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Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate budget writers boost revenues with 'big ticket' items still left to decide
Senate budget writers began making a few big-ticket decisions Wednesday, raising revenue estimates by nearly $108 million and sweetening profits for charity casino owners to generate more net gambling revenue for the state's bottom line. They endorsed designating an estimated $80 million profit from the private sale of the Sununu Youth Services Center (SYSC) property in Manchester to the settlement fund that pays victims of sexual and physical abuse who lived at the SYSC or its predecessor Youth Development Center. The Senate budget would also spend $20 million for YDC victims in the first year, bringing the potential total to $100 million if the SYSC sale brings in its expected market value. The House-approved budget (HB 2) set aside $20 million for the YDC fund over its two-year cycle. YDC Settlement Fund Administrator John Broderick asked the Legislature to approve $75 million a year for damage awards. Senate Deputy Democratic Leader Cindy Rosenwald of Nashua said she was concerned the lead lawyer for most of the alleged victims might advise clients to go back tto court and not go through this administrative settlement process if there isn't $150 million set aside. A preliminary audit of the program confirmed all damage claims from more than 1,300 alleged victims will total more than $1.1 billion; the state has thus far committed to spend $165 million. 'I think we have a responsibility to them,' said Sen. David Watters, D-Dover. "It's difficult for us financially but morally I think it's the right thing to do." The committee voted 5-2 for the $100 million amount. Big issues, higher revenues The panel still has decide many major issues, including whether to restore $50 million in House budget cuts to the University System of New Hampshire and if it will grant $28 million-a-year in higher pension benefits for a select group of first responders holding government jobs who had their retirement payouts cut in 2011. Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, said after huddling with Revenue Commissioner Lindsey Stepp, he recommended bumping up the revenue forecast for three tax groups: • Business taxes: $75 million more than its earlier estimate ($25 million next year and $50 million in the second year of the budget cycle). • Room and Meals Tax: $27.8 million more ($11.5 million next year and $16 million in the second year). • Real Estate Transfer Tax: $5 million more ($2.3 million more in the first year and $2.7 million in the second). 'I feel good raising the revenue to these totals,' Lang said. This brings the Senate's estimate for the first budget year, which begins July 1, close to what Gov. Kelly Ayotte had proposed in her budget. Ayotte's second-year revenue forecast, however, remains much more bullish than the Senate's number, higher by more than $150 million. Rosenwald said her private discussions with Stepp didn't yield the same optimism that Lang heard. 'I am not comfortable with increasing the business tax rates," she said. "I have lived through a budget when we had to make cuts in the middle of the biennium; it's awful." Sen. Dan Innis, R-Bradford, a University of New Hampshire business professor, said there's good reason to think positively. 'If anything, I think Senator Lang's numbers are too low. I see a robust economy during the second half of the year, we could have 4% growth during that period,' Innis said. 'I think we are being very conservative even with Senator Lang's numbers.' All Senate Republicans agreed with Lang's revenue boost. Gambling matters On gambling, the House, Senate and Ayotte budgets would allow charity casinos to convert to slot machines from slower historic horse racing machines in order to attract more betting and profit for charities and state government. At Lang's urging, the committee lowered the tax rate charity casino owners would pay on slots from 32.5% to 31.25%; the House budget calls for a 30% tax rate. They also voted to reject a proposed maximum bet of $50. Massachusetts has a $50 limit on slot and table game betting, and not having a limit here will attract high rollers to New Hampshire, Lang said. 'We don't want to limit the high-stakes gamblers; we want them coming here,' Lang said. Lang's slot machine bill (SB 83) would reimburse cities and towns $20 million a year, equal to the cost of property tax exemptions granted to residents who are elderly, disabled or blind. On Wednesday, the committee agreed to Lang's request to put that property tax relief off until the next budget in 2028, which means $20 million more in each year would flow to the state treasury in the meantime. Vehicle fees Truckers got a big gift in these latest talks. The Senate plan proposed a 10% increase in annual truck registration fees. The House budget had a 100% increase. Lang said the House version "will be devastating to our business interests in our state for all the material that's brought in by truck for our residents to consume." The Senate's change means the state's highway fund will get $13.5 million less and cities and towns would receive $540,000 less in local aid than proposed in the House budget. Both the House and Senate budget plans would raise registration fees for passenger vehicles by nearly 35%, for example from $31.20 to $42 a year for the smallest cars. +++ What's Next: Senate budget writers will complete their recommendations early next week and the full Senate could vote on them June 5. Prospects: Some political observers are skeptical whether enough House Republicans will agree to all this higher spending winning support in the Senate to get a final deal through the lower chamber. klandrigan@
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Yahoo
Police reports detail disturbance at Sununu youth center
Mar. 14—Juvenile residents causing a disturbance inside the Sununu Youth Services Center allegedly kicked and bit state troopers, yelled racial epithets and grabbed on to a Taser while authorities worked to restore order, according to recently released police reports. The New Hampshire Union Leader sued to have the reports made public. Police were called to the Manchester center on the night of Oct. 7, 2022, after several of the young residents refused to return to their rooms and became unruly, threatening staff and blocking security cameras, the reports say. "At this moment, it was apparent that the incident was out of control and that more residents might become a risk to the lives of troopers and SYSC staff due to their violent tendencies," state Trooper Jonathan Janosz wrote in his report. One resident asked a state trooper if he could have his gun during the disturbance. Residents shouted the N-word and one spat in a trooper's face. Trooper Thomas Skafidas wrote that he was headbutted twice and kicked in the mouth, bloodying his lip. One resident was taken to the hospital with undisclosed injuries. A trooper sought medical treatment at an urgent care center for his right wrist. Several state troopers and, later, at least three Manchester Police units responded to the center, listed as "a 24-hour secure treatment facility that offers intensive treatment for New Hampshire's detained and committed youth, both male and female, ages 13 to 17," according to the state Department of Health and Human Services website. It wasn't the first violent incident at the center. Between August and October 2022, police and emergency medical services were called to the Manchester facility 10 times and staffers had been badly hurt, according to the State Employees Association. Two needed surgeries after the assaults, and two suffered concussions. One worker had three concussions in as many months, and several workers were bitten by youths. In 2022, the Union Leader requested records from the Department of Safety seeking "public records related to the State Police response" at the youth center on Oct. 7-8, "including any incident reports with confidential information redacted." The state Supreme Court last year ruled the Union Leader should have more access to police records regarding the incident and the response. "Disclosure of the reports allow the public to decide whether the government — the SYSC staff and the police — handled the situation well or not (and) whether or not here was anything that should've be done differently to deescalate or respond to the situation," attorney Kathleen Sullivan, who argued the newspaper's case, said in an email this week. "The facility had less than half of the recommended number of staff and teachers, and the public has a right to know what that actually looks like," Sullivan said. Open records? The Attorney General's Office maintained the records fell under confidential juvenile proceedings. Gov. Kelly Ayotte's proposed trailer bill to the next two-year state budget (House Bill 2) would exempt from public disclosure "records held by the executive branch that are 'under seal' or confidential in a court file." "If that bill becomes law, this is a great example of records and information that the public would never be allowed to see," Sullivan said. State Police, which issue news releases on highway crashes and violent crimes, did not issue a release on the 2022 disturbance, according to an archived list of releases on the agency's website. State Police also declined to discuss their responses to trouble at the center beyond confirming them. On that Oct. 7, Trooper Janosz's report recounted how a resident "successfully broke through his cell door window" and had an approximately 12-inch piece of "wood trim in his hand, with roughly a half dozen nails embedded into the wood" and began swinging it, trying to hit the troopers. An "incident report" dated the following month had the suspect's name blacked out with six charges listed: five counts of assault by prisoner simple assault and one count of disorderly conduct. Four victims were listed, but their names were blacked out. Their listed employer addresses matched the address for the State Police headquarters in Concord. The "enforcement action" also was blacked out. Asked for comment from State Police about that night, Department of Safety spokesman Tyler Dumont said in an email Friday: "The department has provided all public information as directed by the court. It is not appropriate to provide any further comment on the incident at this time as the matter involves juveniles in state care." Jake Leon, spokesman for HHS, which oversees the center, sent the identical two-sentence response to questions posed by the Union Leader. Video awaited The newspaper still is awaiting the release of police body camera footage from the disturbance from the Department of Safety. "It has been 56 days since the trial court ordered the Department of Safety to blur or omit the faces and voices of juveniles and make that edited footage from body worn cameras and security cameras public," Sullivan said. "The Department of Justice says that it will not be ready for at least another 30 — 60 days," Sullivan said. "We find that unacceptable and have filed a motion asking the court to order disclosure within 7 days." DOJ spokesman Michael Garrity said in an email Thursday: "The 60-day estimate is the current estimate from the Department of Safety." At the Sununu center that Oct. 7, one resident told Trooper Skafidas he didn't want to go back to his room because he felt the staff were being racist towards another resident, the staff had warned the residents caught with their pants sagging low would be punished, and that this resident was unhappy about a staff member being reassigned to his unit, according to the trooper's report. The reports blacked out the names of the juveniles, per the court's direction, making it difficult at times to determine how many residents were involved. Reports cited at least three unruly residents. Another trooper underscored his colleagues' concern. "At this point, the situation was getting out of control and staff members were fighting with" a resident trying to restrain him while another resident "was attempting to break out of his room and assault troopers," wrote Trooper Douglas Bailey Jr. in his report. mcousineau@
