POLITICS

The heart of the political season is here, and it is a good time to remember soundbites do not necessarily make good public policy and are not necessarily factual.

This is the time in the election cycle when hyperbole reigns, long forgotten votes and events are retold with enough spin to make a ballerina dizzy, and the best-sounding public policy is really meant only to boost your reelection.

The political leadership of the state — although divided between a Democratically controlled legislature and Executive Council and a Republican governor — spoke with one voice during the early stages of the pandemic.

That changed when the $1.25 billion in federal CARES Act money arrived to help the state deal with and recover from the coronavirus.

Gov. Chris Sununu and his legal advisors cited a law passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to usurp control over the money, leaving the Legislature out of the loop except in an advisory role. Sununu put far more money into businesses and their recovery than nonprofits, hospitals, long-term care, unemployment or education than the legislative committee suggested.

However, not all the money poured into the state’s businesses was used and other programs to help businesses were announced during the summer. The federal government had already sent $2.2 billion in what are essentially federal grants to state businesses through the Payroll Protection Program, although how much of that money actually went into payroll for employees remains to be seen, as there is little accountability in the federal stimulus legislation.

The group hardest-hit by the economic collapse from the governor’s stay-at-home order and shut down of all but essential businesses, the hospitality industry, is slowly rebounding.

Sununu recently noted that fewer of those businesses closed this year than last year, touting help from the state’s Main Street Relief Program and then said he wants to lower the rooms and meals tax to help the still struggling industry.

First of all, the rooms and meals tax is what is called a pass-through — restaurants, hotels and rental car companies collect it and send it to the state. It is not a tax on the business.

The state rooms and meals tax rate is competitive with other states in the region, so it is not like the state’s liquor stores and cigarettes, which are cheaper than surrounding states.

So how is lowering the rate going to help restaurants and hotels? Is anyone not going out to eat again because they will save 50 cents or a dollar on their restaurant check?

Their biggest problem is convincing people it is safe to go out to eat again, and containing the virus is really the only way to accomplish that.

The other issue is the rooms and meals tax is the second largest source of state revenue behind business taxes.

Budget writers set the projected revenue from this levy this fiscal year at $367 million, which is about 15% of all general fund revenue for the fiscal year.

The revenue from the rooms and meals tax has been lower than projections since last spring, but it is rebounding considerably from the early days of the pandemic.

So why suggest lowering the rooms and meals tax? It makes good soundbites and politically you look like a governor who wants to cut taxes.

And he will need the Legislature’s approval to lower the tax rates, so if the General Court remains in Democratic hands, he can paint the majority party as taxers and spenders who do not want to lower your taxes. It’s not his fault, he tried.

At this time, the state needs all the revenue it can get so hundreds of millions of dollars in program cuts may be avoided.

Democrats have tried to tie Sununu to Trump and portray him as beholden to the special interests that contribute to his campaign.

An ad from the state Democratic Party uses Sununu’s own words saying, “I’m a Trump guy through and through.”

The ad likens Sununu to Trump for supporting judges who want to make abortion illegal, voting to defund Planned Parenthood and taking contributions from insurance and drug companies that have “spiked the cost of health care.”

Sununu tried to appoint Attorney General Gordon MacDonald, who Democrats contend is anti-abortion, as chief justice to the Supreme Court.

Sununu has not sought to fill the post, hoping one Executive Council seat flips from Democrat to Republican after the election, and he will then nominate MacDonald again.

Sununu did vote to defund Planned Parenthood, calling for an investigation into claims from an undercover video that the organization sells fetal tissue from abortions.

After the investigation found the videos were edited and were done illegally, Sununu voted to restore the organization’s funding.

However, this is one part of the Democrats’ attempt to portray Sununu as anti-abortion, although he says he supports abortion rights.

Politicians from both parties have accepted campaign donations from insurance and drug companies, not just Sununu.

An ability to read between the lines is essential this time of year and an ear to the political ground also helps or you could be buying into the spin. Critical-thinking skills are required.

Garry Rayno of New London covers the State House for InDepthNH.org.