Safe Boaters of New Hampshire
“To promote safety through education and legislation that works”
http://www.SBONH.ORG
Safe Boaters of NH demands cuts to the NH Marine Patrol
be restored!
For Immediate Release:
Safe Boaters of New Hampshire is stunned that the NH Legislature is considering cutting the budget of the NH Marine Patrol. According to published reports the cuts that would be required of the Marine Patrol forces would be on the order of 20% in addition to the elimination of the civilian Marine Patrol Auxiliary.
These are outrageous! Safe Boaters of NH understands that the state is looking to save money and balance the budget, however doing it on the backs of an agency that is funded through boater registrations, not the general fund, and is responsible for law enforcement and safety on all of the state’s waterways is very short sighted.
Coast Guard statistics available for 2008 show New Hampshire’s waterways are the safest in New England and among the safest in the nation on which to boat. This is because of the Marine Patrol and the programs that they operate, such as vessel safety check and mandatory boater education in addition to the daily patrols they conduct on the water.
Bringing that force down to only 48 officers for the entire state is ludicrous! Lake Winnipesaukee alone has 72 square miles of water and there are 974 other bodies of water, and the Sea Coast, that are the responsibility of the NH Marine Patrol.
Director of Safety Services David Barrett is quoted as saying 25% of the mandatory boater education classes will have to be eliminated. That means either fewer people will be boating and spending money in NH, or there will be uncertified boaters on our waters making things dangerous for everyone and no law enforcement as a check.
This move by the NH Legislature imposes a tax on boaters. By eliminating the users fee that are boat registrations, and transferring that money to the State Police, NH lawmakers, most of which campaigned on no new tax platforms, have created a NEW TAX on boaters. The Marine Patrol budget has been funded exclusively through boat registrations without taking any money from taxpayers. It has been a self sufficient agency. Now the boat registration users fee will go into the general fund as a NEW TAX.
Safe Boaters of NH is calling on everyone who want safer lakes to contact members of the Senate and demand restoration of funding for the New Hampshire Marine Patrol so NH can maintain its outstanding safety record on the water.