A statement from RAD and partner organizations:
Lawmakers voted on HB155 today and it passed with 189 Yea – 165 Nay, a BET tax cut that would cut $26 million a year from state revenue and likely jumpstart higher property taxes statewide via local budget strains, advocates from a diverse group of organizations, including childcare, climate, youth and housing advocates, responded with the following statements.
This vote comes amid a growing need to raise revenue and lower costs in New Hampshire. As of 2026, housing costs have doubled since 2015, child care can cost nearly $30,000 per year, health care costs continue to rise, many families earning around $100,000 still can’t afford their basic needs, and a growing number of families don’t have enough in savings to cover a single emergency. This tax cut benefits largely only wealthy out-of-state corporations, with most small businesses paying little or no Business Enterprise Tax today, and a typical local business would see little in savings. For context, the revenue lost from HB155 over just one year could be used for:
- $26 million is about what the state cut from the University System of NH in recent years – enough to freeze in-state tuition at UNH and Plymouth State for more than 25,000 students.
- $26 million equals roughly half of the Department of Health and Human Services’ community mental-health funding line, enough to expand treatment access for thousands of Granite Staters.
- $26 million could double the number of families receiving Child Care Scholarships each year – helping roughly 2,000 more children access care so parents can stay in the workforce (almost the entire annual state investment in child-care assistance outside of federal funds).
“This is another example of a small group of billionaires and their lobbyists rigging the game,” said Dögg Hugosdóttir, Deputy Director of Rights and Democracy.“While the rest of us struggle to afford rent, health care, and groceries, New Hampshire conservatives are giving tax cuts to a handful of out-of-state corporate CEOs who back their campaigns. As long as our lawmakers keep prioritizing making the super rich even richer, working people in New Hampshire will never get a chance to get ahead, let alone gain back the ground we’ve lost.”
“Instead of doing anything about rising property taxes, New Hampshire conservatives are passing a massive tax cut for wealthy corporations that will drive them even higher,” said Matt Mooshian, Program Director of 603 Forward. “Tax cuts for corporations mean communities will face funding shortfalls and have to make up the gap with property tax increases for the rest of us. The lawmakers that voted for this just stabbed hundreds of thousands of hardworking New Hampshire families in the back, and now we can bet they’ll try to tell us it’s in our best interest. If it wasn’t clear before, it’s clear now whose pocket these politicians are in.”
“Young people are leaving the state because it’s getting harder and harder to afford to live here, and New Hampshire conservatives are busy putting nails in the coffin,” said Grace Murray, Political Director of New Hampshire Youth Movement. “These lawmakers are prioritizing a corporate tax cut that would be a giveaway to greedy out-of-state corporations that back their campaigns. This will make wealthy corporations and their CEOs even richer, while driving up tuition for in-state students, and raising property taxes for the rest of us — making it nearly impossible for young people to find a home.”
“HB 155 would give handouts to polluting corporations instead of bringing down our outrageous utility bills,” said Chantelle Rioux, Organizing Director of 350NH. “We need a policy that protects people from price gouging and corporate greed. Instead, lawmakers are choosing to make big corporations and their lobbyists even richer while driving up costs for the rest of us.“
“By deciding to cut taxes for a small group of out-of-state corporations, lawmakers have decided to raise property taxes for the rest of us,” said Louise Spencer, co-founder of Kent Street Coalition. “They say they need to cut funding for universities and hospitals, but apparently there’s enough revenue to hand millions of dollars to a few CEOs. Everyone should take note of which lawmakers voted yes today – that’s a list of politicians who want working people to pay more so that billionaires can pay less.”
“Moms and families in New Hampshire are making impossible decisions every day,” said Mackenzie Nicholson, Senior Director for MomsRising NH. “Costs are skyrocketing for everything, from our property taxes to our child care. Parents are leaving the workforce to care for their kids. It is getting harder and harder to make ends meet and harder to justify living in a state as expensive as ours that offers so few supports for families. That is the reality our lawmakers, who are elected to represent us, should be responding to.
Instead, conservative lawmakers are passing another tax cut for wealthy people and corporations, showing where their interests really lie. We are moms. We know when our kids push their peas under their potatoes and we know these benefits do not “trickle down” to us like we are promised. Families are left trying to keep our heads above water while we weather crisis after crisis.
Granite Staters deserve lawmakers who put families first. We need real investments in child care, housing and health care, not another corporate tax giveaway. People over corporations. Do better, New Hampshire.”
“Any honest conversation about ‘spending priorities’ next year has to start with this: the New Hampshire economy doesn’t work for hard working Granite Staters by accident — it’s broken because conservative politicians have spent a decade rigging the rules for the wealthiest corporations,” said Lucas Meyer, Senior Advisor and Founder of Our Economy Our Future. “They’ve drained over a billion dollars from our state through corporate tax cuts and handouts to the top 1% – and now the rest of us are paying the price with higher property taxes, higher everyday costs, and fewer services.
If lawmakers want to actually start helping Granite Staters, the first priority is to stop the new $26m corporate tax giveaway (HB155) that will dig the hole even deeper. And then we need to get real about discussing the investments families are demanding – housing people can afford, child care that keeps parents in the workforce, health care that doesn’t bankrupt you, and public schools that don’t depend on property taxes skyrocketing.
It’s time we measure prosperity by the strength and health of our communities, not by how much more we can give away to the wealthy, well connected elites.”