CONCORD – House Speaker William O’Brien today announced that he has sponsored four pieces of legislation as priorities for the 2013 session. These initiatives include a constitutional amendment to require a supermajority to raise taxes or fees, a bill to make New Hampshire a Right to Work state, legislation to reform the abuses of EBT cards and a bill to block the ObamaCare expansion of Medicaid.
House Speaker William O’Brien
On constitutional amendment to require supermajority to raise taxes or fees
“We have taken tremendous steps over the past two years to ensure that we will deliver an affordable government and keep more money in the pockets of hardworking taxpayers. Yet, if history teaches us anything, we know that future assemblies of legislators will seek to buy electoral success by putting our state on a one-way journey to permanent over-spending and excessive government growth. This amendment ensures that we will not see a future Legislature go on a spending spree as we saw the four years prior to this Legislature. This supermajority amendment will make it much harder to hike taxes and fees and will also stop borrowing from our children’s future to pay for spending today. This is the transformative change that we need in New Hampshire.”
On the Franklin Partin Right to Work Act
“Frank Partin was both a leader nationally in protecting worker freedoms and a fixture in the New Boston community. It is an honor to name this legislation to both ensure the future of the New Hampshire Advantage and to keep our employees across the state free from forced unionism after Frank. Simply put, Right to Work is worker freedom. It means more jobs here, more of our friends and neighbors working, and fewer of our families having to leave the state to find suitable employment. You cannot oppose Right to Work and say that you are committed to expanding our economy.”
On EBT reform
“This year, we took an important step in reforming welfare, by passing a law to ensure that Health and Human Services is checking the background of those applying for public assistance to ensure that they truly live here, are truly needy, and aren’t gaming the system. Next year, we will move forward to rein in the abuses of EBT cards by making sure that they are not being used to purchase alcohol, lottery tickets, tobacco, tattoos or other unnecessary items. We are committed to helping our neighbors who are in need, but not those who are simply looking to take advantage of the generosity of the hardworking taxpayers. New Hampshire citizens are tired of excuses for public assistance abuses and are demanding EBT card reforms.”
On blocking ObamaCare Medicaid expansion
“ObamaCare will blow a hole in our state budget, plain and simple. We cannot allow this federal law to hijack our state finances with unfunded mandates. This bill will make unequivocally clear that the Granite State will not participate in growing Medicaid or risking that our Medicaid program, which is already on an unsustainable growth path, does not accelerate the destruction of our state budget.”