As subsidies go, this one seems less terrible than most.
It pays for work, not couch-sitting.
There’s a limited pool of money ($10 million). When it runs out, hopefully the subsidy goes away. It seems to give incentive to get to work sooner rather than later. There’s enough money to pay the $1,000 bonus to 10,000 full time-workers. There are 15,000 fewer people working in NH now than before the pandemic — so there isn’t enough money to entice everyone back to work. If you want the money, you better find a job SOON.
NH has a lot of residents who work (or worked) in MA. MA has been terrible at paying unemployment to NH residents. If they do pay, they deduct state income tax. If you’re still working (from home) at a MA job, MA has been extracting their cut of your pay the whole time. If this bonus persuades a few thousand people to work in NH instead of MA, it will be a boost to the NH economy. And it will drain some money from the rotten Charlie “Tall Deval” Baker and his rancid MA gang of thieves.
There’s a lawsuit going on for those who work for MA companies but are working in the state of NH. Those days are not supposed to be taxed by MA and yet MA still taxes them so it’s a clear violation of their own tax laws.
I sure hope the lawsuit gets somewhere soon and is successful.