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Gasoline prices have soared since President Joe Biden took office, setting new records with an average national price above $5 a gallon. Biden and his fellow Democrats, including Sen. Maggie Hassan and Rep. Annie Kuster, blame oil companies and retailers for “price gouging.”

While gas still costs twice as much as it did when Biden was sworn in, the price has been steadily falling for a month. The New Hampshire average on July 17 was $4.55 and the national average was $4.53. Some stations are selling gas below $4 a gallon for the first time since February 2022.

Did Biden’s bullying work? Or has the supply of gasoline recently surged? What is behind the declining prices?

“Honestly, I can’t figure it out,” said Phil Abirached, owner of the Metro Mart Exxon gas station and convenience store in Derry. “I just dropped it another 30 cents a gallon to $4.29, today,” Abirached said on Friday. “It’s mind-blowing. I don’t know why it’s going down 10 cents to 20 cents every day.”

While gas prices are now falling sharply in New Hampshire and across the country, it does not seem to be because of Biden. For example, his recent fist-bumping trip to Saudi Arabia failed to get the oil-rich nation to significantly increase its oil production. 

The reason the price of unleaded gasoline has come down from a high of more than $5 a gallon a month ago to around $4.50 throughout the state is basic economics, experts say: Less demand today, and fears of a recession tomorrow.

“It’s changing, because people are driving less, that’s the big reason behind it,” said John Dumas, former president and CEO of the New Hampshire Grocers Association. “It’s supply and demand, that’s really all it is.”

Chris Ellms, New Hampshire’s Deputy Energy Commissioner, said there is now about as much refined gasoline available for the market as before prices soared. The falling prices are mostly tied to supply and demand.

“No national energy policy changes have led to the decreases we’ve seen recently, not for natural gas or oil production,” he said.

Global issues like the war in Ukraine, higher interest rates, and a stronger dollar, are all factors. But the available gas supply is largely unchanged. When consumption slows down, so do prices.

“A lot of the issues we have been seeing are related to a big spike in demand coming out of the COVID pandemic,” Ellms said. “There was a lot of demand without a corresponding rise in the supply. It’s really a supply and demand connection.”

It was certainly not local gas stations artificially raising prices, despite Biden’s claims. Most gas stations in New Hampshire are small, locally-owned businesses like Abirached’s store in Derry. Far from pushing higher prices, according to Jeff Lenard at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), higher gas prices drive down local businesses’ profits. That is because stations cut into their own profits in an attempt to soften the price-hike blow.

And gasoline has never been the primary profit center for these businesses.

“Convenience stores, which sell an estimated 80 percent of the fuel purchased in the U.S., rely on in-store sales, not fuel sales, to drive profits,” according to a statement from the NACS. “But high gas prices are hurting customer traffic in stores and ‘basket’ size: Nearly half of all retailers (49 percent) say that customers coming inside the store are buying less compared to three months ago when gas prices were $1.50 a gallon lower.”

And yet New Hampshire elected officials continue to point the finger at the petroleum industry and local retailers. Both U.S. Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas are still pushing a so-called “anti-price-gouging” bill that would allow the federal government to declare an energy emergency and set prices for fuel.

Multiple investigations by both Republican and Democratic administrations have found no evidence of widespread price fixing for gasoline.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports economists fear another gas price spike could be coming this fall.

“Economists across the ideological spectrum warn that the measures the White House is promoting— allowing Russian oil into the global market at reduced prices, taxing oil company “windfall” profits, cutting the federal gas tax—could ultimately aggravate the energy crunch in the United States rather than ease it,” the paper reported. And, it said, when the most serious sanctions on Russian oil take effect later this year, the price of gasoline could surge above $6 a gallon.

Could the U.S. offset the impact by adding to global supplies? According to Reuters, the U.S. does not have the capacity to increase the supply by drilling more oil and gas.

“Capacity for U.S. oil refiners fell in 2021 for the second year in a row, the most recent government data showed (last month), as plant shutdowns kept whittling away on their ability to produce gasoline and diesel,” the news agency reports.

In the end, the price at the pump both reflects and influences the overall economy. Abirached said.

“We all became very aware of where we’re going and where [the economy] is heading. People are asking if it’s worth even turning the car on.”

A candidate in the U.S. Senate race is out with a new ad promising to take on President Joe Biden and her fellow Democrats to lower gas prices for the average American.

No, it is not another Republican entering the crowded GOP primary, but endangered incumbent Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan. Fresh off her poorly-received trip to the southern border where she was criticized for calling for more wall construction, Hassan’s new ad distances the first-term incumbent from her party and president.

“I’m taking on members of my own party to push a gas tax holiday,” Hassan says in the ad out Monday. “And I’m pushing Joe Biden to release more of our oil reserves. That’s how we lower costs and get through these times.”

Hassan’s ad is getting noticed by national political reporters who see it as another signal Democrats in competitive races will be running away from Biden as the midterms approach.

“We’ve seen plenty of ads from Republicans this election cycle seeking to pin blame on Biden and congressional Democrats for higher gas prices,” writes The Washington Post. “In a new ad from New Hampshire, Sen. Maggie Hassan, a vulnerable Democrat, has now embraced the issue, too.”

“New ad for Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), who continues to distance herself from Biden ahead of November,” tweeted Natalie Allison of Politico.

And in an article headlined, “This ad tells you a whole lot about Joe Biden’s political problems,” CNN’s Chris Cillizza said notes Hassan is willing to be openly critical of the sitting president.

“[Hassan’s] message is unmistakable,” Cillizza wrote.

“1) Gas prices are a major problem in the country.
2) Biden and Democratic leaders aren’t doing enough to solve it.
3) Hassan isn’t afraid to tell her party — and her President — that they need to do better.”

Not every New Hampshire Democrat is delighted by Hassan’s campaign tactics.

“Maggie is going to lose her base if she tries to separate herself from Biden by running to his right,” tweeted state Rep. Eric Gallager (D-Concord) “Biden has been doing a much better job than she has. This has been seen most recently on Title 42 where Biden was on the right side of it, and Maggie was on the wrong one.”

Party activist Carlos Cardona dinged Hassan for her ad, saying she should be focusing on liberal priorities instead, like those found in Biden’s abandoned Build Back Better bill.

“If our Senator is serious about helping Granite Staters, she should start by not giving away money to gas companies. Pass the #ChildTaxCredit or do a form of #UBI for all  #NHPolitics,” Cardona tweeted.

Rebecca Beaulieu with the environmental activist group 350 NH said Hassan should do more to help with climate initiatives instead of helping oil companies’ profit.

“Sen. Hassan should instead be calling for a Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax: this would raise billions of dollars that could be sent to Americans to help with the costs of high gas prices. Big oil doesn’t deserve to make huge profits off the climate crisis they created. Exxon, Chevron, and other big oil companies are making huge profits because of their high gas prices,” Beaulieu said.

Republicans say they are delighted to see Hassan attacking Democrats, believing it will only discourage her party’s base without converting any independents. They note she has voted with President Biden 98 percent of the time. “Maggie Hassan’s campaign strategy is to pretend she has no voting record.  She is trying to completely remake herself in the final seven months of the race and pretend no one notices.  Well, everyone does notice and won’t be fooled so easily,” National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson T.W Arrighi said Monday.

Don Bolduc, one of the Republicans running in a primary to unseat Hassan, said there is no way to separate her policies from Biden’s.

“Sen. Hassan promising relief on gas prices is the equivalent of an arsonist saying they can help put out a fire. The Biden-Hassan anti-energy agenda got us here, and the only way out is sending Hassan packing” Bolduc said.

Bruce Fenton, the crypto-millionaire running in the primary, blames Hassan’s staff for the incoherent messaging, and Hassan for failed leadership.

“Her marketing consultants and handlers seem sort of all over the place, so it’s not really clear what she’s attempting to say she stands for,” Fenton said. “Her voting record speaks for itself. Politicians who support terrible policies always try to distract voters, but this won’t work this time.”

Fenton might have a point. While Hassan has recently been vocal in pushing for a gas tax holiday during the inflationary price spikes, she was also responsible as governor for saddling New Hampshire families with an additional $240 million in gas taxes since 2014. Hassan’s four cents a gallon hike, passed in 2014, added $30 million a year in new taxes. It was at the time the first increase in decades.

And Hassan has long supported restrictions on oil and gas production, including Biden’s decision to kill the Keystone XL pipeline, a move the senator continues to support.

Kevin Smith, the former Londonderry town manager in the running to challenge Hassan, said the senator keeps stealing positions from the GOP as she frantically tried to win reelection.

“If Hassan keeps trying to run from her far-left record at this rate, by the time September rolls around she will have called for the election integrity she voted against, decried the out-of-control spending she voted for, and railed against Biden’s foreign policy disasters she stood silently by. It’ll be interesting to see how her first speech at CPAC is received given her long, far-left record that runs contrary to her election-year moderate makeover rhetoric,” Smith said.

State Senate President Chuck Morse, R-Salem, said Hassan’s political maneuvering is obvious, and won’t fool any voters.

“Maggie Hassan votes for Joe Biden’s agenda and nominees 98 percent of the time. It’s laughable she would even try to distance herself from her best friend in the Washington Swamp with her latest gimmick ad,” Morse said. “Whenever President Biden comes to New Hampshire, she’s there for the photo-op. We need real, American First energy solutions to combat our current problems – not gimmicks from someone who did nothing while Keystone was shut down and we started funding dictators’ bloody war machines across the globe instead of producing oil in North America. When I’m in the U.S. Senate, I’ll actually take on Joe Biden and his backward energy policy head on.”

Earlier this month, Democrat Steve Marchand announced he would run for governor in 2018. It’s only three months into Republican Gov. Chris Sununu’s term, which is why Marchand’s announcement was surprising.

Marchand is a Manchester-native and is a first generation Granite Stater. His parents immigrated from Quebec. He was a small business owner, the former mayor of Portsmouth, and director of corporate relations for the University of New Hampshire. He came in second in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in September 2016.

Marchand has been laying the ground work for his gubernatorial campaign for the past few months, meeting with various Democratic groups and committees. He’s already being attacked by the Republican Governors Association for his position on taxes and single-payer healthcare.

NH Journal spoke with Marchand shortly after his announcement to discuss his campaign, what he learned from his previous run, and what voters can expect to see in the coming months. Some responses were lightly edited for length.

NH Journal: Tell me again why you decided to run, and why did you announce so early?

Steve Marchand: The reason I’m running really stems off of my experience last year. We live in a very challenging time in New Hampshire. I believe we need a mission statement that drives…our efforts and resources towards achieving a specific mission and that mission is to be the best state in America to start a family and to start a business. The reason I say that is because I think our two biggest challenges at stake if we are to thrive in the next [few] years is we need to get younger and we need to get more entrepreneurial and nimble as an economy. I don’t believe, with all due respect to our current governor, that there is a specific mission to what he’s trying to achieve, and I don’t believe the policies that he pursued up to this point would move us toward a more younger and entrepreneurial economy. I want to get us in the right direction. If you look at the lack of organization, the lack of focus, and the lack of success early on in 2017, it is a direct reflection of a lack of specific vision, purpose, and mission in Gov. Sununu.

NH Journal: But why did you announce so early? It’s only been three months into Gov. Sununu’s term.

Marchand: It is a little bit earlier than usual, but these are unusual times. A lot of that is driven at the national level with President [Donald] Trump who is already doing rallies for 2020. Gov. Sununu was doing fundraising in Washington for his 2018 campaign. Because we live in these unusual times…it means that if you want to move in the right direction, you don’t have the luxury of waiting while others move forward, no matter how early on the calendar it happens.

NH Journal: You came in second in the Democratic primary after jumping into the race late in the game. Besides announcing early, what is going to be different about this campaign?

Marchand: I got in awfully late last year. It was not a strategy. It was just the way life foregoes. A number of people approached me in March of last year suggesting I would make a very good candidate because they know my background. I had very little money, very little time. I spent about $100,000 total. I got outspent 18 to 1 by the person who beat me [former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Colin Van Ostern]. With very little time and no TV ads or direct mail, it really was the definition of a grassroots effort. So I believe that the message, which is a data-driven message, focused on the mission as I mentioned earlier, resonates not just with Democrats, but across the political spectrum. So starting early allows to me invest more time on the ground. It will make me a better governor. I will continue to learn from people as I campaign. It also means I start with a base of significant support and name identification that simply was not there a year ago when I started.

Photo Credit: Steve Marchand for New Hampshire Facebook page

NH Journal: You ran as a progressive, but fiscally responsible candidate last time. Is that still you? Are there any changes in your platform from before?

Marchand: My value set and my view of the priorities will look very familiar to people who followed my candidacy in 2016. There are some places where there has been a refinement or continued development of knowledge. I am a proud progressive and I’ve got a proud record of fiscal responsibility, and I’m always looking for ways to move ideas and turn them into law.

NH Journal: Gov. Sununu has made encouraging new businesses to come and stay in the state a priority. How would you plan on doing that?

Marchand: I’ve known Gov. Sununu for a long time and he’s a good guy, so it’s obviously nothing personal. However,…the policies he has pursued to grow the economy, largely run 180 degrees from what the data tell us we should be doing if we actually want to create jobs and see economic growth. For example, Chris and the Republican legislature want to cut the Business Profits Tax. Anybody who has spent anytime with entrepreneurs or being an entrepreneur will tell you that most new businesses don’t make a profit in the first five years. They lose money at the beginning. It’s really hard to start a business and see it to the point where it becomes a profitable entity. When we cut the Business Profits Tax, we accelerate what has been going on in the state for 50 years under both Democratic and Republican administrations and that is the downshifting of responsibilities and cost from the state level to the town and local level. If you focus on local property taxes and cutting the Business Enterprise Tax, you will be directly and positively impacting the segment of economy where 80 percent of net new job growth comes to fruition. I think that Chris is focused on talking points when he focuses on the Business Profits Tax, but we need to focus on the data. And the data tells me that focusing on the Business Enterprise Tax and on reducing local property taxes is the winning formula for tax reform that will lead to job creation and economic growth.

NH Journal: You say that it’s crucial to have young people in New Hampshire to become the best state in America. How do you plan to encourage them to stay in the state?

Marchand: I think of dealing with the younger population as a two-part challenge. I don’t think the current governor thinks of it this way. I don’t think our legislature thinks of it this way. I call them [young people] the numerator and denominator problem. The denominator problem is how can we attract young people to come work and live in the state. The problem with that is when you have an ever shrinking number of young kids in the state, you can’t keep 100 percent of them, even if you made college free for everyone. We have to be the most inclusive state that we can be as it relates to immigration. The states that are getting the youngest are seeing the largest influx of immigrants. Some of the rhetoric that has come from President Trump, Gov. Sununu, and members from the Republican legislature make it more difficult for immigrants to see New Hampshire as a great place to come. That’s a shame. If we’re going to get younger and more entrepreneurial, aggressively pursuing pro-immigration policies is going to be an important part of solving our denominator problem because the numerator problem is how can we keep more kids that are already here in the state. The pilot program between higher education and New Hampshire businesses I would pursue that would cost approximately $5 million a year in three programs: computer science, nursing, and education because those are three places where we don’t have enough talent to match the demands. It would create a debt-free college experience for students that enter the program…to work with New Hampshire-based companies or entities. And if they did that, kept their nose clean, kept their grades up, and then worked for one of those New Hampshire-based employers for a period of years after graduation, they would have no debt. It would be half-paid by the private sector participants and half-paid by the targeted state grant for these programs.

NH Journal: You have previously discussed legalizing and taxing marijuana, and increasing the gas tax as ways to increase revenue for the state. Are those positions you still support?

Marchand: Those are areas I continue to discuss. I do favor the legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana. I do feel it would have a net positive impact in terms of lowering costs for law enforcement and judicial [entities]. I also think that it will improve health outcomes and reduce addiction rates, and it will generate revenue. The gas tax is…not desirable. That’s definitely a flaw, but I believe when you can attach the revenue stream to the use of the revenue stream, that’s a more transparent system and because infrastructure is a priority. The business leaders I’ve talked to over the years also identified it as a priority. For now, the gas tax is one of the most direct tools in the toolbox. It is something I still have on the table because I think [infrastructure] is one of the biggest barriers we face to economic growth if we do not address and updated electric grid, ensured drinking water, improved Internet access particularly in rural areas, and improving our roads and bridges. Conservative business people tell me ‘why would I invest in New Hampshire, if New Hampshire doesn’t invest in New Hampshire,’ and they meant these infrastructure issues.

NH Journal: What about sales tax and income tax? You were against those previously. Are you still against them?

Marchand: That is correct.

Photo Credit: Steve Marchand For New Hampshire Facebook page

NH Journal: One of the most important issues still facing the state today is the opioid crisis. What do you think still needs to be done to tackle this problem?

Marchand: This is one area in New Hampshire where we have seen bipartisan efforts. I applaud people on both sides of the aisle. Over the last few years, I think they have taken this issue with the level of gravity that is required and I believe there are many more opportunities in the next several years to continue that bipartisan spirit. It doesn’t mean we’re anywhere near where we need to end up, but we have everyone rowing in the same direction about the situation. We need to continue to provide the resources that continue to give a suite of services to those in the midst of recovery, beyond simply detoxification of the addictive substance. Until recently, I think a lot of people in the world of politics saw recovery as largely detoxification. The reality is that if we simply just detoxify people and then we put folks back in a situation where addiction became the norm, the likelihood of relapsing is really high. We need to work together and it requires a level of collaboration that is not inexpensive. But it’s a hell of a lot less expensive than not doing it. That needs to be our attitude. I priced it out last year in that it would be an additional $8 to 10 million a year of resources that would provide a level of stability for local and regional recovery centers to focus less on having to worry about where the next grant will come from in order to stay open. It would allow these people who are doing amazing work in the field of recovery to be able to focus on their gifts and skills to help people. I think it’s a relatively low amount of money…that would improve lives, reduce costs, and directly address what New Hampshireites say is the most important issue facing us.

NH Journal: What do you think needs to happen next year in order for the Democratic Party to gain seats back in the Legislature?

Marchand: Once every four years, the country reorganizes what it means to be a Republican and Democrat. We are in the midst of the next resorting of how people look at what it means to be a Democrat and a Republican. We are not close to the end of that process. We are right in the middle of it. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders understood better than most the level of economic anxiety that millions of Americans across party lines are feeling. There are a lot of people who are really angry and I get it. I believe that in 2018 and beyond, and it’s part of why I am passionate about this marathon that I’ve begun as a candidate, is to rebuild the future coalition that I believe can be a Democratic majority is one that is passionate about civil liberties, that is passionate about entrepreneurship as the centerpiece to economic growth, that understands that if you think about the economy right way, you can lower income inequality, which right now is splitting our country up in highly destructive ways. We need people that have spent time professionally, politically, and in their personal lives understanding these aspects of it and are unafraid and confident to use that data, experience, and information to lead that way forward. That’s part of what excites me about this marathon that I’ve begun is I feel I have a good idea about where we need to go as a state and want to help us get there.

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When neighboring “Taxachusetts” was considering a hike in its already high income tax in 2013, many people in the Granite State welcomed the proposal.

“Welcome to New Hampshire!,” said Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley at the time. “We should be putting up billboards. We have long marketed New Hampshire’s attractiveness as a place to do business for precisely this reason.”

But recent research suggests that raising taxes and spending in one state can have substantial negative effects on people in neighboring states.

While border counties within a state that raises taxes are obviously affected by the change, about half the effect spills over to counties on the other side of the border, found Sam Peltzman, a researcher at the University of Chicago, in a study released last year.

Research suggests areas that rely on interstate business suffered in the wake of a 1 percent rise in a state’s taxes and spending. (Credit: University of Chicago)

Peltzman examined economies in neighboring states from 1975 to 2012. He measured employment levels, wages, and the number of businesses established after tax and spending policies were implemented. The results suggested that the economy of a border county shrank when its state’s taxes and spending increased, and local economies on the other side of the border were also impacted.

“The results in this paper tend to add weight to the view that larger state and local government is purchased at the cost of a smaller private sector,” Peltzman wrote in his study.

So why are two state’s economies, like Massachusetts and New Hampshire, so intertwined? Well, for many people who live in border cities and towns in the Granite State — Nashua, Londonderry, and Salem, to name a few — they commute everyday to the Bay State for work.

When Massachusetts was considering a bump in the income tax, many residents who lived in or near Nashua said they would feel the effects of it when they took home a smaller paycheck. If they take home a smaller paycheck, they have less money to put back into the economies of the towns where they live.

Even New Hampshire businesses near the border can feel the impact of tax changes in the state south of the border.

Massachusetts changed its sales tax to include a “tech tax,” a 6.25 percent sales tax on computer and software technology services, which went into effect in 2013. It was a short-lived tax, quickly being repealed by former Gov. Deval Patrick, but even New Hampshire businesses with a physical presence in Massachusetts that provided Bay State customers with services covered by the tax had to pay it. A “physical presence” could mean having one sales representative with a home office in Massachusetts, according to some interpretations of the law.

In 2014, the Bay State also made some changes to its corporate income tax that impacted some New Hampshire businesses. It applied to any service-based business that has Massachusetts customers, like law firms, medical providers, and consultants, or businesses that sell some intangible products used in Massachusetts like the licensing of software.

These companies now have to pay an 8 percent tax on the revenue derived from those Massachusetts clients. Before, a New Hampshire company’s revenues collected from Massachusetts would be used to calculate the business profits tax (BPT) owed to New Hampshire. But now, businesses are double taxed. A company still must count all of its revenue for New Hampshire’s BPT, but the revenue collected in Massachusetts needs to be counted and taxed by the Bay State.

It can be a complicated system and, sometimes, New Hampshire businesses don’t even know when they would need to pay Massachusetts taxes. In turn, some companies think twice about doing business or hiring out of state for fear of having to pay more money to another government, which could affect their bottom line.

“State tax structures can create cross-border issues in a number of ways, including positive economic development in bordering communities that are able to draw businesses and individuals into the state as well negative impacts from tax policy decisions that create adverse tax climates causing individuals and businesses to leave the state for a preferential neighboring state,” said Kathryn Michaelis, an attorney in the tax practice group at the Rath, Young and Pignatelli law firm in Concord.

It’s not all doom and gloom for New Hampshire residents and businesses paying Massachusetts taxes. Many Massachusetts residents cross the border because New Hampshire has historically one of the lowest tax rates on cigarettes in the region, a lower gas tax, no tax on liquor sales, and no sales tax. This strategy allows the state to net revenue on the sales, despite the absence of a tax, which makes it appealing to other businesses and consumers, and pumps economic activity into the cities and towns on the border.

At one point, Massachusetts tried to capitalize on the cross-border purchases by challenging in court that they should collect taxes from a store that sells tires to Massachusetts residents in New Hampshire. A court disagreed.

But New Hampshire still struggles economically on several fronts, including high electricity costs, expensive property taxes, and a high cost of doing business in the state. Both Massachusetts and New Hampshire employees get paid more than average American workers, driving up employers’ labor costs.

“While a favorable tax climate may draw in businesses to a bordering community, the state and local officials must always be careful to not offer tax incentives or subsidies or restructure the tax system in such a way that it creates too much of a cost burden on the locality or state in the long-run,” Michaelis told NH Journal. “Each state and local jurisdiction needs to find balance in retaining and recruiting business while ensuring that its revenue remains steady to support government services.”

New Hampshire worked hard in the 1980s and 1990s to have the “New Hampshire Advantage” where students would graduate school, go to college, and eventually return to raise families and work. People from Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey moved to the state and businesses would have access to this cluster of highly educated and skilled workforce.

By the 2000s, positive net migration stopped, college graduates moved away, and New Hampshire’s business climate was not as diverse. Now, politicians are trying to figure out how to deal with a workplace shortage and make New Hampshire an attractive place for businesses.

One way the Republican-controlled State House sees on getting their advantage back is through right-to-work laws, which would prohibit public and private sector unions from charging non-members fees for negotiating on their behalf. If passed, New Hampshire would become the only state in the Northeast to have a right-to-work law.

The cross-border economic relationship is not unique to Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Illinois and Indiana have a similar relationship, with my many people leaving Illinois due to its high taxes. The same is true for New Jersey and Delaware, where a high gas tax in the Garden State could benefit Delaware, yet both have high property taxes. What tax policy is passed in one state could spill over into its neighboring states.

Carl Davis, research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said it can be difficult to isolate the taxes and determine if economic growth or hinderance is a result of an increase or decrease in taxes.

“It’s not cut and dry,” he told NH Journal. “It’s hard to look back and see if a state raised taxes because they have a poor economy or because of their taxes, their economy is doing well. There are always trade-offs.”

But for New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the economies and tax policies of the two states seem to be fairly linked for its residents, businesses, and communities.

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