OSBORNE: House Democrats can’t be trusted with your money

As Election Day approaches, more rhetoric will be thrown at you from both parties. But before you go to the polls, let me remind you: the party elected with the majority will oversee the drafting of the state budget for the next two years, a period when economists believe there will be headwinds from inflation and energy prices (Democrat results) . Mismanagement) will plunge us into recession.

In 2009, New Hampshire was in a recession and Democrats were in control of state government. The Democratic-controlled Legislature passed a budget that later included draining the state’s Rainy Day Fund by $80 million by increasing spending instead of making cuts and keeping spending within our means.

This proved to be a disastrous decision that resulted in ratings agencies such as Standards & Poor’s and Moody’s downgrading our government’s credit rating and classifying us as “credit negative,” which affected our ability to issue bonds. Furthermore, the state barely had enough money to run the government for just two days.

This $80 million transfer represented 90 percent of our state’s reserve funds at the time. Can you imagine wasting 90 percent of your family’s savings to keep your expenses high instead of tightening your belt to get back on track? There’s no way I can do that. Terrible decision making at a critical time.

Democrats have proven time and time again that they balance their budgets based on revenue that either doesn’t exist or that they need to raise taxes and fees to cover their overspending.

In 2013, then-Gov. Hassan presented lawmakers with a budget based on the revenue the state would expect from a casino. There was a problem: casinos weren’t legal. In 2019, Governor Sununu proposed a budget to the Legislature that wisely spent one-time revenue on one-time projects. Instead of funding these one-time revitalization projects, House Democrats decided to use these one-time operating budget revenues to cover ongoing expenses. That’s like getting a one-time bonus from work and taking out a larger mortgage while your income doesn’t change. But the gimmicks don’t stop there.

If they don’t get the money, they have to go somewhere else and dig deeper into their pockets. Although the Democrats’ budget included outrageous tax increases in 2009, they still left the state with a structural deficit of $800 million by 2011. Among other things, it increased inspection sticker fees, increased the non-resident gun permit fee by 500 percent and implemented the LLC tax, which devastates small businesses. That was over $300 million in increased taxes and fees.

I’m proud to say that thanks to Republicans, New Hampshire will finally be income tax free starting January 1st. We have an interest and dividend tax levied on most of our retirees that penalizes saving. House Democrats voted against it and continue to support legislation to reinstate it. Under Democrats you can guarantee the tax will come back. Additionally, in 2019, they implemented a capital gains tax of $150 million per year and used that money to balance their budget. In total, the new taxes and fees amounted to $400 million. Their policies are something taxpayers, small businesses and our state economy cannot afford.

Over the years, they have shifted millions to county governments. They repealed business tax cuts that have proven to boost our economy. They allowed the governor to raid 300 special funds to cover budget mismanagement by state agencies, and they withdrew $27 million from our already troubled highway funds to cover overspending by other agencies.

I could go on, but I’m sure you get my point: Democrats’ policies are not consistent with the views of Granite Staters, and they are certainly not the party you want to lead in tough economic times want.

When Gov. Sununu vetoed the Democrats’ budget in 2019, he said, “New Hampshire families know they need to live within their means, and they have every right to expect the same from their government.” I completely agree absolutely, and we need Republicans at the table who have a proven track record of doing just that.

Join me in sending a message on Election Day that we simply cannot trust Democrats to manage our state’s finances. Join me in voting for responsible budgeting, no new taxes and fees, and living within our means. Let’s make failed Democratic budget mismanagement a thing of the past and vote for Republican candidates for the state legislature on Tuesday, November 5th.