Earlier today, the New Hampshire House voted to reject an amendment that would have significantly reduced the bureaucratic and fiscal impact of HB 628. The House then voted to pass the tax increase by a vote of 171-162. If you noticed that those two figures do not equal 400 – the number of total NH representatives – you would be correct. We will not address those who didn’t participate in this critical vote in this article.
The bill is titled ‘An act relative to a family and medical leave insurance program’. Not in the title of the bill is the fact that the New Hampshire payroll tax would be increased by 0.67% of employee wages in order to fund the new government redistribution program and the department that would administer it. It appears difficult to determine what the average employer in NH currently pays in payroll taxes. The current NH payroll tax seems to generally fund unemployment insurance, which seems to my untrained brain to have excessive brackets, levels, and conditions that make it impossible to calculate. I welcome someone who understands this type of convoluted tyranny to write an article explaining the specifics of the current payroll tax.
As explained in a previous Liberty Block article, a payroll tax is the type of tax that big-government politicians dream about. It essentially has no ceiling, it’s nearly 100% invisible to everyone besides for employers, and government employees are automatically exempt from paying this tax on income.
The bill will make its way through the NH Senate over the next few months, where it is expected to pass and be delivered to Governor Sununu’s desk.
Governor Sununu has signaled support for paid family leave but has also touted his stance on keeping NH taxes low. To further complicate the matter, he recently released this statement regarding the proposed bill. Sununu may be positioning himself to veto the bill in its current form due to its unsustainability and its tax increase. But he may also support the proposal. Will he support a particular amendment in the Senate? Would the amendment make HB 628 more or less of a burden on those who seek to live their lives free from government intrusion? Only time will tell…
