The NH Troopers Association cautions legislators when they consider the former Speaker’s floor amendment to HB 617.

It is extremely unfortunate to see Representative Bill O'Brien and his

colleagues continuing to undermine the safety of our communities. The New

Hampshire Constitution explicitly calls for highway funds to be used to put State

Troopers on the roads because it is the responsibility of the Troopers to keep our

highways safe.

Our constitution states the following: [Art.] 6-a. [Use of Certain Revenues

Restricted to Highways.] All revenue in excess of the necessary cost of collection

and administration accruing to the state from registration fees, operators’ licenses,

gasoline road tolls or any other special charges or taxes with respect to the

operation of motor vehicles or the sale or consumption of motor vehicle fuels shall

be appropriated and used exclusively for the construction, reconstruction and

maintenance of public highways within this state, including the supervision of

traffic thereon and payment of the interest and principal of obligations incurred

for said purposes; and no part of such revenues shall, by transfer of funds or

otherwise, be diverted to any other purpose whatsoever.

Representative O'Brien's budget unfunded 40 state trooper positions, which

clearly undermined the safety of our people. While Governor Hassan's budget

makes fiscally responsible choices to put 15 more troopers on the road,

Representative O'Brien and others are putting ideology ahead of safety by

misleading the public. That's the wrong approach for the citizens of New

Hampshire. We encourage Representative O'Brien to stop his assault on public

safety and instead focus on realistic bi-partisan solutions to address our long-term

highway fund challenges. We are intimately familiar with doing more with less,

but Rep. O’Brien’s solution is not a practical one. It attempts to solve one problem

by creating even more problems in other essential areas of our government, which

is clearly not a responsible solution.

As always, the NH Troopers Association stands ready to work with

everybody on real solutions to real problems.

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