HB 0773

HB 773 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

AN ACT establishing a committee to study a tuition tax credit program and establishing land and community heritage investment program number plates.

SPONSORS: Rep. Slocum, Hills 47; Rep. Alger, Graf 14; Rep. T. Allen, Hills 45; Rep. Balcom, Hills 58; Sen. O'Hearn, Dist 12; Sen. Roberge, Dist 9

II. Establishes special land and community heritage investment program number plates.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT establishing a committee to study a tuition tax credit program and establishing land and community heritage investment program number plates.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Committee Established. There is established a committee to study a tuition tax credit program.

I. The members of the committee shall be 4 members of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house.

II. Members of the committee shall receive mileage at the legislative rate when attending to the duties of the committee.

I. The committee shall study the benefits of establishing a tuition tax credit program and the financial impact of granting a credit against state taxes for tuition paid to nonpublic schools or to qualifying nonprofit student scholarship programs. Such a program may:

(a) Allow parents of students to choose a nonpublic school education and to receive a credit against the statewide education property tax, the interest and dividends tax, or the business profits tax; and

(b) Allow other taxpayers to receive a similar credit by contributing to a qualifying nonprofit student scholarship organization which pays the tuition for eligible nonpublic school students.

II. The committee shall examine various scenarios related to eligibility levels, tax credit caps, household income thresholds, and estimated participation in order to determine financial impact on the state, the nonpublic school education programs, and the taxpayers of New Hampshire. A principal goal of the committee shall be to assess how and if such a program can be structured to be combined revenue expenditure balanced to state and local government obligations for funding public education.

4 Chairperson. The members of the study committee shall elect a chairperson from among the members. The first meeting of the committee shall be called by the first-named member. The first meeting of the committee shall be held within 45 days of the effective date of this section.

5 Report. The committee shall report its findings and any recommendations for proposed legislation to the speaker of the house of representatives, the house clerk, the governor, and the state library on or before November 1, 2003.

6 New Subdivision; Land and Community Heritage Investment Program Number Plates. Amend RSA 261 by inserting after section 97-f the following new subdivision:

I. The director is hereby authorized to issue special land and community heritage investment program number plates, in lieu of other number plates. The commissioner shall determine the design of these special plates. The plates shall retain the "live free or die" logo.

II. Such plates shall be issued only upon application and upon payment of a fee established in this paragraph that shall be in addition to the regular motor vehicle registration fee and any other number plate fees otherwise required. The fee shall be based on the registration number represented on the plate as follows: for plates with numbers from 1 to 9-$5,000; for plates with numbers from 10 to 99-$2,500; for plates with numbers from 100 to 999-$1,000; for plates with numbers from 1,000 to 9,999-$500; for plates with numbers 10,000 and higher-$100.

III. Plates shall be renewed on an annual basis for the fee established in paragraph II. Of this sum, the department shall retain an amount as is necessary to recover production and administrative costs as approved by the fiscal committee of the general court. The remaining funds shall be paid to the state treasurer and deposited in the trust fund for the New Hampshire land and community heritage investment program established in RSA 227-M:7. The cost of replacement number plates shall be identical to the cost of initial number plates and the revenue from replacement number plates shall be distributed in the same manner as revenue derived from initial number plates.