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By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – The state budget passed by the Republican controlled House of Representatives for the next two years has many organizations in the state talking about potential impacts of cuts to municipalities, tourism, education, healthcare and family planning.
Many who have reacted to the action taken last Thursday by House Republicans said they are hoping for the Senate to draw up a better budget when they start working on it, beginning today.
FAMILY PLANNING
New Hampshire has some of the lowest unintended pregnancy and teen pregnancy rates, and some of the lowest STD rates in the country but that could change some say if the Senate agrees to the House budget which eliminates the New Hampshire Family Planning Program.
Currently, there are seven health care sites throughout the state that are providers in the NHFPP.
Since July of 2021, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, Lovering Health Center, and Equality Health Center have been denied contracts awarded to them in the past through a competitive bid process. The votes came at the Executive Council table with four of the five councilors opposing the funding on several occasions, though they used to be routinely approved.
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England said this has resulted in a $2.7 million dollar loss for the three providers carved out.
“While not currently in the program, PPNNE recognizes this program serves as a lifeline for safety net health care organizations that serve thousands of lower-income Granite Staters,” the statement read.
The NHFPP uses general and federal funds to support the essential reproductive and sexual health care services and information that safety net health care organizations provide to lower-income Granite Staters. These services include no-cost and low-cost birth control, cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, pregnancy testing and counseling, and more. The data is clear that this program, established in 1972, has positively impacted the Granite State.
Kayla Montgomery, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England/Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund, said the budget that the New Hampshire House passed “jeopardizes essential health care, like birth control, for lower-income Granite Staters. The safety net providers in the New Hampshire Family Planning Program are critical in keeping our state and communities healthy and supporting good public health outcomes. This is basic: jeopardizing people’s access to health care is a bad idea. When people can get the essential health care they need, when they need it, it leads to increased educational and economic opportunities, healthier babies, and lowers costs for taxpayers.
HEALTH CARE LEADERS REACT
Many in the state’s health care sector were expressing concern for patients and what this budget might mean.
The pain would be shared with the providers who would see a 3 percent Medicaid reimbursement reduction.
And asking some of the poorest to pay a 5 percent co-pay could just be enough to start some people down a less healthier path, some said.
“I just think healthy people contribute to society more easily,” said Ed Shanshala, chief executive officer of Ammonoosuc Community Health Services. He said the North Country has the benefit of handling both physical and behavioral health needs together.
This is a rural population but despite that, the organization cared for one in three of the 31,000 in 26 communities last year. He said scarcity of resources is a driver to collaborate and the North County Health Consortium gathers all organizations to work together on everything from housing, to feeding to acute care.
“Collaboration matters,” Shanshala said.
Shanshala was concerned that the House budget “is not making investment in our neighbors” and is inconsistent with wellness.
Just as he was speaking in the North Country, health care leaders gathered in Manchester to discuss the what they called “harmful impacts of funding cuts.”
The House budget reduces mental health services, and changes to the funding structure of critical substance use prevention, treatment and recovery programs.
“These cuts are not just numbers on a page. They represent very real consequences for our hospitals, mental health centers and community health centers … area agencies serving individuals with developmental disabilities, and our critical provider workforce,” said Patricia Carty, president and chief executive officer of the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester, which hosted Friday’s press conference.
“(The cuts) will very negatively impact the State’s Mission Zero program, which has seen progress recently in addressing the emergency room boarding problem,” Carty said. “Most importantly, these budget cuts represent a direct threat to patient access to critical services, and the ability of our health care system to respond to ongoing challenges, including timely access to care, rapid response and crisis housing, substance use recovery, and other areas.”
At the press conference, leaders from Lamprey Health Care, Ascentria Care Alliance, Community Support Network, Inc. and New Futures warned about the severe impacts of the Medicaid reimbursement rate reduction, as well as funding cuts to the community mental health and development disability systems, and the change of the funding source for New Hampshire’s Alcohol Abuse, Prevention & Treatment Fund, which supports prevention, treatment, and recovery programs across the state.
Gregory White, co-chief executive officer for Lamprey Health Care said, “New Hampshire needs Medicaid rate increases, not decreases. We need our mental health services to be funded. Granite Staters who live with disabilities need their direct service providers to be paid a living wage. We need workforce initiatives, like the State Loan Repayment Program, to continue to meet the needs of the tens of thousands of patients we serve.”
Amy Moore, vice President of In-Home Care at Ascentria Care Alliance, said a reduction in Medicaid rates would further destabilize an already underfunded home care sector and force agencies to cut services. “Without sufficient funding, vulnerable residents will lose access to home care and be forced into hospitals and nursing homes, increasing costs and creating system-wide bottlenecks,” she said.
Kate Frey, Vice President of Advocacy for New Futures, said “New Hampshire has made tremendous strides in combating the terrible impact of overdoses and fatalities that have destroyed lives and families. Now is not the time to turn our backs on those struggling with this disease.”
Finally, Marissa Berg, executive director of Community Support Network, Inc. said the developmental disabilities community faces serious and immediate threats due to major cuts proposed in the state budget.
“The programs that support thousands of children, adults, and families—community-based services, early intervention, residential services, employment support, recreation, and respite care—are all at risk. … We urge our state leaders to stand with the critical agencies, programs, and community partners that care for New Hampshire’s most vulnerable citizens to protect the services that matter, and commit to building a compassionate, sustainable future for all.”
EDUCATION AND CHILD HEALTH
Megan Tuttle, President of NEA-New Hampshire, said budgets are about choices and reflect the values of their creators.
“New Hampshire politicians are choosing to prioritize business tax cuts and handouts for the wealthy over programs that support our most vulnerable citizens – children. Politicians are choosing to slash funding for higher education, Medicaid, and developmental disability services so they can dramatically expand the state’s unaccountable private school voucher scheme and take even more public dollars away from public schools.
The budget would eventually remove the financial cap allowing all regardless of income to receive a voucher to send their children to private schools.
“The values of these politicians are clear—but they are not in line with our values as a state. Overwhelmingly, Granite Staters support their local public schools, which are attended by nearly 90 percent of students,” said Tuttle.
:New Hampshire needs a state budget that invests in public education and protects the rights of students with disabilities but the budget as it stands falls short of delivering on that promise. New Hampshire students, families, and communities deserve better.”
Reaction was forceful across the state to the House budget for the next two years which passed last Thursday with Republicans cutting deeply into programs across the board with a very few exceptions.
Predicated on revenue numbers which are now outdated, the Senate gets its turn starting now.
Many who reacted to the news in interviews and press releases said that they will now take their case to the upper chamber, which will begin working on its own version Monday at 1 p.m. when the Senate Finance Committee meets.
House Majority Leader Jason Osborne wrote on social media that “there are only bad and worse ways to spend other people’s money. The best thing is to keep your hands out of their wallets.”
He also wrote that the budget passed puts New Hampshire taxpayers first.
The Republicans stuck largely together, as he had pleaded during Thursday’s session. He argued that a seat at the negotiating table with a passed product was advantageous rather than no agreement in the lower chamber.
The rank and file said this is a year of “needs” and not “wants” but many saw concerns with the cuts made in the House version.
MUNICIPAL REACT – AND WHERE’S WORK ON HOUSING?
Margaret Byrnes, executive director of the NH Municipal Association, which represents cities and towns across the state said “our main concerns on the budget include the cut to the municipal distribution of the meals and rooms tax which, in the House’s passed budget, freezes the municipal distribution at last year’s amount, rather than allowing municipalities to receive the full 30 percent as currently required by law.
“Any cuts in state aid to local governments result in tax increases—or cuts in services—to taxpayers at the local level. Similarly, the proposal to end motor vehicle inspections in HB 2 will lead to a reduction and overall revenue to municipalities, as municipalities receive 12 percent of highway fund revenues.
“We are also deeply concerned about the retirement system changes without a clear funding source to ensure the cost of those changes are not downshifted on to taxpayers,” Byrnes said.
“Finally, if it is true that one of the state’s top priorities this session includes housing, the budget essentially does not reflect this priority in any way. The budget does not fund the housing champions program, InvestNH, state aid grants for upgrades to wastewater systems, and even repeals the housing appeals board, which was a significant housing advocates’ initiative a few years ago,” she added in an email reply to InDepthNH.org.
There are a number of bills related to housing which are working their way through the process but were not included in the House passed budget bills.
BATHROOM BILL AND DEI
The organization 603 Equality issued a statement on passage of what they described as “Anti-LGBTQ+ Policy Amendments” to the budget trailer bill known as House Bill 2.
The House passed an amendment by a vote of 200-175, which among other things, banned Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives in public schools and localities. The House also passed another amendment adding the language of the anti-transgender “bathroom ban,” HB 148, to the budget.
“A budget shows what we value, and today, a majority of New Hampshire state representatives said they valued demonizing transgender people and making it harder for us to participate in public life,” said Linds Jakows, Founder of 603 Equality.
“At the same time, they announced an intention to punish public schools and localities from advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, which we all benefit from – no matter our race, gender, or ability. Rather than working to increase understanding across differences, the politicians who voted for these budget amendments are making no secret of their intention to divide us.
JUDICIAL REVIEW
The budget approved by the House of Representatives would represent an approximately 8 percent reduction from current spending levels for the state’s judicial branch if it holds, which prompted an announcement that there will be an efficiency committee launched to conduct a comprehensive review of the judicial branch structure.
The hope is to find cost savings and ways to streamline operations.
It began with a hiring freeze.
The committee will report back to the Supreme Court by July 1, 2025.
The committee will be assisted in its efforts by the National Center for State Courts.
The New Hampshire Judicial Branch is composed of two trial courts – the Circuit Court and the Superior Court – as well as one appellate court, the Supreme Court, and the Administrative Office of Courts, which provides administrative support.
It has approximately 800 employees and operates more than forty courthouses around the state which handle approximately 150,000 cases per year.
“This effort presents an important opportunity for us to step back and take a hard look at how we are structured and how we operate,” said Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon J. MacDonald. “In doing so, we will draw on the knowledge and experience of our highly dedicated workforce, solicit the views of court users and those we serve, learn from other state court systems, and benefit from the expertise of a respected national organization. At the end of our effort, we look forward to identifying meaningful opportunities to serve the people of our state in a more efficient way.”
TOURISM INDUSTRY
After the House Finance Committee recommended removing almost $14 million from the budget for tourism promotion, the full House restored that funding in an amendment which passed Thursday.
This came as a relief to the state’s tourism industry, which supports over 70,000 jobs.
They credited efforts by a newcomer to the House and a veteran organizer of the annual Seafood Festival state Rep. Nicholas Bridle, R-Hampton. He pushed for restoration of the funds which Governor Kelly Ayotte, a Republican, had supported in her budget.
She said the state gets a considerable return on that investment, but some Republicans said the industry can do its promotions.
“We are incredibly grateful to Governor Ayotte for recognizing the value of tourism in her budget proposal, (thankful) to Representative Bridle for his leadership in restoring it, and to the 198 House members who stood with our industry,” said Mike Somers, president of the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association. “This funding is not just about marketing—it’s a proven investment in jobs, tax revenue, and sustaining the small businesses and communities that make New Hampshire special.”
Bridle, R-Hampton, said efforts to restore funding for the state Council on the Arts fell short by only eight votes and he is hopeful that it will be returned in the Senate.
The council provides grants to theaters and other providers of the arts across the state and is a driver of a lot of rooms and meals tax revenues, but Republicans said right now it is more of a want than a need in a time when state revenues are down.
“Art is a necessity,” he said.
It is now on to the Senate as part of the House budget.
THE PROCESS
There will be a public hearing likely in early May for the Senate Budget, just as there was in the House.
Peter O’Neill, communications director for the Senate, said the budget process will include presentations which will start today (Monday) at 1 p.m. There are plans for more on Tuesday, and Friday afternoons to go over the budget items in detail. A link for times for the Senate Finance Committee meetings is here https://gc.nh.gov/senate/schedule/dailyschedule.aspx
Once the Senate Finance committee finishes with the budget presentations, the committee will be able to vote on the budget itself, he added. After the committee votes on it and the committee passes the budget with their amendments and recommendations, it will go to the full Senate for all Senators to vote on it on the floor. It is still open to other amendments on the floor prior to the Senate passing their version of the budget, he added.
The two chambers will work to reconcile differences between the documents before the governor is asked to sign or veto it.
Ayotte said last week she is hopeful for better revenue projections and optimistic that some of her priorities will be restored in the Senate version and passed.
A DEMOCRATIC PLEA FOR SUPPORT
State Rep. Laura Telerski, D-Nashua, who serves on the House Finance Committee, authored a plea to Democrats to financially support the party.
“Last night, we tried once again to save NH House Republicans from their worst impulses, and once again, they rejected our efforts. Instead, they put forward a budget that slashes critical programs, taxes the income of Medicaid recipients, and defunds family planning,” she wrote in the email solicitation.
“We offered a better budget that lowers property taxes, protects access to health care, and restores funding to higher education and the arts. Instead, Republicans chose to build their budget by betraying hardworking Granite Staters.
“A budget is a statement of values, and NH House Republicans continue to show that their primary value is appeasing the extreme members of their party. It was sad but unsurprising seeing them vote to legalize brass knuckles over feeding hungry kids. More than ever, we need to work hard to flip the State House blue to stop the continuing onslaught of bad Republican budgets.”
Click the links below to tell your lawmakers what you think of various bills.
HOUSE
House meeting schedule for April – For schedule, click day, week or month
House Sign-in Form and Online Testimony Submission
View House Online Testimony Submissions
House Remote Sign In/Submit/View Testimony Directions (PDF)
Watch House committee meetings and sessions
SENATE
Senate meeting schedule for April For schedule, click day, week or month
Senate Remote Sign In
Senate Remote Sign In Directions (PDF)
Watch Senate committee meetings and sessions