Campaign Update: Income Tax Bill Request Filed - September 18, 2026 Windham Independent
It’s time to follow up on my April 2026 letter to the editor on income taxes.
The Democratic leadership is working hard to assure voters they have no plans to introduce an income tax - they know that voters want nothing to do with turning New Hampshire into Connecticut, the last state in New England to give in to the lure of income taxes (with disastrous results - 3rd highest property taxes in the nation, 6.35% sales tax, 6.99% top state income tax bracket, out of control state government spending).
But those tactics are no longer working - the results of the US Senate Democratic primary demonstrate why. Chris Pappas won with 100,503 votes, but the Democratic Socialists of America challenger Karishma Manzur got 50,307 votes, and her many supporters are pushing the Democratic party further to the left (she did not immediately endorse Pappas).
During 2025-2026, we have seen the Democrats introduce legislation that would have spent billions more, with no explanation where such funding would have come from. The policies the Democrats would need to implement to satisfy the DSA voters would be even more expensive, leading to the need for an income or a sales tax.
This spring, Democratic legislators defeated two different constitutional amendments that would have banned income taxes: As amended, CACR10 failed in the House on March 5 (3 Democratic representatives for, 158 against) and CACR12 failed in the House on May 14 (4 Democratic representatives for, 147 against).
Their votes prevented New Hampshire voters from deciding this November whether to add those protections to our State Constitution. Without it, we’ll need to defeat income and sales tax proposals every term.
The first such bill request has already been submitted for drafting through the Office of Legislative Services (OLS).
Please go to https://gc.nh.gov/lsr_search/LSR_Results.aspx and scroll down to LSR 2027-0240, to find a Legislative Service Request (LSR) “establishing an income tax and establishing a sales tax on certain luxury goods”.
Not just an income tax - a sales tax too!
The bill text will become available once the OLS finalizes the drafting process. As of now, we don’t know what the proposed tax rates are, or any other details.
But we do know that with a Republican majority, this bill and others like it should be defeated - our state government needs to continue to be fiscally responsible and live within its means, just like the rest of us.
Connecticut’s story taught us that income taxes do not reduce property taxes - they just hurt the economy and greatly increase government spending. By electing a Republican Governor, state senators and state representatives, you can continue to keep government spending under control, and keep enjoying the New Hampshire Advantage instead of turning into Massachusetts.
Daniel Popovici-Muller
Vice Chairman, House Finance II Committee
Windham State Representative,
(603) 267-4142 (call/text)