POLITICS

Buddy, can you spare a payroll card?
By Shir Haberman
Published:  January 2008

It seems like every few years the federal government announces a new version of a coin or an attempt to move consumers from the ubiquitous dollar bill to a dollar coin.

Get worked up about work-force housing
By Shir Haberman
Published:  December 2007

We've heard it all before: New Hampshire's economic growth, currently the best in New England but lagging behind many other areas of the country, is being threatened by an increasing shortage of skilled workers.

Got ideas? The state has the cash
By Shir Haberman
Published:  November 2007

A great entrepreneurial enterprise always starts with a terrific idea. That idea must fill an unfulfilled niche, quench an as yet unrecognized desire or, in some cases, stir the soul.

Success by degrees
By Shir Haberman
Published:  October 2007

It is almost axiomatic that education equals jobs for a state. The better educated the work force, the more businesses a state can attract and, of course, more businesses equate to more jobs.

Re-thinking our approach to health care
By Shir Haberman
Published:  September 2007

HEALTH CARE has been a major topic of discussion during this presidential campaign season. Every Democratic candidate has put out a plan for cutting health-care costs, while increasing the number of people insured.

The cost of education
By Shir Haberman
Published:  August 2007

There was a time not that long ago when a high school graduate of modest means could pay his or her own way through college by working summers and a part-time job during the school year. It wasn't easy, but it could be done.

The biotech boom
By Shir Haberman
Published:  July 2007

The huge expansion of Lonza Biologics that is under way at the Pease International Tradeport is an indication of the growth — and importance — of biotechnology to the local and state economy.

Spend money to make money
By Shir Haberman
Published:  June 2007

Small businesses are the life's blood of the New Hampshire economy. They are the economic engine that drives whatever financial prosperity this state has.

It's time to invest more in N.H. tourism
By Shir Haberman
Published:  May 2007

New Hampshire is extremely reliant on tourism as a source of both jobs for its citizens and revenue.

State should not equate age to tax exemptions
By Shir Haberman
Published:  April 2007

As if it were not bad enough that cities and towns are constantly increasing the property exemptions for elderly residents, now the state is trying to get into the act.

Sununu's minimum-wage stance suspect
By Shir Haberman
Published:  March 2007

In the weird topsy-turvy world of Washington, D.C., politics, motivations are not always clear. Amendments to proposed legislation that may sometimes seem beneficial to some constituents might actually be attempts to undercut the viability of the original legislation.

New communication tools can impede public access
By Shir Haberman
Published:  February 2007

It is rapidly becoming a cyber world.
More and more business, personal and governmental transactions are taking place -- and data is being shared -- via electronic means with no paper trail.

New Hampshire Banking Department has no teeth
By Shir Haberman
Published:  January 2007

The state of New Hampshire Banking Department has an awesome responsibility. It is charged with the general supervision of all state chartered financial institutions, including commercial banks, fiduciary trust companies, savings banks, merchant banks and credit unions.

Lawmakers eye business bills in 2007
By Shir Haberman
Published:  December 2006

The voting machines used in the November elections may still be warm and the start of the 2007 New Hampshire legislative session is still about a month away, but already the Legislative Services Department at the Statehouse has received more than 250 requests from lawmakers to draft bills they would like considered during the upcoming session.

Legislature has not gone far enough in dealing with frivolous lawsuits
By Shir Haberman
Published:  November 2006

If the New Hampshire Legislature is nothing else, it is certainly myopic. It compartmentalizes issues rather than seeing the problem on a more global — and realistic — scale.
Take, for example, the issue of frivolous lawsuits.

Eating and sleeping in "Tax Free New Hampshire"
By Shir Haberman
Published:  October 2006

Guidebooks and business publications often indicate that New Hampshire is a no-tax state. They note the Legislature has consistently opposed income and sales taxes, and that the climate those decisions has created is good for small and large firms seeking a place that offers a unique and advantageous business climate.

Hiring and retaining good employees is not simply a matter of wages
By Shir Haberman
Published:  September 2006

There has been a lot of discussion this year in both the Maine and New Hampshire legislatures, and at the national level, about raising the minimum wage. Early in August, Congress rejected a federal increase that would have put the minimum wage nationally at $7.25 an hour, up $2.10 from the current level. In both the 2004 and 2005 legislative sessions in New Hampshire, there were bills to increase the minimum wage by $1.50 and $1, respectively. They both failed leaving the state at the $5.15 per hour level.

Rising college costs a threat to future work force
By Shir Haberman
Published:  August 2006

The relative economic stability that New Hampshire has been able to maintain in an increasingly unstable world is based on a number of factors. There is, of course, the lack of a state income or sales tax (although some would argue the tax on rooms and meals is a form of consumption tax). There is the physical beauty of the state coupled with high-speed Internet availability throughout the area so a company can locate almost anywhere in the state and have access to this technology. And, perhaps above all, there is a well-educated work force capable of filling the employment needs of firms coming to the state or established companies seeking to expand.

RFID raise great business possibilities, but personal privacy threats
By Shir Haberman
Published:  July 2006

There is a technology available that could be a boon to manufactures, wholesalers, retails and even the federal government, but which gives many civil rights advocates the shivers. It is called RFID, short for radio frequency identification device. RFIDs are wireless devices, or tags, that, unlike bar coding, can be read from a distance, without an physical contact with the reader and without requiring even a line of sight to the device. The uses for this technology are virtually unlimited.

Would Senate bill help or hurt health care for small businesses?
By Shir Haberman
Published:  June 2006

There are two issues involved in the debate over the federal Health Insurance Marketplace Moderniza-tion Affordability Act of 2006 — Senate Bill 1955. The bill, despite opposition from consumer groups, passed the Senate May 9 by an overwhelming 96-2 vote.

Senate kills food-protection law
By Shir Haberman
Published:  May 2006

One of the things that draws visitors to the Seacoast region, other than our beaches, is our eateries. The restaurant industry here in Portsmouth, particularly, is booming with eateries literally lined up side-by-side along our quaint streets. So knowing this, it is almost unimaginable that the state Senate would kill a bill designed to protect both residents and visitors from foodborne illnesses. Yet, that is exactly what happened just last month.

Health care costs - Still a troubling issue for NH businesses
By Shir Haberman
Published:  April 2006

Last year, the New Hampshire Legislature passed Senate Bill 125. Its goal was to undo some of the harm done to Seacoast businesses by Senate Bill 110, supported and signed into law by previous Gov. Craig Benson. The goal of SB 125 was to increase competition among health care insurers in the state on the assumption that more competition would mean lower insurance costs for both individuals and businesses.