Politicians Continue To Take More Control Over Your Business

Who should decide how a business operates? 

Not the business owner! Why would politicians allow you to decide how to run your own business? You are stupid and evil and do not know how to run your business. You take advantage of people. You are a horrible person. Even when adults consent to work for you and even when adults consent to buy from you, they are just fools who are being taken advantage of. They don’t know what’s good for them. That’s really what many of New Hampshire’s legislators believe. 

Numerous legislators in NH have proposed socialist bills (as they do every year) which would grant themselves increasing amounts of control over private businesses, thereby violating the property rights of entrepreneurs. 

Among the socialist, anti-freedom bills are:

Senate Bill 67, which forces employers to provide paid sick leave for all of their employees. So much for the progressives’ support for consent among two adults. These tyrants do not believe that adults are capable of making their own deals with each other; they are idiots who must be protected by almighty politicians who intervene in their business by handcuffing their employer (both literally and figuratively). 

House Bill 593, which seems to make it illegal for food delivery services (UberEats, DoorDash, etc.) to operate in the absence of an official agreement with the restaurant. Other than the definition section, this is the whole bill:

“A food delivery platform shall not arrange for the delivery of an order from a food service establishment or retail food store without first obtaining an agreement with the food service establishment or retail food store expressly authorizing the food delivery platform to take orders and deliver meals prepared by the food service establishment or retail food store.

Any food delivery platform that violates this chapter shall be guilty of a violation and fined $100 for each delivery made without the agreement required in paragraph II.”

House Bill 113 forces employers to pay the balance of unused paid vacation time to employees upon termination. This means that employers must account for higher payroll/termination costs, which means that they need to pay employees less and/or increase the price of their goods and services for the consumer, which is you. Alternatively, politicians could just mind their own business and allow free consenting adults to work where they want to work. If you don’t like a certain job’s PTO policy, don’t work there. Nobody is forcing anyone to work in any specific job. This regulation would harm businesses, employees, and consumers. Worst of all, it violates property rights and consent. 

House Bill 231 forces employers to provide special break time during the work day for lactating women to breastfeed and/or pump breast milk. Additionally, “An employer shall make reasonable efforts to provide access to a designated lactation space and adequate facilities for breastfeeding…Adequate facilities for breastfeeding shall mean a sanitary indoor place, or other location, other than a bathroom or toilet stall, that is shielded from view from intrusion from co-workers and the public. The lactation space shall have, either in the room where it is located or nearby, access to a sink, refrigerator or cooler, and an electrical outlet.”

It doesn’t take a professional economist to see the cost of this bill. It would literally use the power of the government to force business owners to build or lease an additional room with a sink and fridge for breastfeeding women, and it forces employers to allow breastfeeding employees to take extra breaks during the work day. Do you know what this means? It means that this bill makes breastfeeding women much more costly employees. If this bill passes, I would not hire any women who are or could become breastfeeding employees. Why hire someone who will work less and cost more? Better question: Why are four Democrat Representatives proposing a bill which makes women less employable? Aren’t they the party of the working women?

House Bill 590 forces business owners to provide paid sick time to their employees. Again, in a world where consent is respected and adults are not micromanaged by politicians, they would each be free to negotiate their own terms with each other. The bill states that “All full or part-time employees who work in New Hampshire shall receive paid sick time as provided in this chapter”. The legislators also grant massively broad powers to the commissioner of labor: “The commissioner shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to the forms, procedures, implementation, and enforcement of this chapter….The commissioner shall coordinate implementation and enforcement of this chapter.”

UPDATE: HB590 has been killed, thanks to you!

House Bill 618 states that “no food service business shall sell or distribute in the state a disposable food service product for foods or beverages that is composed in whole or in part of polystyrene foam.” If a business currently uses this material for their food, there must be a reason they do. Forcing them to find an alternative will directly translate to higher costs and/or a worse product for the entrepreneur – and for the consumer. 

Introduced by 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans, HB65 forces restaurants to “Include on all menus and menu boards a notice to customers of the customer’s obligation to inform the server of his or her food allergies…” and “…have a person in charge during all hours of operation trained and certified as a food protection manager by a program approved by the department which includes training regarding food allergens.  Such person shall ensure that employees are properly informed of food safety issues, including awareness of food allergies, as it is related to the employees’ assigned duties.”

This would necessarily force small businesses to spend more money than necessary to hire an extra employee, create more menus, and waste lots of money. Again, this would force the business owner to raise prices or cut salaries to make up for the loss in money.

UPDATE: HB65 has been retained in committee.

Email your Representatives, Senators, and the committees that will hear these terrible anti-liberty bills.