Representative Frank Guinta was the only member of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation to vote against the last-minute deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.
Guinta, the outgoing representative of the state’s 1st District, says the deal did not address any of the fiscal issues facing the country.
"I could not support a bill that failed to include any meaningful spending cuts, increases our debt by trillions, and does nothing to promote pro-growth economic principles," Guinta wrote in a prepared statement released Wednesday afternoon.
The House voted 257-167 to pass the deal. Among the supporters was Republican Charlie Bass, the outgoing representative of the state’s 2nd District.
In the House, 172 Democrats and 85 Republicans voted for the bill, while 16 Democrats and 151 Republicans opposed it.
The deal maintains tax cuts for those earning less than $400,000 a year, as well as couples making less than $450,000. Taxes will go up for those earning more than that.
The legislation also extended unemployment insurance. A series of automatic cuts in federal spending, known as sequestration, will be delayed for two months.
New Hampshire Senators Kelly Ayotte, a Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, voted for the deal. Overall, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the legislation early Tuesday morning, 89-8.
“While the president was insistent on raising taxes, I voted to spare as many Americans as possible from getting hit by tax increases,” Ayotte said in a statement. “Now it’s time for the president and Congress to cut spending and come up with real reforms to get us out of our crippling $16 trillion debt.”
