Latest news with #TimLang
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate budget plan wins final OK before panel
Senate budget writers gave their final, formal approval Tuesday for a two-year, $15.6 billion state budget proposal (HB 1) whose Republican architects called it a 'tough' plan that deals with a loss of billions in federal grants. 'The vast amount of it will make our state a better place, make it a powerhouse economically,' said state Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton. 'It was tough work, hard work. It was an excellent product for the state of New Hampshire." The two Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee praised their Republican colleagues for reversing several hundred million dollars of cuts made in the House-approved budget. But they said they voted against the budget plan for a lack of spending on housing and child care and for raising costs for working families, including a new health care premium for many families on Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. 'The Senate has made improvements to the budget that the House sent us. I don't think we can confuse 'better' with 'adequate,'' said Senate Deputy Democratic Leader Cindy Rosenwald of Nashua. 'This bill does nothing to lower costs for Granite Staters. In fact, it raises costs in many ways.' The panel approved by the same 6-2 vote a budget trailer bill (HB 2) that makes more than 260 changes in state law needed to carry out the budget priorities. 'This was a difficult road to go down. We were able to restore a lot of what the House had taken out,' said Senate Majority Leader Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead. Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, served on a budget committee for the first time in her 21 years in the Legislature. 'Over the last two biennium (four years), we had a lot of money, most of it an infusion of cash from the federal government," Carson said. "We spent that money and were smart about how we spent it, but it is gone. It is gone and now we have to go back to the New Hampshire way of living within our means." Finance Chairman James Gray, R-Rochester, noted the committee's first actions erased House cuts in payments to Medicaid providers and in services for mental health and people with developmental disabilities. 'This is a tight budget year, and that means we have to make tough choices with limited state dollars. Our focus has been on targeted state spending on New Hampshire's most vulnerable populations,' Gray said. The two-year Senate plan includes $67 million more in state aid to the University System of New Hampshire than the House budget. But Sen. Dan Innis, R-Bradford, a professor at the University of New Hampshire, said the $85 million a year in the Senate budget looks small, since the state was giving the University System $100 million a year in 2006. 'We need to start viewing both of these entities as investments in our future rather than spending,' Innis said. 'The $100 million every year, inflation-adjusted would be $166 million; we're spending $85 million, which is half. That's just embarrassing — it just is.' +++ What's Next: The full Senate votes on the recommended budget on Thursday. Prospects: A House-Senate conference committee will meet later this month to seek a compromise between the two spending bills. klandrigan@
Spectator
6 days ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Why shouldn't vegans be catered for in an apocalypse?
You know you've arrived when professors start thinking about how to look after you during a major emergency. As a vegan, I was thrilled to read in the Times this week that Professor Tim Lang, a professor of food policy, has told the government that us meat-dodgers must be catered for in any 'food apocalypse'. Speaking at the Hay Festival, Lang said that if a cyber attack or military strike from Russia destroyed Britain's 'vulnerable' food chain, the contents of ration packs would need to bring comfort to a shaken public. We'd all be 'in psychological shock', he explained, so we'd need to have food that we're 'familiar and comfortable with'. In the face of 'explosions' and 'energy outages' he wouldn't want vegans to 'have to eat meat'. Well, if mushroom burgers are on the menu as the mushroom cloud goes up, then I'm feeling better about Armageddon already. Lang's remarks are just the latest step in veganism's move to the mainstream.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
New Hampshire Senate moves to restore panels wiped out by House, with some changes
Sens. Regina Birdsell, Tim Lang, and Cindy Rosenwald sit at a Senate Finance Committee session, May 29, 2025. (Photo by Will Skipworth/New Hampshire Bulletin) In April, the New Hampshire House passed a budget that eliminated a number of state boards, including the Commission for Human Rights, the Housing Appeals Board, the Commission on Aging, and the State Council on the Arts. This month, Senate Republicans are moving to save those entities. But each could look slightly different moving forward. In a series of votes, the Senate Finance Committee gave initial approval to amendments that would reverse the cuts — with conditions. Those amendments must be approved by the committee again next week, and then by the full Senate on June 5. Here's what the Senate has proposed. The House budget had eliminated the Arts Division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, including the New Hampshire Council on the Arts. That division had received about $1.7 million in state funding, and $2 million in federal funding. The Senate's proposed amendment, passed Thursday, would restore the division, but change how it is funded. Rather than receiving general fund dollars, businesses could donate to the Granite Patron of the Arts Fund, and receive 50% of that donation as a credit against the business profits tax. The tax credit could give out a maximum of $350,000 a year, which would translate to a maximum potential budget of $1.4 million over two years for the arts fund. The amendment is a shift in approach for Sen. Tim Lang, a Sanbornton Republican, who earlier proposed reducing funding for the Arts Division to $1. 'My inbox was filled when I allocated $1 for the Council on the Arts, and I took that to heart and I made changes,' he said. 'This will allow for a tax break system — it will still allow them to collect donations, but make it more incentivized by allowing those corporate donations or private donations.' Democratic Sen. David Watters, of Dover, called the compromise 'very helpful.' 'I think that making sure … that we have the core operations covered, so that there can be somebody who actually goes out and tries to sell these tax credits, that is good, and I think that will keep the office functioning,' he said. The Senate restored funding to the Housing Appeals Board, which is designed to give developers and residents an alternative to the state court system to resolve conflicts with local zoning and planning boards. The House had cut that panel entirely, which costs $560,864 over two years. But Senate Finance Chairman James Gray said the committee would recommend eliminating a position within that board, and would attach the board to the state's Board of Tax and Land Appeals, which handles disputes over state and local taxes as well as property assessments. Gray said the attachment was designed to save on personnel costs to run both boards. The Senate Finance Committee recommended reviving the Commission for Human Rights, a panel designed to investigate discrimination complaints and pass them on to the Attorney General's Office for potential prosecution under state anti-discrimination statutes. The House had abolished the commission, but the Senate restored it, at a cost of $2.7 million over two years. But another Senate amendment would require the Department of Justice's civil rights unit to oversee the commission. The amendment would also mandate that the chairperson of the commission be a licensed attorney in the state. The committee also proposed restoring funding to the State Commission on Aging, at $150,000 per year. Currently, that is funded at $280,432 per year; the House had voted to eliminate the commission. The commission, established in 2019, is charged with making recommendations on how the state can support older residents and increase the health care workforce for direct care. The votes this week came as the Finance Committee decided to follow a rosier outlook for revenues the next two years. On Wednesday, Lang, who is also the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said Department of Revenue Administration Commissioner Lindsey Stepp had recommended new projections for the state's business profits tax, meals and rooms tax, and real estate transfer tax. The new projections would increase business tax revenues by $75 million over the biennium; the meals and rooms tax by $27.8 million; and the real estate transfer tax by $5 million. Lang cited analyses from Morningstar and Kiplinger, two research firms, that suggested New Hampshire could benefit from uncertain economic conditions by attracting people seeking to save money or take local vacations. Sen. Dan Innis, a Bradford Republican, backed up Lang's analysis, arguing he believes revenues will come in even stronger than Lang's proposed increase. But a Democratic senator, Cindy Rosenwald of Nashua, said she disagrees with the move to increase projected business tax collections. Rosenwald said she had her own conversation with Stepp, and had received a more mixed assessment of businesses. 'If the tariff stuff doesn't calm down, that's going to lead to more business uncertainty, but if the extension of the federal tax cuts gets made (in Congress), businesses will like that, because they like certainty,' Rosenwald said. '…So I'm not comfortable with increasing the business tax rates.' Adopting those new projections will allow the Senate to plan for nearly $108 million more in revenue over the next two years, which could help it ease some cuts imposed by the House. The committee voted to approve the new revenue figures on party lines, 5-2. The committee voted on Wednesday against a proposal to increase the amount of money transferred to the state's affordable housing fund from $5 million to $7 million. That money comes out of the state's real estate transfer tax. Watters argued that the fund should be increased to allow more development because the current amount is not enough. Initially, Democrats and affordable housing advocates had pushed for the annual transfers to the fund to be doubled, to $10 million.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate budget brings back state support for arts
Bowing to public and political pressure, Senate budget writers approved a spending and tax credit proposal to leverage up to $3.7 million in support for the arts. In another major decision, the Senate Finance Committee more than doubled the amount of state aid to the University System of New Hampshire that had been included in the House-approved spending plan. The House budget would eliminate all funding for the Council on the Arts, essentially eliminating the council.. Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, had convinced his budget colleagues earlier this month to set aside only $1 for the state Council on the Arts and to seek private donations and federal grants to pick up the slack. 'My email inbox was filled when I allocated $1,' Lang said. 'This creative solution leverages scarce state resources with matching private sector donations and federal grants to generate more than $3.7 million for the Arts Council.' Gov. Ayotte had been pushing senators to reconsider their position after she had proposed $2 million in state and federal grants for the arts — about half of what the council currently receives. Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, authored the new proposal with Lang. Senate budget revives state support for arts Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, co-authored with Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, a proposal that took a step forward to provide up to $3.7 million in support for the arts. 'We all wanted to find a way to keep the Arts Council alive,' Carson said. The proposal creates a Granite Patron of the Arts program that would provide donors with a 50% state tax credit. The program would have a total donation limit of $700,000 a year, which would cost the state $350,000 in tax credits. The plan also sets aside $150,000 each year that should cover overhead costs for the arts council, and allows the council to seek federal grants that could amount to up to $1 million a year. Sen. Daniel Innis, R-Webster, who had been urging his GOP colleagues to support the arts, said, 'I think we are in a good spot with this change." Reversing the House The move is the latest of many the Senate committee has made to undo actions taken by House budget writers. The Senate Finance Committee's action on funding for the university system would bring annual state aid to the system's three fpur-year colleges up to $85 million annually. Gov. Kelly Ayotte had proposed state aid each year of $91.2 million. Carson noted the first decisions Senate budget writers made were to reverse House-approved cuts to Medicaid providers and programs for mental health and individuals with developmental disabilities. The House spending plan also eliminated funding for the Office of the Child Advocate, the Commission on Aging, the Human Rights Commission, the Housing Appeals Board and the Board of Land and Tax Appeals. The Senate restored all of those programs in some form, reducing the Housing Appeals Board by one member, giving the Commission on Aging a significant budget cut, and requiring the Human Rights Commission's annual report to address a critical performance audit that came out late last year. The Senate budget would also create a one-year advisory council in the judicial branch to monitor how well the Human Rights Commission is addressing its case backlog and other administrative shortcomings that auditors found. More action The Senate spending plan would also use an estimated $10 million from the sale of the former Laconia State School to a private developer to purchase 1 Granite Place in Concord, an office building that houses the Department of Justice. Concord developer and former state Republican Party Chairman Steve Duprey owns the office complex. Also winning approval was $3.8 million in state dollars to maintain a call center that is used to help the Department of Health and Human Services make timely decisions on Medicaid eligibility for nursing home placements. The call center opened a few years ago with the support of federal American Rescue Plan Act grant money that is no longer available, state officials said. Brendan Williams, chief executive officer of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, said nearly all private nursing homes are facing critical cash shortages as they wait months for potential residents to be approved for admission. Nursing home executives have agreed to a state fee increase to help support the effort. 'We think this is the means to give the department the resources to timely make these critical decisions for our industry,' Williams said. The Senate budget would also provide $500,000 in state grants for family planning programs that generate roughly double that amount in federal support. Finance Committee Chairman James Gray, R-Rochester, said his panel will make final votes on its budget proposal next Tuesday. A key decision still to be made is whether to grant $28 million each year in pension benefit enhancements for first responders with government jobs who had their retirements cut by a 2011 reform law. klandrigan@
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Start planning ration packs with chickpeas for Russian attack on UK's food supply chain, experts warn
The Government has been urged to draw up plans for ration packs to cater for all diets in the event of a devastating cyberattack or a Russian military assault. Experts warned that ministers had given little thought to how groups such as vegans or Muslims would be fed if Britain's 'vulnerable' food supply chain was knocked out. Tim Lang, a professor of food policy at City St George's, University London, said that ration packs would need to offer comfort in such circumstances. If people were 'in psychological shock they need to have things they are familiar and comfortable with', he told the Hay Festival, as reported by The Times. 'They have just experienced new things - explosions, energy outages - and you don't want people used to a halal diet to have to eat a non-halal diet for example or vegetarians and vegans to have to eat meat. 'It will be very different from 1940 and 1916 and we have not been planning for that.' Prof. Lang pointed to how other countries, including Germany and Sweden, were already 'getting into the minutiae about different diets, different ethnicities' He said the Government's scientific advisory committee on nutrition needed to start 'analysing British diets'. The academic said he was continually telling the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) 'to take food security and food shocks more seriously'. 'When I have looked at how much intelligence gathering is going on in the food system about shocks it is low. Not much,' he said. 'There are a range of potential shocks to the food industry… but there is this complacency. We just tend to assume food is there.' He added it was 'crazy' that Britain with its 'good soil and capabilities' did not produce more of its own food and instead relied on imports. Prof. Lang highlighted the recent cyberattacks that hit Co-op and Marks & Spencer. He suggested the impact would have been much worse if Tesco had been targeted as it 'sells nearly a third of all food'. The academic said the UK's food industry operated on a 'just in time' strategy and needed to move to a 'just in case' approach. 'Britain feeds itself through nine companies who account for 94.5 per cent of food purchases, plus the catering sector,' he added. 'These companies all control long supply chains which have all been managed and increasingly integrated to get rid of storage.' Sir David Omand, the former director of GCHQ, echoed the warning that Britain's 'complex' food supply systems had made the country 'more vulnerable'. He said: 'My worry about a lot of these resilience things is that we are rather complacent. 'We will get the wake-up call when suddenly you turn on the switch and the lights don't come on because of some cyberattack or some Russian attack or whatever it might be.' A DEFRA spokesman said: 'Our cross-Government food strategy will make sure our food system can continue to feed the nation, realise its potential for economic growth, protect the planet, and nourish individuals, now and in the future. 'We cannot do this alone, which is why we are working with those across the food sector, utilising their expertise, to transform the industry for good.'
