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Hearing on concurrent resolution urges federal action to affirm Portsmouth Naval Shipyard lies in New Hampshire
Summary
Supporters of HCR 8 told the committee they want Congress or the President to confirm that Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and portions of the Piscataqua/Piscataqua River belong to New Hampshire, arguing the current arrangement leads to taxation and jurisdictional issues.
Representative Barton introduced House Concurrent Resolution 8 asking Congress to find that the Piscataqua River and Portsmouth Harbor lie within the State of New Hampshire, and urging the president to issue an executive order to list the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard duty station as Portsmouth, New Hampshire rather than Kittery, Maine.
Speaker Mark Stettner, a recently retired Portsmouth Naval Shipyard naval architect, told the committee the Supreme Court never decided an internal-state boundary extending from the river mouth to inland waters; rather, he said, prior proceedings settled only fishing rights at the harbor entrance. He described administrative changes to personnel duty-station paperwork decades ago that he said shifted tax withholding to Maine for many shipyard employees and estimated he personally paid "over $100,000" to Maine as a consequence during his career.
Supporters argued correcting the federal duty-station designation would stop ongoing state-to-state taxation where New Hampshire residents who work at the shipyard are taxed by Maine; witnesses asked the committee to resubmit or reaffirm a similar 2005 resolution and to forward documentation including a historical 85-page report compiled previously.
Committee members asked for documentary sources and whether the report was available in a digital form; Representative Barton said he had scanned copies and would provide the materials. The committee did not take action at the hearing.
Why it matters: Supporters say the issue affects taxation, municipal revenue and legal clarity for workers at a major federal shipyard and request federal or executive action to resolve jurisdictional ambiguity.
