at l.mikekappler@comcast.net) 

Text Only
My Opinion: Jan. 21, 2010
by By NH State Rep. L. Mike Kappler , , Thu Jan 21, 2010, 02:23 PM EST
My Opinion

Obituaries
  • Myron W. Cate

    RAYMOND — Myron W. Cate, 79, of Hay Springs, Nebraska died peacefully at home on August 20, 2010. Myron was born on February 23, 1931 in Manchester. He was a resident of Raymond, until he joined the United States Navy at the age of 17. He proudly served his country in both the Navy and then the Air Force during the Korean War. Myron's patriotism and strong love of American Freedom was seen as he was known to even carry a copy of the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution in his pocket.

    Continued ...
    13 hours
  • William H. Goodwin

    William "Bill" H. Goodwin Sr. died Tues., August 10, 2010

    Continued ...
    14 days
  • Irving L. Swett

    Irving L. Swett, 95, died August 9, 2010.

    Continued ...
    14 days
  • Dwight "Pop" Tuttle

    Dwight "Pop" Tuttle, 77, passed away very peacefully on Wed., July 28, 2010.

    Continued ...
    21 days
  • Pamela D. Mastroianni

    Pamela D. Mastroianni, 63, of Kingston, passed unexpectedly at Exeter Hospital on August 1, 2010.

    Continued ...
    21 days

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