E.J. Powers | Oppose HB100

January 27, 2025 Legislative Office Building Public Works & Highways Committee 33 N. State Street Concord, NH 03301 Chairman David Milz and Members of the Committee: My name is E.J. Powers and I am a spokesman for the NH Business for Rail Expansion. It’s not often that you find an initiative that has the support of 75% of New Hampshire residents. It’s rare when that support comes from a majority of residents from every political party, gender, age, education level, ideology and in every county of the state. It’s even more rare, when businesses both large and small – from coffee shops to construction companies and banks to biotech startups – led by the staunchest Republicans and leftist-leaning liberals – that all agree and support a specific project. Well, that initiative is the potential expansion of passenger rail from Boston to Nashua and Manchester, and those supporters are your neighbors, friends, family members and your constituents. They support this initiative because of the overwhelming economic development opportunity it will provide, which will supercharge NH’s already booming economy and bring: • 5,600 permanent jobs • 3,400 construction jobs • 1,700 new jobs every year beginning in 2030 • 3,600 residential units to support new workers • 9 million square feet of commercial real estate as a by-product of rail expansion • $750 million in real estate investment • $220 million in reinvested worker earnings added to the economy Rail expansion has received wide-ranging, bi-partisan support. In August 2018, Governor Sununu and the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation (GACIT) included federal funding for Project Development in the state’s Ten-Year Transportation Improvement Plan. Rail expansion was even also touted in the state’s response to Amazon’s HQ2 proposal. A key element of analyzing the benefits of rail expansion was the Project Development phase. This in-depth analysis was due to provide solid environmental, engineering and financial data to give you, our trusted elected officials, all the information you need to decide if New Hampshire should extend passenger rail from Boston to New Hampshire – with two stops in Nashua, and one at the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport and in downtown Manchester. Unfortunately, due to partisan politics, funding for this analysis was pulled and the results were rushed prior to completion and released. As written, HB 100 would eliminate all prospects for investing in rail, thwart the will of the overwhelming majority of New Hampshire citizens (both Republicans and Democrats) and squander an economic development opportunity for the state. It is an unnecessary bill. It presumes that the state should invest zero dollars in an infrastructure project ever – without the benefit of making an informed decision. I urge you, on behalf of 75.5% of New Hampshire citizens and 110-plus bi-partisan, statewide businesses to reject HB 100. Sincerely, E.J. Powers NH Business for Rail Expansion