InDepthNH.org (https://indepthnh.org/author/paula-tracy-indepthnh-org/page/28/)
Gov. Kelly Ayotte said the state is going out to bid on leasing the rest areas at Hampton. She said she will not support an increase in highway toll rates. And citing separation of powers, declined to comment substantively on a NHPR story last week that indicated Supreme Court Justice Gordon MacDonald helped orchestrate a $50,000 payout for a key ally and co-worker.
The state’s Executive Council approved emergency funding to help Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP recipients across the state to access healthy food if the federal government shutdown goes beyond this Saturday, Nov. 1.
SNAP benefits for 74,000 in New Hampshire will likely continue in November even if the federal government shutdown continues due to a state contingency plan that will have it partner with the NH Food Bank and its 417 affiliates to expand mobile food pantries specifically for their recipients.
Executive Councilor David Wheeler said Gov. Kelly Ayotte has “no respect” for the Executive Council and its Constitutional job to be a check on the Executive Branch as a battle rages on related to the council’s paper packets and their delivery to councilors’ homes, which has been a 40-year tradition that ended this past week.
With 2026 healthcare open enrollment beginning next week, federal cuts passed by Republicans could force skyrocketing premiums and will have a “tsunami effect” which will dramatically impact residents, cripple some health-care providers but not necessarily impact insurance “claim deniers and premium extractors,” Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander told health-care providers and patients, Friday.
A vital federal service for those who need access to food benefits, imperilled by the federal government shutdown, now have a contingency plan designed by the state and nonprofit partners.
Given recent political violence across the country, state Sen. Victoria Sullivan, R-Manchester, said she objected to a “Dystopian Obituary for NH” which was displayed outside the State House plaza Thursday by the Kent Street Coalition, which included coffins and skeletons representing various groups of individuals.
The New Hampshire Senate returned to Concord for the first time since June and unanimously sustained a governor’s veto while approving rules changes for the upcoming session.
A special meeting of the state’s Executive Council is set for Saturday to address several tabled contract items from Wednesday’s meeting, including a $700,000 contract to repair a critical bridge in Charlestown which is down to one-lane delays.