Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

TheMobyDicks t1_j9u89c4 wrote

Reply to comment by TheGrateKhan in Thoughts on Chris Sununu? by Thunderzboltz

>Sununu wants to give the leftover money to large construction companies in exchange for small patches of luxury condos/apartments

Yeah...no. This is what he's putting the Covid money towards: "InvestNH makes $100 million available to accelerate the approval and construction of affordable workforce housing in New Hampshire." https://www.nheconomy.com/about-us/investnh

And his stance on weed is pretty clear. He sees it as a commodity - like you pointed out regarding alcohol. He wants it to be legalized federally so NH can sell it at liquor stores. He wants the state to get the revenue. Not saying I agree just that that seems to be his motivation.

7

TheGrateKhan t1_j9uegzs wrote

Edit: happy cake day!!

Ive looked into his proposals, the state will match money that is already put up, and pretty much everything needs to already be in progress to apply. this naturally locks out smaller companies and individuals who cannot put up the same amount cash as larger, usually out of state construction. At minimum, 10 million to be used specifically for 15 unit buildings or less. Also, the "affordable" part of the housing is only in place for 5 years, and even during the 5 year period, these arent rent controlled in the sense that its only 500 a month per unit or similar, its an allowable range of rent to be charged based on an ever changing table that will only decrease if the Area median income goes down. Where NH is continuing to appeal to wealthy transplants, this will only increase the allowable rents to be charged. The citizens wouldve probably been better served actually receiving those funds during the pandemic through rental assistance, improved unemployment, even just extra medical system funding.

In regard to cannabis, the state is already not getting a cut. The states that have legal cannabis are already taking funds away from NH liquor stores. If NH passed state law and then taxed the revenue of those businesses, it would at least keep some of the lost alcohol revenue inside of the state instead of giving all of it to our neighbors. They wouldnt even need to sell it out of the liquor stores. Also, the feds have done nothing to any of the states that have full legalization of cannabis or mushrooms and some even harder drugs. The idea that NH opening up a few "Nh Liquor Wine and Weed Outlet" will trigger the feds to take action is unlikely.

Im not saying that Vermin Supreme would make a better Governor, im just not pleased with this one.

4

TheMobyDicks t1_j9ugwq9 wrote

>the "affordable" part of the housing is only in place for 5 years

Yep. I hated that. And certainly it was owing to pressure put on lawmakers by rich developers. The Innis bill, which will pass, will fund InvestNH for next year and then we'll see if the powers that be will continue afterwards. The concept is sound, it just needs to go more than 5 years. Obviously, if we're serious about attainable housing, developers need to be incentivized to meet a reasonable ROI. Housing Opportunity Zones can help with this. To wit:

https://casetext.com/statute/new-hampshire-revised-statutes/title-5-taxation/chapter-79-e-community-revitalization-tax-relief-incentive/section-79-e4-c-housing-opportunity-zone

If a community did this, they can freeze the local taxes at whatever rate the property is currently taxed at for up to 10 years if the project is 1/3 affordable. A very lucrative benefit. A 'community of the willing" could also pass things such as density bonuses, 1 parking space per unit versus bedroom, increase housing, decrease setbacks, etc. There are ways to get there, it just takes, well, a village.

Regarding weed, please clarify this as I didn't quite get what you were saying:

"The states that have legal cannabis are already taking funds away from NH liquor stores."

Also, who did you mean when you said, "Vermin Supreme"?

Thanks!

3

TheGrateKhan t1_j9uidcc wrote

Our neighboring states, mass, maine, vermont. They have legal cannabis. Nh citizens that want to use just drive over the border, buy, and then consume. So long as they dont cross any state lines, the nh citizen has broken no laws. So the money that wouldve gone to NH liquor is instead going to legal cannabis in other states. If nh legalized, at least a portion of the alcohol revenue lost would return to the state as cannabis or business tax revenue. The people who have switched from NH alcohol to out of state cannabis are generally not coming back to the bottle, at least not as much as before our neighbors legalized. If we legalized and had lower taxes than our neighbors, our neighbors' citizens would then be doing to NH, what NH citizens are currently doing to states like MA, ME, and VT.

Vermin Supreme is a candidate from NH who ran or still runs for president. He wears a long boot atop his head and promises free ponies for everyone if elected.

6