By Hon. John Gibson
Merrimack, NH

Small businesses are the lifeblood of our state; they employ our family, friends, and neighbors. Small businesses in every community across our state contribute to our quality of life and are key and integral stakeholders in the funding of state government.
We owe it to them to provide a common sense plan to allow them to reopen their doors as soon as possible and do so in a manner that is both safe and sane.
PLAN 603 centers on the personal responsibility of every citizen of New Hampshire. We each have a key role to play and we each are responsible for the decisions we make.
In early March, New Hampshire, like the whole world, was facing a very dire and grim forecast for the future and Governor Sununu acted in an appropriate and expedited manner during the onset of this event. His early actions saved lives, especially of the vulnerable populations at nursing and assisted living facilities across the state. He should be commended for those swift early actions.
By late March, the situation on the ground had changed as the dire and grim forecast the experts predicted, never materialized. The current cases for COVID 19 are 3,011 NH residents, which is .22% of the population of our state. Sadly, 133 residents deaths have been attributed to COVID 19 and 107 more are currently hospitalized. The early predictions had deaths near 1,000 and tens of thousands hospitalized by May 1st.
As of May 2nd, 172,481 NH residents filed for unemployment since March 16th and hundreds of small businesses across New Hampshire have approached the SBA in hopes of a lifeline because of the government mandated shutdowns and many are still waiting to see if they qualify for help and for some, it may be already too late.
This is an uncomplicated plan to reopen New Hampshire for business, so we can begin the long process of recovery, both economically and who we are as a people. I ask if you support the concept of this blueprint for reopening, call the Governor and your local state legislators and ask them to adopt PLAN 603 asap!
Thank you for your consideration,

John Gibson
Former State Representative

— PLAN 603 —

● PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Each of us has to make the appropriate decisions to go outside the home based on our health and well being. If you have risk factors or feel uncomfortable, please stay home and continue practicing self isolation.

● WE EACH HAVE A PART TO DO. Continue following CDC guidelines for proper hygiene and social distancing whether at home or out in public. Check in on those with known risk factors ( by phone, email, or text) and see if they need any supplies, medicines, or groceries. This is New Hampshire, neighbor helping neighbor is a time honored tradition.

● REOPEN NEW HAMPSHIRE NOW. Direct the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services to put together a set of recommendations for small businesses to safely reopen their operations. These recommendations should include social distancing, sanitizing public areas often, and proper hygiene for all work environments.

● LIFT RESTRICTIONS. It is time to reopen New Hampshire lodging and hospitality to all, again. No residency requirements to use golf courses, rent a hotel/motel room, or go camping. Encourage facility owners and their staff to follow CDC recommendations for COVID 19.

● EXPAND BENEFITS. During the State of Emergency, allow for those who have risk factors to file for unemployment benefits even if they have not been laid off or furloughed.

● PROTECT THE MOST VULNERABLE. Amend Executive Order 2020-04 to also include protecting patients and staff at nursing/assisted living homes by removing any patient from such facility that tests positive for COVID 19 immediately and have that patient placed in a hospital.

● ESTABLISH A SMALL BUSINESS DAMAGE ASSESSMENT COMMISSION. The purpose of this commission would be to determine the extent of the losses that each small business has suffered due to the shutdown orders and the unforgivable portion of loans offered by the federal government and submit the costs to the legislature for redress and payment. NO business should have to take a loan in order to survive because of a government mandated shutdown, New Hampshire has a social responsibility to make those businesses whole.

John Gibson is a former 3 term conservative Republican member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from Merrimack who served on the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Resources Committee and was Vice Chairman of the Hillsborough County Executive Committee.