Thought ya’ll would like to know that here in sunny New Hampshire (today it broke 60 degrees for the first time this year!) our legislators voted down a bottled drink tax this session. Allegedly it was a “fee” to fund land and water conservation. But a quick look at the bill revealed — surprise! — that only 30 percent of the revenue went to conservation. Forty percent went (can you guess?) to the general fund.
Ah, New Hampshire. Hey, did you know we had an $80 million budget surplus last year and expect a $30 million to $40 million surplus this year? And we don’t have a state sales or income tax. And school test scores are consistently above the national average. And the Senate passed a school voucher bill this year that stands a decent shot of passage in the House? And New Hampshire was just rated the most livable state for the second year in a row by an independent consulting firm. And it’s now syrup season, so if you go to a farm you get warm maple syrup straight out of the boiler (it is kill-er!).
OK, so the House did pass a bill to ban smoking in all bars and restaurants. But it’s going to die a miserable death in the Senate.
Oh yeah, and I drove to work today with my sunroof open and my seatbelt off. Legally.
