Opponents argue the invoice is pointless as a result of no lawsuits have but been filed in New Hampshire, though greater than 200 such lawsuits have been filed throughout the nation. Their reasoning is flawed: If the opponents of the secure haven payments are appropriate and no lawsuits referring to COVID-19 infections are ever filed within the state, then the implementation of the regulation does no hurt. But when they’re mistaken, the fast passage of secure harbor regulation can forestall firms from closing their doorways for good. We lose nothing however the safety we want so badly by shifting to safe ports now. Sadly, on the time of this writing, the destiny of those payments is unsure.

One other vital invoice is SB 61, an act to make New Hampshire the one “proper to work” state within the northeastern United States. The “proper to work” implies that people can’t be pressured to affix a union or pay to assist it as a situation of employment. BIA doesn’t consider that the staff of an organization needs to be pressured to assist a union if they don’t see its worth. Unions ought to must show their price on daily basis, as ought to the BIA, native chambers of commerce and commerce associations. Frankly, it might be nice if all firms within the state had been pressured to affix the BIA. After all, BIA’s work advantages all the enterprise group. But, since we can not drive employers to financially assist our work, we work on daily basis to show our price to companies. Organized work shouldn’t be exempt from this identical requirement.

Moreover, most employers acknowledge the big benefit that their workforce represents to them, however they’re unwilling so as to add a layer of paperwork between them. Being a right-to-work state will encourage enterprise progress and financial exercise in New Hampshire without charge to taxpayers. The Senate has handed the invoice and a public listening to is scheduled for the Home Labor, Business and Rehabilitation Committee for later this month.

One other invoice, SB 3, would defend any employer whose federal paycheck safety program mortgage has been canceled from being topic to New Hampshire enterprise earnings tax (i.e. say company earnings tax). Congress fastened this tax difficulty on the federal degree, however the identical “repair” should happen on the state degree. It is because our State Division of Tax Administration has made it clear that, within the absence of a change in state tax legal guidelines, these canceled federal loans are taxable in New Hampshire. That might imply employers hardest hit by the pandemic might must pay as much as $ 130 million in taxes. The BIA works with Senate management by way of SB 3 to supply the identical federal tax treatment on the state degree.

Lastly, there’s HB 135 which makes a foul state of affairs worse. The invoice would require companies to attach residences and different companies affected by chemical air pollution to public or non-public water methods and pay 5 years of water payments if the state’s Division of Environmental Providers (DES ) determines that the corporate is accountable. Underneath HB 135, DES might award fault and difficulty appeals with none judicial course of permitting firms to defend themselves. The corporate can be required to enchantment DES’s determination even earlier than presenting its personal proof. The state would by no means discover somebody at fault in a civil lawsuit till a full trial is held, so why would we do it to a enterprise?

The end result of those 4 payments will form New Hampshire’s fame as a state conducive to job creation and enterprise innovation relative to all different northeastern states the place the regulatory, fiscal and authorized appears to discourage innovation and enterprise progress. We are going to see how the legislator reacts.

David Creer is Director of Public Coverage on the Enterprise and Business Affiliation. David Juvet is Senior Vice President of Public Coverage on the Enterprise and Business Affiliation.