NH House passes local spending cap bill

[Keith and stuff]

Edit: SB2 passed, not HB341. They are very similar bills and do almost the exact same thing.

The NH House passed HB341 which would allow towns and cities to pass spending cap bills. Franklin, Nashua, Laconia, Dover and Rochester already have spending caps in place.

There was an effort to get a spending cap in place in Manchester, NH. It was supported by the voters, the former mayor and the current mayor. However, some of the other government workers opposed the idea and brought up legal challenges.

This bill was designed to make it very clear to everyone that cities and towns have the right to put a spending cap in place. Currently, as far as I know, no towns (just cities) in NH have formal spending caps in place as there was also some question of whether towns were allowed to pass spending caps. If I read this bill correctly, it should clear up that issue and towns would be allowed to pass spending caps. That issue is especially important with the NH legislative looking to cut state spending this year.

http://www.nhliberty.org/bills/view/2011/HB341
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill...llnumber=HB341

[Johnnybags]

Doh, is not that union busting or patronage limits? Gotta be illegal for a town to cap expenses when citizens can afford no new taxes?

[Keith and stuff]

This is the group that has worked hardest to get the spending caps passed in cities all over NH, http://www.thenhadvantage.com/

A couple articles on this issue,

Bill would allow NH towns to adopt spending caps
By KATHY McCORMACK -
By The Associated Press
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...ding-caps.html

NH Supreme Court strikes down Manchester spending cap
Wednesday November 10th 2010, 10:11 am
http://blogs.unionleader.com/andrew-.../archives/1823

[Keith and stuff]

House passes bill to allow tax caps
By GARRY RAYNO
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
12 hours, 32 minutes ago

http://www.unionleader.com/article.a...3-8b3c3d84a0a7

House Speaker William O'Brien said after the vote "Spending caps are an effective mechanism to control property taxes locally. Through this enabling legislation, we want to give cities and towns the tools to keep spending in check and this bill will do just that. The communities across the state that have enacted these caps have found them to work in restraining growth in their local spending."

House Majority Leader B.J. Bettencourt agreed. "House Republicans are totally committed to providing the cities and towns of this state the tools to rein in spending. The voters demanded fiscal responsibility from state government, and local communities deserve the same protection."

He said the bill lets the communities that have spending caps keep them, and it clears up any ambiguity as to whether there is any problem that would stop cities and towns from putting a spending cap in place.

[Keith and stuff]

Here is an old, outdated about about when the Court interfered with the Manchester Spending Cap,

Manchester spending cap overruled

Story by Darren Tapp

21 December 2010

https://www.manchfree.com/article/10...-cap-overruled

Many people contributed a lot of work to pass the spending cap, including having the language reviewed by the New Hampshire Attorney General. You may remember the mysterious group Keep Manchester Moving, which has ties back to Washington D.C. Not to mention the opposition from people who benefit directly from city spending, such as local members of the SEIU. In the face of this opposition, like David against Goliath, the spending cap was ultimately triumphant.

What's worse is that the court's ruling is based on a description of Robert's Rules in state law, making the ruling based on what amounts to a technicality. Hopefully, the new batch of state legislators will address this issue by respecting the local autonomy of the cities and towns in New Hampshire. In fact, I expect it!

And in fact, a bill did pass the house. The chances are over 50% that it will become law as I don't see the NH Senate or Gov. Lynch likely to stop it.

[Keith and stuff]

Finally, some positive news on this bill, a bill that to some people, is the most important bill being considered this year for the future of NH.

HB 341 was tabled and instead, the Senate version, SB 2 was used.
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill...billnumber=SB2

SB 2 would do this, "This bill allows cities and towns under a charter, and towns, school districts, and other political subdivisions under the municipal budget act to adopt a tax cap to limit increases to the amount to be raised by taxes in the annual budget."

Votes:
Passed Senate: 19-5
Passed House: 276-95
The Senate concurred: voice vote

Now it is on to the Governor. Don't worry, no matter what the Governor does, there are enough votes to pass this bill. Once this bill passes, the hard work starts. People in town after town are going to have to work very hard to finally get these spending caps in place. Currently, in NH, only cities are allowed to pass spending caps, not town. This is a game changer in NH

[Keith and stuff]

I am very happy to announce that Gov. Lynch signed SB 2 and it is now law in NH. This is easily one of the best local control related bills to pass in any state legislature in the nation this year.

I look forward to the slow process of town after town in NH passing spending cap(s) or tax cap(s.)

Lynch signs local tax caps back into law
Published Jul 5, 2011 at 3:37 pm
http://www.unionleader.com/article/2...WS06/110709945

CONCORD - Gov. John Lynch Tuesday signed a bill that clears the way for cities, towns and school districts to adopt caps on local tax increases.

The bill also states that any tax cap that voters elected to make part of their charter is now valid, whether or not it was legal to adopt the cap at the time it passed.

The bill, Senate Bill 2, gives communities clear guidelines and greater leeway in adopting the caps. It also allows caps to be exceeded with super-majority votes of the local governing body.

In a city like Manchester, the governing body would be the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. In a small town, it would most often be voters at an annual meeting.

The bill does not set out a specific percentage of votes needed to exceed a cap. Instead, it allows communities and school districts to choose the level, which is most often either a two-thirds majority or of a three-fifths majority.