That faint rumbling you hear coming from the northwest is likely the sound of state budget negotiations currently going on in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. This month, House members wrapped up work on a number of bills and turned their attentions toward — and red pens on — Gov. Maggie Hassan’s proposed $11.5 billion budget.
So far, House Finance Committee members have proposed significant cuts to the governor’s two-year budget, according to reports from the Associated Press. House budget writers want to cut around $240 million from Hassan’s budget so that it lines up with revenue projections from the House Ways and Means Committee, according to the AP. The House budget does not include any of Hassan’s sources of revenue, such as an increase in the cigarette tax and Keno.
Wielding the ax
Some of the most notable cuts include removing $88.2 million from the Department of Transportation’s budget, about 42 percent of the agency’s total budget. Finance committee member Rep. Daniel Eaton (D-Stoddard) blasted the cuts, saying they would “cripple and eviscerate” the DOT. According to Eaton, the cuts would shutter 50 maintenance sheds and two district offices and result in hundreds of layoffs. Meanwhile, New Hampshire Public Radio reports that Rep. Neal Kurk (R-Weare), chair of the House Finance Committee, is proposing a 7-8 cent increase in the gas tax to help mitigate DOT cuts.
The Department of Health and Human Services has also been targeted for cuts, with the committee recommending $180 million in cuts. That includes $4 million in cuts to funding for emergency homeless shelters and $10.5 million in cuts for social services for the elderly, according to the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute.
According to AP reports, other proposed cuts include ending Medicaid expansion in 2016 and reducing the governor’s proposed funding levels for the state’s university and community college systems.
Votes on the budget cuts have mostly fallen on party lines. In a statement earlier this month, Hassan said Republicans on the finance committee are “making draconian cuts” as if “responding to an economic crisis.”
The House has until April 2 to vote on its budget bills. Then, the Senate will have its chance at crafting the budget, which must be finalized and voted on by July 1.
On the table
Meanwhile, a number of notable bills have made it out of the House and will move on to the Senate for consideration next month.
While Rep. Bill O’Brien’s (R-Mont Vernon) “right-to-work” bill, HB 402, was killed, a similar bill, HB 658, sponsored by Rep. Al Baldasaro (R-Londonderry), was approved by a vote of 149-146. The bill prohibits union contracts from requiring employees who aren’t part of the union to pay a fee, usually equivalent to the cost of union dues.
Casinos also cleared a hurdle in the Senate. Sen. Lou D’Allesandro’s (D-Manchester) bill, SB 113, which allows two casinos to open in the state, made it out of the Senate on a 13-11 vote.
A Senate bill setting the minimum wage at $8.25 in 2016, $9 in 2017, and $10 in 2018 wasn’t so lucky — senators rejected the bill 14-10.
In the House, bills related to marijuana fared well. The House voted in favor of HB 593, which allows qualified medical marijuana patients to grow their own marijuana. House members also overwhelmingly supported HB 618, which reduces penalties for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana to a violation-level offense. The bill passed with a vote of 297-67.
Hawks in the House
The House found itself thrust into the national spotlight in late March when representatives voted to kill HB 373, which would have made the red-tailed hawk New Hampshire’s official state raptor. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Rennie Cushing (D-Hampton) on behalf of fourth-grade students at the Lincoln Akerman School in Hampton Falls.
It wasn’t so much the vote that attracted attention as it was the comments from some lawmakers about the bill. With the students observing from the gallery, Rochester Republican Warren Groen said the red-tailed hawk tears its prey “apart limb by limb” and would be a better “mascot for Planned Parenthood.” Rep. John Burt (R-Goffstown) said the bill was frivolous and that, if more bills like it come before the House, “we’ll be picking a state hot dog next.”
Groen and Burt’s comments were picked up by a number of national media outlets, and comedian John Oliver devoted a segment to the bill on his HBO show “Last Week Tonight.” House Speaker Shawn Jasper has called on Groen to apologize.