Contact: Adrienne Rupp
Business and Industry Association
Office: 603.224.5388 x114
Mobile: 603.731.7754
arupp@nhbia.org
CONCORD, N.H. – Aug. 12, 2009 – The Business and Industry Association – New Hampshire’s statewide chamber of commerce and leading business advocate – has released its 2009 Legislative Scorecard. The scorecard summarizes key business-related legislation from the 2009 legislative session, reports and scores how each New Hampshire legislator voted, and indicates whether each vote was consistent with BIA’s pro-business position.
Since 2005, BIA has published an annual voting guide, which has listed key business votes for each legislator; it did not include overall percentages to summarize pro-business voting records. This year, the BIA board of directors voted to change the name to a legislative scorecard and include percentages to allow BIA members, the New Hampshire business community and the general public to conclude more easily which senators and representatives voted with the business community.
“While state policy-makers are to be commended for avoiding many taxes affecting the business community during the 2009 legislative session – like the suspension of the BET credit against the BPT and a capital gains tax – there remains growing unease among New Hampshire’s business leaders about the state’s changing business climate,” said BIA President Jim Roche. “The votes in the 2009 Legislative Scorecard reflect policy decisions by lawmakers that in many cases will make it more expensive
and more difficult for New Hampshire businesses to compete in our global economy. The scorecard, which notes the percentage of time legislators’ votes are consistent with BIA’s positions, will help our members understand quickly and easily how well lawmakers in Concord represent their interests.”
Roche cited the New Hampshire WARN Act and expansion of unemployment benefits that result in higher business costs as examples of how New Hampshire’s pro-business climate is changing.
The 2009 scorecard tracks key votes from the House and Senate, which include:
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HB 2, floor amendment 1228h – vote on capital gains tax
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HB 2, floor amendment 1227h – vote on freeze in reduction of the insurance premium tax
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HB 2, floor amendment 2002s – vote on suspension of BET credit against the BPT
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HB 103 – relative to paying discharged and laid-off employees
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HB 572 – relative to proceedings of medical injury claims screening panels
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HB 580 – relative to health information and patient rights
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HB 686 – relative to complaint procedures in cases before the Commission for Human Rights
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CACR 2 – relating to funding of public education
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SB 40 – relative to providing advance notice of impending plant closings and layoffs
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SB 144 – allowing the unemployment compensation trust fund to be charged for benefits paid for certain employee terminations
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SB 152 – relative to an investigation by the Public Utilities Commission to determine whether the scrubber installation at the Merrimack station is in the public interest of retail customers
BIA established a position on many other important business-related bills that do not appear in the Legislative Scorecard either because there was no roll-call vote, the bills were defeated in committee or they were retained in committee for later action. The BIA is a non-partisan advocacy group that is pro-business and fiscally conservative. The bills included in this scorecard were of particular importance to the business community.
To download the scorecard, visit the Legislative Scorecard page and click 2009 Legislative Scorecard.