The State Legislature in Concord is on vacation. The state budget battle has been put on hold, at least for July. There are no plans, as of yet, to have the Governor, House, and Senate Republicans meet to hash out their differences.

Speaker Jasper did send out a letter to all Democratic members of both the House and Senate asking them “to vote their conscience,” come back to Concord, and vote for the Republican budget. Naturally, this elicited a flood of responses from Democrats, who proudly declared that they always voted their conscience.

The sticking point, for them, was the business tax breaks that the Republicans had voted for; business tax breaks that seemed to be specifically tailored for Planet Fitness and one of its directors, former Governor Craig Benson.

And on that subject, interestingly enough, Speaker Jasper said this is in answer to a Democratic representative: “As to the business tax cuts, I do not believe that cutting them will bring in more revenue, nor do I believe that, by themselves, they will make New Hampshire a more attractive state for business to locate to or to expand. I do believe they are pieces of a larger puzzle.”

This answer resulted in the Democrats congratulating the Speaker for agreeing with them. This back and forth failed to lead to a constructive solution to the budget disagreement.

On June 30 I had a hearing on my bill HB 334 regarding Internet privacy. The Science and Technology Committee voted 14 to 6, (five Republicans and nine Democrats) to send the bill to the floor with an Ought To Pass recommendation. The bill had been amended as a study committee bill. It should pass the House.

Our next scheduled session will take place on Wednesday, September 16. I hope that, by then, a compromise will have been reached by the various parties, and we will all be able to vote for a bipartisan budget.

I wish everyone a happy summer. I am always available at 735-5440 or at MarioRatzki@nullgmail.com.