Advocates Respond to New Report Showing HB155 Blows a Hole in Revenue While Hiking Property Taxes
NEW HAMPSHIRE – New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute (NHFPI) released a new report yesterday, highlighting that NH Republicans’ proposed BET tax cut is set to decrease state revenue by $26 million, placing the cost burden on working class Granite Staters. Advocates from a diverse group of organizations responded with the following statements.
This $26 million cut per year is expected to jumpstart higher property taxes statewide via local budget strains, and research indicates New Hampshire’s small businesses would reap hardly any benefits compared to large corporations. $26 million a year is more than:
Half of state aid for roads and bridges
Half the budget of State Police
Half the budget of the Veterans Home
Half the funding for the Bureau of Children’s Behavioral Health
“HB 155 is the same tired trickle-down lie we’ve heard for decades with conservative politicians rigging the economy so billionaire CEOs win while working people pay more,” said Lucas Meyer, Founder of Our Economy Our Future. “This corporate tax cut does nothing to grow the economy, lower costs, or help small businesses; the data show the savings are pocket change for most main street businesses and a $26 million gut punch to our communities. It’s a corporate giveaway that raises property taxes, drains funding from schools and services that keep us healthy and safe, and proves - yet again- that the rest of us pay the price when conservative leaders are writing the rules of the economy.”
"What our working families really need is quality schools, housing that won’t bankrupt you, affordable child care, and accessible health care, not tax cuts for wealthy corporations,” said Mackenzie Nicholson, Senior Director for MomsRising NH. This is a bad deal for New Hampshire. We deserve leaders who are focused on investing in our kids and our workforce. But New Hampshire Republicans keep choosing another handout to their wealthy friends and donors instead of taking care of the families that keep New Hampshire moving forward.”
"Republicans promised to lower costs, but all they have done is lower revenue, lower taxes for the ultra-wealthy, and drain the Rainy Day Fund while prices continue to skyrocket. HB 155 is selling out the future of New Hampshire,” said Matt Mooshian, Program Director of 603 Forward. “The NHFPI report undercuts their arguments around job growth, proving instead that there is no correlation between cutting the BET tax and job opportunities in the last four decades. Instead of repeating the failed policies of the last four decades, we need to be thinking about the next four. The ultra-wealthy, corporations, and the donor class have had more than their share of tax cuts. We need to see real investment in young people in this state."
Other key points from NHFPI on the cost of HB155:
Limited hiring impact: The average business paying BET would have saved about $565 per year. After excluding the largest firms (those with more than $44 million in taxable payroll or other compensation), businesses with BET liability would save about $336 per year on average, an amount unlikely to influence employment decisions. Nearly half of BET filers do not actually owe BET, suggesting no benefit at all.
Significant tradeoffs for public services: The annual revenue loss is equivalent to more than half of the state’s road and bridge aid to municipalities, or more than half the annual budgets of the State Police, the New Hampshire Veterans Home, or the Bureau of Children’s Behavioral Health.
Past rate cuts show similar patterns: Because the BET is based largely on wages paid by businesses, BET revenue would normally rise as wages grow. After past rate cuts, however, BET revenue fell and has not caught back up to that wage-based trend, indicating economic growth did not offset the revenue losses.
No clear relationship between BET rates and job growth: Historical data show no consistent statistical relationship between BET rates and job growth in New Hampshire over the last four decades. Prior studies, including New Hampshire’s own Commission to Study Business Taxes, have found little evidence that business tax cuts generate enough new economic activity to replace lost revenue.
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603 Forward envisions a thriving New Hampshire where people are free to live, work and raise a family. In our New Hampshire: democracy is protected above all else; young people have a voice in government at all levels; and policy changes to help build an inclusive, affordable and resilient state.
