2021 Public Policy Priorities

FISCAL POLICY
PRIORITY: BIA believes fiscally conservative state budgets with a business-friendly regulatory and tax structure are an important part of the New Hampshire Advantage. Positions include:

• Support efforts to reduce business enterprise tax and business profits tax rates and oppose any proposal that would increase these taxes
• Oppose an income tax or sales tax.
• Support efforts to identify and implement opportunities for improving efficiencies in state government.
• Support efforts to allow the state to better target education aid.
• Support efforts to reform New Hampshire’s public employee retirement system that address and reduce the significant unfunded liability of the fund.
• Support efforts to reform and improve New Hampshire’s business regulatory environment.
• Strengthen initiatives that improve and expedite business interaction with the state.
• Support and encourage efforts to reduce the regulatory burden on NH businesses operating in multiple states.
• Support increased flexibility for NH’s use of COVID-19 relief-related federal grants and revenues such that those revenues can be used to replace State revenue shortfalls or additional expenses resulting from Covid-19 pandemic.
  

​  PRIORITY: BIA supports business tax policies that foster economic growth. Positions include:

• Oppose efforts to repeal or reduce the BET credit against the BPT.
• Support efforts to improve NH’s research and development tax credit and oppose any effort to reduce or repeal this credit.
• Support efforts to improve Net Operating Loss (NOL) deductions in New Hampshire.
• Support federal and state efforts to allow the receipt of money provided for COVID-19 relief to business to be tax-free if granted or forgiven as a loan.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
PRIORITY: BIA supports efforts that increase the availability and affordability of housing for working people. Positions include:

• Support practical and reasonable efforts that increase affordable housing stock in New Hampshire.
•  Oppose any efforts to roll back or repeal core principles of workforce housing legislation, accessory dwelling unit legislation and the establishment of a statewide administrative housing appeals board.

PRIORITY: BIA recognizes the critical role of infrastructure in fostering a healthy, growing economy. Positions include:
Transportation Infrastructure

• Advocate for adequate investment in New Hampshire’s road and bridge network as well as consideration of long-term mass transit alternatives.
• Oppose diversion of constitutionally protected highway fund revenue for non-highway, non-bridge-related programs.
• Support efforts to increase federal transportation aid to the state.

Water Infrastructure

• Educate policy leaders and the public about water infrastructure (water supply, wastewater and storm water) and dams that are at the end of their design life and/or exceeding capacity.
• Support efforts to secure funding for water infrastructure improvement.

Telecommunications Infrastructure

• Support efforts to expand private sector telecommunications infrastructure throughout the state to improve access, quality, and reliability.
• Support efforts to ensure that state and municipal telecommunications policies are fair and promote sustained investment and equal competition among all service providers.

HUMAN RESOURCES, HEALTH CARE, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
PRIORITY: BIA supports business-friendly labor rules and regulations that balance the rights and responsibilities of workers and management and promotes a safe and secure workplace. Positions include:

• Oppose efforts that hinder or remove an employer’s ability to make sound hiring and management decisions.
• Support revision of state administrative labor regulations to provide greater clarity, consistency, and uniformity between state and federal requirements for employers.
• Support efforts that ease the administrative burden placed on multi-state employers.
• Support legislation which recognizes increased use of technology in business, and protects business interests as it relates to communication between employer and employee, privacy and security.
• Support private sector right-to-work legislation in New Hampshire.
• Oppose rulemaking or legislative proposals that favor organized labor interests over those of business.

PRIORITY: BIA supports efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of life in New Hampshire. Fostering a welcoming environment for all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity or place of origin, sexual orientation, gender, or ability enhances New Hampshire’s cultural fabric, economic growth, global competitiveness, and overall prosperity for current and future generations. Positions include:

• Support efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.
• Support efforts to recruit, hire, support and retain qualified employees with diverse backgrounds and experience.

PRIORITY: BIA supports efforts to develop New Hampshire’s future workforce and to attract and retain new talent. Positions include:

• Increase awareness about careers in manufacturing, technology, health care and the skilled trades.
• Support high standards, competency-based experiential education, hands-on learning and appropriate assessment tools that better prepare young people with the skills and professional behaviors necessary to be ready for post-secondary education and/or the workforce upon graduation from high school.
• Advocate for funding and policies that reduce the cost of public higher education attendance and decrease debt for in-state postsecondary students.
• Support programs and initiatives to build the talent pipeline of NH’s workforce by identifying specific skills needed by businesses, aligning education and training with those needs, identifying and measuring outcomes, and improving early childhood learning opportunities.
• Explore private and public incentives to keep students in New Hampshire upon graduation.
• Support employer efforts to recruit, hire and retain foreign-born workers with legal standing.
• Support employer efforts to capitalize on experience, facilitate an intergenerational workforce, and create a culture of mentorship, across sectors.
• Advocate for policies that strengthen the early childhood system including increasing access to quality, affordable childcare to allow caregivers to return to the labor force.
• Support efforts to establish a voluntary paid family medical leave program that balances the interests and needs of employers and employees, that is financially sound and administratively efficient.

PRIORITY: BIA supports efforts that enhance outcomes and slow the growth of total health care costs for employers and the state. Positions include:

• Support adequate funding to health care providers for Medicaid and other publicly supported health care programs and ensure equitable tax treatment of health care providers to reduce cost-shifting to the business community.
• Support New Hampshire’s expanded Medicaid program while ensuring that BIA’s principles for expansion are observed.
• Oppose new or expanded health insurance mandates.
• Support efforts to address health care cost-drivers using data-driven, evidence-based cost management tools and health care delivery methods including, but not limited to telehealth.
• Support health care reforms and regulatory frameworks that allow health care providers and insurance carriers to collaborate, integrate and engage in collective discussions for the purpose of promoting higher quality outcomes and better access to care at a lower cost.
• Review and evaluate cost-effective ways to provide health care to the uninsured and underinsured to reduce cost-shifting to the business community from uncompensated care.
• Educate policy makers and business leaders about the value and economic benefits of substance misuse prevention, treatment and recovery and support policy initiatives that improve heath in the workplace.
• Advocate for public policies that address mental health and substance use disorders, and chronic disease management.
• Support tort reforms that reduce costs associated with medical malpractice and result in more affordable and available medical malpractice insurance.
• Advocate for greater transparency and other approaches to address the high prices charged by manufacturers of prescription drugs and medical service providers.
• Support adequate investment and prioritization of resources for public health networks and emergency management systems across the state by maximizing available federal funds and optimizing state investments.

 ENERGY
PRIORITY: In order to improve business competitiveness, drive economic growth and increase employment, BIA will respond to New England’s energy crisis by advocating for policies that ensure system reliability and lower long- and short-term energy costs. Positions include:

• Advocate for state and regional policies and initiatives that enable the development and retention of low-cost, reliable sources of energy.
• Support clear, consistent and balanced state siting policies that allow for timely development of energy infrastructure projects that improve system reliability, future capacity, access to a variety of resources and fuel supply, bring additional competitive energy sources to market, stimulate economic growth and reduce costs to businesses.
• Ensure businesses are appropriately represented in the administrative and legislative process, including energy infrastructure site selection.
• Oppose weakening the existing business protection provisions in New Hampshire’s RGGI program.
• Support implementation of cost-effective energy efficiency, demand-side management and sustainable energy programs to all customers.
• Oppose diversions of dedicated funds that are aimed at energy efficiency, conservation and sustainable energy resources.
• Oppose policies that lead to adverse cost-shifting to the business community.
• Support net metering policy that does not result in cost-shifting.
• Support stable policies that allow for the development of affordable, cost-effective energy options to meet the state’s requirements under the Renewable Portfolio Standard and oppose efforts to increase the current level of public subsidization of these projects.
• Support state policies that enable small, medium and large businesses to continue to access competitive energy supply options.

ENVIRONMENTAL
PRIORITY: The BIA will support science-based environmental policies, legislation and administrative rules that balance economic development with the long-term sustainability of the state’s natural resources. Positions include:

• Oppose efforts to make New Hampshire’s environmental regulations and statutes more burdensome than federal environmental regulations, unless there is clear justification for doing so. When necessary, regulations should be established and enforced at the state level, not the municipal level.
• Advocate for initiatives to streamline and expedite permitting and regulatory processes.
• Advocate for creative approaches to simplify and reduce the business community’s regulatory burden, while protecting public health and the environment.
• Foster discussions about how the Department of Environmental Services (DES) is funded, focusing on the appropriate allocation of the state’s fees and taxes.
• Advocate for increased transparency and the effective use of state environmental fees, funds and cost recovery policies.
• Support policies that promote private sector environmental stewardship and sustainability.
• Oppose efforts to establish environmental regulatory standards by statute rather than by authorized regulatory bodies.

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