Also on today’s menu:
Simple And Free Tax Filing Available In New Hampshire
Dartmouth Reinstates Standardized Test Requirement
Workers at the New Hampshire Hospital, testifying before the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on February 2 regarding House Bill 1711, revealed details about what it was like on November 17 when former patient John Madore, 33, shot and killed security officer Bradley Haas, 63, before an on-duty state trooper shot him.
HB 1711 would release relevant mental health records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which would prevent people deemed to be unsuitable from buying or possessing guns. Among those testifying was Dr. Jeffrey Fetter, the hospital’s medical director, who recounted how his secretary burst into his office to say she had just seen Haas get shot. Fetter said he locked his door, pushed a table against it, and told the secretary to wait under it while he ran through the halls yelling “active shooter”.
Dr. Samantha Swetter said she learned of the danger when a coworker ran into her office and told her to call 911. Unable to reach anyone to sound an alarm, Swetter and her colleague hid in her office for an hour while they tried to notify other staff members by phone, calling it “genuinely one of the worst moments of my life”.
Currently, New Hampshire does not submit mental health records to the federal registry. Representative Terry Roy, a Second Amendment advocate, and Representative David Meuse, a gun safety supporter, came to together to urge passage of the bill they co-sponsored, while a number of gun rights advocates urged rejection of the bill.
Discussion: There has been a great deal of debate about the merits of releasing otherwise confidential mental health records to government officials, but it has become apparent from the number of individual and mass shootings that withholding information about potentially dangerous individuals puts everyone in danger. The legislation under consideration would create what would be known as “Bradley’s Law” in honor of retired Franklin Police Chief Bradley Haas who was the security officer killed while on duty at the New Hampshire Hospital. The records to be released would apply to those adjudicated as not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity; adjudicated as incompetent to stand trial and found by the court to be a danger to themselves or others; and those involuntarily committed to a mental health facility. It also would allow law enforcement to confiscate any firearms or ammunition owned by the person, but it provides an option, upon an order of the court, allowing the person to transfer the firearms to another person outside that person’s household who is not themselves prohibited from possessing them.
Simple And Free Tax Filing Available In New Hampshire
New Hampshire is one of 12 states taking part in a pilot program that allows taxpayers to file free returns directly with the Internal Revenue Service on its own tax filing software that works much like the commercial options from TurboTax or H&R Block. However, the program in its current form is limited to basic tax returns. It can handle W-2 forms from employers, 1099-G forms for those receiving unemployment benefits, and Form SSA-1099 for those getting Social Security benefits. It also can handle up to $1,500 in interest income or U.S. bond obligations.
It cannot handle 1099-MISC forms, which involve income from rent, prizes, and awards; 1099-K or 1099-NEC forms for income from payment apps, online marketplaces, payment cards, freelance, and “gig economy” jobs; 1099-Rs for pension and retirement account distributions; any allocated or unreported tips; or any alimony that must be reported as income. While it can handle Medicare, Medicaid; employer-sponsored health insurance, Veterans Affairs health insurance, and private health insurance paid out of pocket, it cannot accommodate information on health insurance purchased through a marketplace such as Healthcare.gov or utilizing a health savings account. The Direct File system only accommodates the standard deduction.
If successful, the Direct File program may be expanded to handle more complex tax returns.
Discussion: The states taking part in the pilot program, created through the Inflation Reduction Act, are New Hampshire, Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. The agency offers live tech support Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., with an option to toggle between English and Spanish. Granite United Way offers alternatives to Direct File in the form of MyFreeTaxes.com, designed by the United Way and including a number of tax forms not currently accepted by IRS Direct File. MyFreeTaxes.com is suitable for people with earnings up to $79,000 and allows filers to submit their information online, receive email, phone, and chat support, and file their taxes electronically. Those with earnings up to $60,000 can have their taxes prepared for them by making an appointment with a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) center whose locations are listed on My Free Taxes. Some companies providing commercial tax-filing software have been fined for steering users to more expensive options when free software accomplishes the same thing. This pilot program expands the number of free options.
Dartmouth Reinstates Standardized Test Requirement
Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock announced on February 5 that the “college on the hill” will reinstate the standardized testing requirement for undergraduate admissions that was discontinued during the pandemic. She said that research has indicated that “we can improve our ability to identify students from a wide range of economic backgrounds who will succeed at Dartmouth” by using test scores from the SAT and ACT as part of the admissions criteria.
After the admissions process is completed, colleges can see the test scores of students who had not submitted them, and professors Elizabeth Cascio, Bruce Sacerdote, Doug Staiger, and Michele Tine analyzed those test scores, including those from students who were not accepted. They found, “There are hundreds of less-advantaged applicants with scores in the 1,400 range who should be submitting scores to identify themselves to admissions, but do not under test-optional policies.” Some of the applicants who were rejected because of uncertainty about their academic qualifications are likely to have been admitted, had their standardized test scores been available, they said.
Dartmouth admits disadvantaged students who have lower scores than privileged students in recognition that students from poor neighborhoods or troubled high schools are not competing fairly with affluent teenagers in schools that do a better job at preparing them for the tests. Beilock said, “Kids that are excelling in their environment, we think, are a good bet to excel at Dartmouth and out in the world. In some cases SAT scores well below 1,400 can help an application.
“Standardized test scores are an important predictor of a student’s success in Dartmouth’s curriculum, and this is true regardless of a student’s background or family income,” she said. “[A] 1400 SAT score from an applicant whose high school has an SAT mean of 1000 gives us valuable information about that applicant’s ability to excel in their environment, at Dartmouth, and beyond.”
Discussion: The findings are surprising, given that disadvantaged students do not score as well on standardized tests, and the tests generally are seen as being geared toward affluent students. I have always believed that I would not have been admitted to Dartmouth had the college not experimented with discontinuing the SAT requirement when I applied. At that time, Newfound did not do a good job at preparing students for the SAT, and my scores were well below the 1600 maximum. I was admitted based on my academic transcript and recommendations from local alumni (Ken Tilton, Larry Denton, and, especially, Mort Cavis, whom I later learned had submitted a separate recommendation with a plea that the college accept my application).