By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Calling it “something for everybody” Gov. Chris Sununu signed the state’s next two-year, $15.2 billion budget.
As they did to get it done, House and Senate leaders and about 100 invited guests came together to celebrate their accomplishment in the Executive Council chamber Tuesday to participate in the signing of House Bill 1 and House Bill 2, the state budget.
The podium broke the minute Sununu laid hands on it, sending a bipartisan group around him to prop it up and fix it, which was emblematic of the way they worked since the winter to come together to pass a budget.
“Bipartisan budgets are about compromise. You give a little to get a lot. That’s what we did today,” Sununu said. “We put politics to the side and came together to deliver a balanced budget that opens unprecedented doors of opportunity for Granite Staters – all while living within our means.”
Historically, it passed quickly and overwhelmingly, despite an almost equally divided House and 14-10 Republican-controlled Senate.
House Minority Leader Matt Wilhelm, D-Manchester, said it was an historic day that came from collaboration.
Wilhelm said many inside and outside the State House were worried that a budget was doomed to fail because of its almost equally divided representation following last November’s election.
But he said Democrats didn’t want grandstanding but to address critical needs like child care, public education, and health care.
“This budget, I am proud to say, really represents a balanced approach to state government and delivers results on those urgent needs and more.
“We reauthorized Medicaid expansion so our low-income neighbors don’t lose their health care coverage. And significantly increased Medicaid provider rates to ensure that our healthcare system has the workforce it needs to meet our patient’s needs. We made real investments in public education, ramping up the funding formula to increase state aid to over $100 million statewide and focus on communities that need it the most.
“We invested in housing, funding a number of innovative programs to help spur the construction of affordable housing units across the state and we increased funding for childcare services, just like housing, they are so critical to both families obviously but also to employers to employers,” Wilhelm said.
The budget gives the state’s employees a 10 percent raise this year and a 2 percent raise next year at a time when the vacancy rate averages about 20 percent.
Wilhelm noted there were some things that are not in the budget, including increased funding employee contribution rates for fire and police which were decreased in 2011. That was not supported in the Senate and the governor was not supportive but Senate President Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, has committed to working to “yes” on the issue with Senate Minority Leader Donna Soucy, D-Manchester.
Wilhelm said there were some losers with this budget, mostly the poor and public servants.
“Instead of restoring hard-earned retirement benefits for police and firefighters, this budget accelerates tax cuts for the wealthy. Instead of funding school meals for low-income students across the state, this budget expands the school voucher program without any guardrails for taxpayer accountability. So this isn’t the perfect budget. But I think it really does represent a balance between the Democrats’ priorities and my friends from across the aisle and it’s a great example of what can happen when both sides put partisanship aside and come together to work in good faith. And this budget moves our state forward,” Wilhelm said.
For the Republican’s part, Sen. Bradley said if the House had not concurred with the Senate budget “we’d be duking it out,” in the Legislative Office Building.
“I think that says a lot to all the hard work that everybody had done, a really absolute tribute to (Sununu’s) leadership, (and) the revenue we have been able to generate with the strong economy…”
He noted the importance of the state’s expanded Medicaid program which was due to sunset and now has another seven years of life for low- to moderate-income residents.
The budget does not increase taxes.
“We’ve done it the New Hampshire way. We’ve done it in a way that works for taxpayers, worked for the business community. And you know what, compromise is not a four-letter word,” Bradley said.