Latest news with #YDC
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
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Preliminary audit of YDC fund lacks any smoking gun
Anyone expecting that a preliminary audit of the Youth Development Center Settlement Fund would have an explosive, smoking gun finding is bound to be disappointed. Carson requested and Legislative Fiscal Committee ordered YDC fund audit Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, requested and the Legislative Fiscal Committee approved a report reviewing the finances of the Youth Development Center Settlement Fund created in 2022 to consider damage awards to victims of alleged sexual and/or physical abuse. The 18-page report addressing seven bullet points the Legislative Fiscal Committee had called for at the urging of Senate President Sharon Carson does not cite any concern that the fund, created in 2022, has been improperly managed. Christine Young, director of audits under Legislative Budget Assistant Michael Kane, said four members of her team conducted interviews over the last four weeks of employees involved in the program with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the YDC Claims Administration (YDCCA) staff group. They've also been reviewing all policies and reports. A final report from Young's group is due in early June. Carson said she requested the review because she didn't know enough about how the fund was dispensing awards, especially since June 2024 when a new law allowed fund administrator John Broderick and his legal team to pay out awards over time rather than in lump sums. The law allows awards to be paid in up to 10-year terms, but the report found that only five of 80 approved awards would be paid over 10 years, while 50 of the 80 awards will be paid out in four years or less. Awards already agreed to are going to cost the state budget at least $20 million in the two-year period that begins July 1, according to the report. The House-approved state budget has earmarked only $10 million for the fund in each of the next two years. Broderick has requested $150 million, which would equal the $75 million the fund is allowed to spend in any given year. Payments to lawyers Carson and other fiscal members raised questions about how lawyers representing the victims are paid. The report found the average attorney fee paid to date has been 30.8% of the award, below the 33% cap allowed by state law. Young's report confirms that 18 firms representing more than 75% of the victims have agreed to receive their fees over a three-year period. But the report found 50 claims had attorney fees totaling $11.2 million that had been paid in lump sums while their clients were all getting paid in installments. The report does reveal that Broderick has chosen not to act upon requests from Attorney General John Formella's staff for more fact finding on his cases. Preliminary financial report on YDC settlement fund released A House-Senate budget oversight committee approved an immediate audit into the finances of the state-created claims fund that approves damage awards to victims of sexual and physical abuse at the Youth Development Center in Manchester (pictured). The AG hired the Verrill Dana law firm of Portland, Maine, to review claims by the administrator to assess completeness and areas of agreement or disagreement. From 2022 to 2024, the AG had to provide its position whether it agreed 'fully or partially' with the administrator's claim decision. Since June 2024, that view from the AG has been optional though the practice 'remains substantially in place,' the report said. Young said the Verrill Dana firm has 'in certain cases' requested Broderick refer the case to a fact facilitator, but Broderick has not done so. 'YDCCA staff reported requests have not been granted by the administrator to conduct an additional independent investigation because statute requires timely processing of claims, and the resolution proceeding uses trauma-informed professionals to address verification and credibility questions in addition to controls throughout the claims process,' the report said. 'Contracts for these professionals include fact facilitation in the scope of work should it ever be needed.' Other details in the report included: * Inmate victims: Nearly one in five who have brought claims are currently prison inmates. Only 17 of those inmates are in out-of-state jails while the other 181 (91.4%) reside in New Hampshire prisons. * Administrative costs: Formella's staff spent 61.6% for the fund with the YDCCA has accounted for 38.4%. * Size of awards: The average award has been $543,000. Among the 296 completed claims, 54 of them were more than $1 million and 242 were less than that benchmark. klandrigan@
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
YDC victim settlement requests total nearly $1.5 billion
Administrator gives quarterly update on YDC settlement fund John T. Broderick, a retired, Supreme Court chief justice, is administrator of the settlement fund the Legislature created to decide how much alleged victims of sexual and/or physical abuse should receive for what happened while they were at the Youth Development Center in Manchester and its successor facility, the Sununu Youth Services Center. The 1,135 people who have filed claims for settlement from the Youth Development Center victims fund have requested just under $1.5 billion — for an average $1.3 million in damages for sexual and/or physical abuse by staff at the facility, according to the latest quarterly report from the fund's administrator. The 296 cases settled to date through either the YDC settlement fund or the Attorney General's Office amount to $156 million, for an average award of $527,027. The Legislative Fiscal Committee will formally receive the report from fund administrator John Broderick on Friday and may get to see preliminary results of a review of the fund from Legislative Budget Assistant Michael Kane's audit division. At the urging of Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, the fiscal committee last month requested the audit after members concluded they lacked enough specific information, particularly how claimants' lawyers were being paid and the extent to which potential victims took out loans at extremely high interest rates to get their cases to this point. Kane said his team will wrap up the expedited audit in time for House and Senate budget writers to consider as they decide how much money they will earmark to replenish the fund for the next two years. Broderick, a former chief justice of the state Supreme Court, had asked for $15 million for the remainder of the budget year that ends June 30; the fiscal panel and Executive Council gave him $5 million and have put the other $10 million on hold pending the audit. Broderick has asked for $150 million for 2026-27, which is the maximum under a 2024 law that placed an annual $75 million cap on spending. The House-approved state budget proposal set aside only $10 million each year, which Broderick said would not meet the $26 million due in awards over that two-year period that Formella and he have already approved. Since its inception, the Legislature has allotted $165 million to the fund. June 30 is the deadline for claimants to file an initial application to remain eligible for a potential settlement. In the report, Broderick said the overwhelming number of claimants are represented by the Manchester firm of Nixon and Peabody along with Rus Rilee, who has often been co-counsel. The number of total claims will rise over the next six weeks as a final batch of their clients 'stay' their lawsuits in court and file to seek a settlement, he said. To receive a settlement, claimants must agree not to sue the state in court. About 10% of requested claims involve physical abuse, another 10% allege sexual abuse, and the other 80% of alleged victims said they suffered both. The actionable amount of total award requests was $1.33 billion, Broderick said, once you applied 'statutory maximums' under the law that these alleged victims could receive. Administrator: Alleged victims of YDC abuse have sought nearly $1.5 billion. The Legislative Fiscal Committee has asked for an audit of the settlement fund it set up to decide what alleged victims at the Youth Development Center in Manchester (pictured) should receive in damages for sexual and/or physical abuse. Other business At Friday's monthly meeting, the Legislative Fiscal Committee will also act on Gov. Kelly Ayotte's request to spend a remaining $270,000 balance that had been in a $10 million School Infrastructure Fund that former Gov. Chris Sununu created with federal money. Ayotte said the money must be committed by the end of the federal budget year Sept. 30 or it goes back to the treasury. Seven of the eight schools to receive the final money are in Nashua with Gilford High School becoming the eighth. Also, Business and Economic Affairs Commissioner Taylor Caswell is asking for permission to accept a $12 million federal grant to expand broadband access, part of a $196 million allocation to New Hampshire under the federal Infrastructure Act of 2021. klandrigan@
Japan Times
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Japan Times
Hoshoryu dominates rivals in practice, but real test awaits at May Basho
One of sumo's most reliable truisms is that 'results in training mean nothing.' For every wrestler who has carried impressive pre-basho form into a tournament, there is another whose wins in practice turned out to be little more than a mirage. Make no mistake — Japan's national sport has perhaps the most violent and intense training sessions of any athletic endeavor, but it's also a sport where practice results are unreliable if taken as a predictor of future success. There are numerous reasons why that is the case, including wrestlers working exclusively on particular techniques, lacking sufficient rest from previous practices or not going full speed in order to protect injured body parts. With that in mind, it would be wise for fans of Hoshoryu to not get too carried away with the yokozuna's recent dominance against high-ranked opponents. At the Yokozuna Deliberation Council (YDC) open practice held at the Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 2, Hoshoryu overwhelmed the ozeki duo of Onosato and Kotozakura, and he has looked sharp and strong in almost all other training sessions over the past week or so. It's a positive sign for sumo's newest yokozuna as he attempts a comeback from an injury that forced him out of his debut tournament at that rank but doesn't necessarily portend a title run in the summer meet. Despite his elevated rank, the young Mongolian-born wrestler is still developing, and he can't automatically be assumed to be in the championship race each and every meet in the way his compatriots Hakuho or Asashoryu once were. Hoshoryu, who turns 26 during the upcoming tournament, may have already reached the top of the sumo pyramid but has still won fewer championships than Onosato (or even Mitakeumi) and has yet to score more than 13 wins in any single tournament. Whether he has completely recovered and is back to full fitness won't be apparent until the May Basho gets underway. Even so, it was hard not to be impressed with the way Hoshoryu went about his business at the soken. The young yokozuna not only beat Onosato and Kotozakura, he did so in a fashion that left no doubts about who sumo's top wrestler is at this point. It may be just a trick that his elevated rank plays on the mind, but Hoshoryu has looked significantly bigger and more imposing since becoming a yokozuna. With Onosato seemingly on track to also reach the top rank, the prospect of two young, physically commanding yokozuna atop the rankings is a mouth-watering one for sumo fans. Speaking of Onosato, given that the ozeki was sick and skipped training ahead of the YDC practice, it's understandable that he looked out of sorts against Hoshoryu during the event. However, according to reports, the March tournament winner looked much better later in the week. With promotion to yokozuna at stake at the upcoming meet, it's inarguably the most important tournament of the Nippon Sport Science University graduate's life. Given the way he has handled pressure, both as an amateur and at every stage of his professional career, the odds of Onosato rising to the occasion once again are good. Any objective analysis of sumo's current situation would have to conclude that Onosato is the favorite to win the May tournament, even if Hoshoryu is back to full strength. The giant ozeki hasn't completely abandoned his bad habit of pulling when the forward momentum of his initial attack is halted. He may not lose as often when that happens, but it remains a weak point that accomplished opponents can exploit. One of those opponents is Kotozakura, who has split his eight career bouts with Onosato. The grandson of a yokozuna with the same name, Kotozakura entered 2025 on a high but has fallen out of the limelight somewhat after consecutive poor tournaments. The 14-1 record that the Sadogatake stable man posted in November makes him the only active rikishi who knows what it's like to get more than 13 wins in the top division, and the ability to reach such heights means he has to be considered a title contender even if recent results haven't gone his way. Kotozakura has looked sharper in recent training sessions, and it can only be good for the sport if the ozeki provides a challenge to the top two. While there may be a gap between Kotozakura and the two men above him, it's also true there is a bigger gap between the ozeki and everyone below him. Daiesho, Kirishima, Wakatakakage and Takayasu in the lower sanyaku (sekiwake and komusubi) ranks are experienced and accomplished — all but Takayasu have won the Emperor's Cup — but it's hard to see any of them becoming (or returning to) ozeki in the future, and even a championship run isn't something that can be predicted with any confidence. Which isn't to say that sumo's biggest prize is inevitably destined to be claimed by a yokozuna or ozeki in May. With Hakuoho and Aonishiki positioned at maegashira Nos. 7 and 9, respectively, it's entirely conceivable that one of sumo's impressive young rising talents could win a first title. Hakuoho's efforts over the past six months seem to have gone mostly unnoticed. That's somewhat understandable as he almost broke a century-old record in 2023 as a teenage top-division debutant and then immediately dropped out of sight for an extended period due to an injury. The severity (and long-term nature) of his shoulder problems led many to write him off as a potential future ozeki or title winner, but Hakuoho has had winning records in seven of eight tournaments since returning and has more than held his own in makuuchi this year. If he can avoid some of the soft early tournament losses, then anything is possible. Aonishiki (left) won 11 of his final 13 bouts to claim a special prize in March. | JIJI Aonishiki continues his unlikely rise up the rankings, with the young Ukrainian in March once again defying those who claim his lack of size limits his ceiling. After a rocky start, Aonishiki won 11 of his final 13 bouts to claim a special prize and displayed powerful forward-moving sumo from start to finish. With that aggressive approach, the 21-year-old is certain to be a fan favorite as he edges closer to sumo's limelight. As with Hakuoho, a banzuke position for May that should avoid most of sumo's top rankers figures to be a boost, and Aonishiki could conceivably give Ukraine a first-ever title later this month. As the summer meet approaches, it's looking like the top wrestlers will exert their control, but a challenge from lower down is a distinct possibility.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New YDC victims advocacy group launched
An advocacy group was launched Tuesday for alleged survivors of sexual and physical abuse at the state-run Youth Development Center. 'Justice for YDC Victims' was created to encourage lawmakers to meet commitments they made to support a fast-depleting settlement fund. The launch comes at a critical time since it remains uncertain just how much more money the Republican-led Legislature will be willing to commit to the settlement fund beyond its current $160 million stake, even as there are more than 800 pending claims before fund administrator John Broderick. 'As a survivor of unimaginable abuse in the YDC system, I had hope when the settlement fund was created that maybe, finally, people are ready to stand up and take responsibility,' said Chuck Miles, who has a claim pending with the fund. 'For the state to walk away from that promise now would reopen our wounds all over again. YDC victims want to see that the fund is a legitimate path to find justice, and that means people in Concord need to meet their commitments.' Fund administrator Broderick has asked lawmakers and Gov. Kelly Ayotte to support adding another $150 million to the fund, which is the annual limit set by law. Ayotte declined to add more funding in her two-year budget proposal, saying replenishing the fund was up to the Legislature. Earlier this month, the House approved a state budget plan that earmarked only $10 million in each of the next two years. Broderick said Monday that amount doesn't even meet the $26 million in payments to victims that the state has agreed to for 2026-2027. 'Survivors like me have been through hell and back from the abuse suffered in the YDC system,' said Solomon Sanchez, who filed a claim with the settlement fund. 'After pushing us to enter the fund and set aside our right to a jury trial, the state changing the terms now would be a breach of the agreements they made, raising doubts that we will ever see justice.' Marc Goldberg, a principal in Cornerstone Government Affairs and a spokesman for the new group, said advocates appreciate the work that key legislators have contributed to date. 'We understand the Legislature is dealing with a difficult budget dynamic, but there are strong advocates for YDC abuse survivors in the Legislature, including Senate President (Sharon) Carson, who helped put the settlement fund into place,' Goldberg said in a statement. 'YDC victims hope these allies can help ensure the final budget holds true to the fair resolution process in law and provides a clear pathway to the targeted funding level.' Justice for YDC Victims launched a website Tuesday that includes information about how people can call to action to add more money to the settlement fund. klandrigan@
