By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Refusing to bend to any of the amendments brought by Democrats, the Republican-controlled Senate passed a $15.7 billion budget Thursday which is bound to head to negotiations with the House of Representatives.
The Democrats hammered on the fact that among all these cuts Republicans were willing to spend $30 million on Education Freedom Accounts, which eliminates any financial threshold.
On the vote HB 1A – the actual dollars for the budget for the next two years – the vote was 15-9 with only one Republican, Sen. Keith Murphy, R-Manchester, joining the Democrats in opposition.
Senate Bill 2, which is the trailer bill that supports the budget and acted as a Christmas Tree of sorts for hanging lots of bills, passed on a vote of 14-10 with Murphy and fellow Manchester Republican Victoria Sullivan joining the eight Democrats in opposition.
Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, stepped down from the podium and spoke from her seat on the floor and said she wanted to come at the end of the debate to say, “This is not a perfect budget. We have never had a perfect budget.”
But she said, “this is a budget that works for the people of the state of New Hampshire today.”
Lower projected revenue will mean that many of the state departments and services will see some cuts though the Senate version does not lead to layoffs as the House version did, but is a distance from what is existing as current budget and what Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte proposed in her first few weeks as governor.
It is about $200 million less than the governor’s proposed budget which was similar to current levels but about $200 million more than the House.
She said Democrats on Thursday asked for $168 million in additional spending along with “zero dollars in spending cuts.”
She noted in the amendments, which were all voted down, the Democrats offered to cut the Education Freedom Account funding nine times. All failed.
The measure looks to end any financial barriers for people to receive a voucher of about $5,000 per pupil to attend private schools or pay for homeschooling, a program which began as financial support for families whose children were not thriving in public schools.
From the House budget this one looks to restore the 3 percent proposed cut in Medicaid premiums, takes care of the waitlist for those who need help and have developmental disabilities and maintains community mental health which Republicans and Democrats both noted were of great concern to the hundreds who attended a public hearing following the House budget vote.
It also continues the 30 percent revenue sharing for municipalities in rooms and meals tax revenue to help local property tax and sends out a record $2.1 billion to local school districts. It also preserves the UNIQUE college grants for New Hampshire students and $71.5 million for local water and wastewater improvements. There is $15 million for childcare and $100 million for the YDC settlement fund.
“We built this budget together, mostly among consensus,” Carson said. And to mostly Democrats, she said “remember what you will be voting against.”
She said it is time to move it to “the next stage of the process,” which will likely be a committee of conference between the House and Senate to reconcile differences in the document. That will likely occur this month.
Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, and one of only two Democrats on the seven-member Senate Finance Committee, said there was “really good bipartisan agreement” to undo a lot of the House’s major cuts to Medicaid providers, restored funding to pay for a wait list in the developmentally disabled and put back into play community mental health and family planning programming, but it fell far short of “moving the state forward.”
She pointed to a lack of funding to solve the affordable housing problem and cuts to higher education.
Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said for higher education “I would have liked to do more” but was limited by budget consideration.
There were a few technical amendments offered by Republicans. They all passed.
LANDFILL SITE EVALUATION
The governor, House and Senate have agreed to pump the brakes for now on new landfills and create a Solid Waste Site Evaluation Committee as suggested by Gov. Ayotte.
The Senate version would reduce from three years to one year a moratorium on new landfills in the state and gives preference for expanding existing landfills over creation of new ones.
It also allows the state to decide public benefits which some said could override local control like that in Bethlehem.
State Sen. David Rochefort, R-Littleton offered an amendment also to HB 2 landfill sites which failed with Sen. Watters voting with Republicans 9-15. Watters voted remotely from home due to illness.
Rochefort said there were some “critical uncertainties” in the measure and noted it could be a “legally binding settlement” which could impact local control, though he had no legal determination.
Sen. Denise Ricciardi, R-Bedford voiced support for the amendment on the basis of local control.
Sen. Howard Pearl, R-Loudon, opposed saying that “I think this is a really good step forward for us.” Pearl and other Republicans prevailed.
MEDICAID EXPANSION PREMIUMS FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES
Rosenwald offered an amendment which she said will prevent 19,000 low-income families, adults and children from being subjected to “an income tax” to get their health insurance.
It failed along partisan lines on a vote of 8-16.
The Affordable Care Act allowed for Medicaid expansion which has been adopted in 41 states, including the Granite State. It allows for coverage of adults with income levels of $21,597 or below in 2025 and until now there has been no premium for that.
“This will do nothing but raise costs for families struggling the most,” she said.
She said the outcome could be people will go without insurance and that could lead to increased mental illness and substance abuse and overdoses will become more prevalent.
New data from Dartmouth Hitchcock, she said, shows that preventative health care makes a difference, she said.
Republicans, she said, have told her that premiums would be based on utilization rather than income “but that is not true,” she said.
Birdsell said this premium is not a tax.
She said it will cost $100 a month per family.
MEDICAID WORK REQUIREMENT
Sen. Sue Prentiss, D-Lebanon, offered an amendment to delete from the bill the proposed Medicaid work requirement, but it failed on a vote of 8-16.
She said a work requirement would provide more harm than help.
To keep the existing program with no work requirement, “we are providing a bridge,” she said “to become healthy…and enter into the workforce and allow for them to receive health care from their (future) work.”
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Sen. Perkins Kwoka noted that increasing affordable housing is the number one issue for Granite Staters but there is no money for that in this budget.
Republicans, including Sen. Dan Innis, R-Bradford, said the legislature has done a lot in terms of policy to assist cities and towns to facilitate affordable housing this year.
There are initiatives for expediting approvals, and allowing for less restrictive zoning, he said.
Perkins Kwoka said municipalities have been asking for more financial help and have been ignored at the same time the state is expanding Education Freedom Account vouchers for all, including the wealthy.
CHILD CARE
Sen. Donovan Fenton, D-Keene, said the need for child care in the state is not addressed adequately in the budget and that it is “cheap.”
But an amendment to expand that failed on a vote of 8-16.
Rosenwald said the state is still down 13 percent in child care capacity from where the state was before the coronavirus.
RENEWABLE ENERGY FUND
Rosenwald offered an amendment related to budget language related to the renewable energy fund.
The budget document allows that a renewable energy fund surplus of $10 million would go to the general fund instead of renewable projects. Ayotte called for that in her budget.
Sen. Pearl said the state will allow for funding existing renewable projects but hold off on any new ones for the biennium under the proposed budget.
YDC SETTLEMENT FUND
Rosenwald offered an amendment that would appropriate an additional $50 million to the YDC Settlement fund for victims of the former Youth Development Center but it failed 8-16.
She noted that $80 million in the Senate Finance Committee’s budget recommendation is based on the sale of the Sununu Youth Services Center which is predicated on a new home being available in Hampstead but that is not guaranteed to happen in 2027.
CORRECTIONS
Sen. Prentiss asked for Corrections and to put state police recruitment and retention money off the table and into the budget. But it didn’t get far. The vote failed 8-16.
Sen. Lang said the Finance Committee did a great job of reaching out to hear from Corrections on what the needs were and restored a lot of positions in a tight budget cycle.
GROUP II RETIREMENT
Sen. Patrick Long, D-Manchester, offered an amendment to fully fund at the House level the Group II retirement package at more than $27 million a year starting in 2026. The Senate version has that delayed for six months. His ask was to spend more than $7 million. It failed, 8-16.
“My amendment would cut property taxes,” he said, noting “we have the money.”
Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, said restoring the money to these 1,500 first responders in Group II would directly lower property taxes.
Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester, said simply “we don’t have the money.”
MANCHESTER SCHOOLS
Sen. Long also offered an amendment to HB 2 noting that if passed it has a $10 million cut to Manchester School District under the new formula which he said is not sustainable.
Sen. Birdsell said the state is sending a record amount of money to schools this year.
The measure failed on a vote of 9-15.
USNH/OCA
Sen. Altschiller said she recognized that while the Senate Finance Committee recommended that the Office of the Child Advocate should be restored from the House budget version which zeroed it out, the Senate recommendation has lost many positions. She asked that those positions be retained. She was unsuccessful.
Within the University System of New Hampshire, over 70 percent of graduates stay in the state and that is a huge part of our workforce but by taking money away we could lose that talent, Altschiller said.
“We should be sending the message to our students that we are investing in them,” she said.
She asked for restoration of funding.
Gray said there simply is not enough funding for it.
MEDICATION COPAYS
Sen. Rosenwald asked for undoing a provision in HB 2 that would make healthcare more expensive and less available with $4 prescription co-pays.
She said that is a big burden for low-income residents. She said the measure would also allow for restoration of family planning to the governor’s budget level.
Birdsell said funding was restored from the House version and this has no offset to pay for it.
Prentiss asked if the funding cuts could disproportionately impact rural areas and Rosenwald said yes, particularly in the north and western parts of the state.
The amendment failed 8-16.
Sen. Perkins Kwoka said Democrats recognize this is a time of belt tightening but it is disproportionately impacting the poor and local communities.
She said the measure raises taxes and restricts health care and does absolutely nothing on housing.
“What we have seen instead,” she said, “is an over 30 million dollar increase to pay for Education Freedom Accounts which will include vouchers for the most wealthy.”
She said this budget makes it harder for poor kids, young adults, businesses to attract and retain talent, and “this is not the New Hampshire way.”
The whole budget is still in play and not over yet.
This document heads to the House where they can agree to concur, which is not likely, and more probable that there is a Committee of Conference to reconcile differences between the House and Senate and if they agree, it goes to the governor to sign.
If they don’t agree, the state will head to a continuing resolution which retains existing programs and services at their existing level until an agreement is reached.