Governor Sununu, by his failure to act to VETO SB 241 in a timely manner, has allowed the bill to pass without his signature.
This bill will pave the way for NH to start planning for a commuter rail system to be extended from the Massachusetts border to Manchester and eventually up to Concord.
He did this despite requests of hundreds of petitions submitted to him over the course of the past few weeks, and despite his past admission that this is something he recognized as a potential “boondoggle” for New Hampshire.
Prior studies from the NH DOT and others have already suggested that 1,300 riders per day would not be enough to support the extension of the MBTA and suggested the only way it could be feasible is to levy a new broad-based tax such as an income tax, sales tax, or both.
Taxpayers are also concerned over his acceptance of SB 306 which was hidden in the budget, and promotion of bills that provide taxpayer-funded perks to entice developers to build more “low-income” housing.
No doubt voters with a sense of fiscal responsibility will remember these things at re-election time.
