Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., raised $141,282 in thethird quarter of 2009 for her reelection campaign, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported Thursday. Shea-Porter has raised nearly $375,000 to date roughly the same amount she accumulated for her 2008 congressional race but has slightly less cash on hand than she had at the same time in 2007, the Union Leader reported. Shea-Porter, the only Democratic candidate in the 2010 race, spent roughly $1.5 million during the 2008 campaign. One of her current Republican opponents, Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta, raised $125,755 in the third quarter. He has raised $180,121 to date, including a $20,000 loan Guinta himself gave to the campaign. Another Republican candidate, Bob Bestani of Newmarket, raised $42,390 in this quarter and now has $44,188 on hand, according to the Union Leader.
Rep. Paul Hodes '72, D-N.H., said Thursday that new legislation intended to protect credit card holders from interest rate increases should take effect ahead of schedule on Dec. 1, the Associated Press reported. The new law regulating credit rates is currently scheduled to go into effect in late February, but Hodes is supporting a bill filed last month that would accelerate its implementation. The rules were included in legislation that President Barack Obama signed in May barring rate increases during the first year after a new credit card account is opened. The law also banned, in most cases, increasing rates for existing balances. Hodes heard complaints from more than 1,200 New Hampshire citizens who have had their credit card contracts changed, according to the AP.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services will cut roughly 150 jobs, DHHS Commissioner John Stephen said in a statement reported by WMUR on Thursday. DHHS is the largest New Hampshire state agency. A total of 250 jobs will be eliminated in various state agencies, part of a round of layoffs to be implemented Friday. The state is providing extra computers to help workers find new jobs, according to WMUR. Laid-off employees will have opportunities to take state jobs that become vacant during the next three years, WMUR reported.
