Key takeaways from the sprawling $15.9b New Hampshire state budget plan

Boston Globe

2 days ago

'I look at this budget as a readjustment from having all that federal money,' Carson said, as she credited fellow members of the Senate Finance Committee with listening to constituents and further refining the draft budget accordingly. 'I think it keeps us on a path to prosperity.'
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While it's true that the state isn't as flush with federal cash as it was two years ago, Democrats contend Republicans contributed to the state's current fiscal pinch by
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The initial budget proposal that Republican Governor Kelly A. Ayotte unveiled in February had called for about
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Armed with its own revenue projections and
'It was hard work,' Republican Senator Timothy P. Lang Sr. of Sanbornton said of the committee's detailed review and decision-making. 'But this is an excellent budget for the citizens of New Hampshire.'
Democratic Senator Cindy Rosenwald of Nashua said the latest revision is a significant improvement over the House-passed spending plan, but policymakers shouldn't mistake 'better' for 'adequate.'
'This budget before us … does really
Here are nine key takeaways from the Senate Finance Committee's version of the budget:
1. Major changes in store for Medicaid.
The latest draft budget would seek to require some low- and moderate-income households to help pay for their Medicaid coverage. Unlike the premiums that were included in Ayotte's
The budget also now includes language that would direct the state to seek federal permission to impose Medicaid work requirements — a move that critics said would introduce red tape that causes people to disenroll, ultimately resulting in higher spending on emergency care for uninsured people.
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That said, the latest draft budget restores more than $52 million in Medicaid funding that the House-passed version would have cut by imposing a 3 percent reduction on rates paid to service providers, according to the NHFPI analysis.
2. Retirement plan fix would be delayed.
While the House adopted a plan to address a shortfall in the state's retirement system for police and firefighters, the Senate Finance Committee adopted an amendment to delay the effective date of those changes by six months. Lang said the change would save about $13 million over this coming biennium and avoid shifting costs onto local communities.
3. Corrections cuts partially restored.
Although the House-passed budget would have eliminated about 190 positions from the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, the Senate Finance Committee's plan calls for a more modest cut that results in the elimination of about 60 positions, according to the NHFPI analysis.
4. Big shift in settlement fund oversight.
Currently, the administrator who oversees
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Chuck Miles, an abuse survivor and board member for an advocacy group, called on lawmakers to reject the amendment.
'Adopting this measure combined with a dramatic underfunding in the first year of the budget is an abandonment of the settlement fund by the state and a slap in the face for all victims who were promised justice,' Miles said.
5. Child advocate and arts division salvaged.
The latest version of the budget would save the
The child advocate, an independent watchdog agency that lawmakers established to improve oversight of the state's troubled child welfare system, would receive about $1.6 million in funding for the coming biennium, about $500,000 less than Ayotte's original proposal. (That would result in the office losing four staff positions rather than all nine, according to the NHFPI analysis.)
6. University system funding mostly restored.
The University System of New Hampshire — which includes the University of New Hampshire, Keene State College, and Plymouth State University — is receiving $95 million in the current fiscal year, which ends this month. Ayotte had
The Senate Finance Committee's recommendation brings the allocation up to
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7. Broader eligibility for education freedom accounts.
Ayotte's original budget proposal called for giving
8. Budget still seeks to ban DEI initiatives.
A provision in the House-passed version of the budget that would prohibit all public entities from engaging in
9. More legislative negotiations are likely.
Unlike two years ago, the House and Senate will likely form a committee of conference this time around to hammer out the significant differences between their two versions of the budget legislation, according to
The deadline for action on the committee of conference report would be June 26, with the new budget taking effect July 1, Heller said.
Steven Porter can be reached at