NHGOP STATEMENT ON HASSAN'S EMBARRASSING CASINO DEFEAT

Concord - New Hampshire Republican State Committee Chairman Jennifer Horn released the following statement on the Democrat-controlled New Hampshire House rejecting Governor Hassan's irresponsible casino revenue scheme:

"Governor Hassan has suffered an embarrassing and politically damaging defeat at the hands of her own party. The governor's illegal casino revenue scheme was so irresponsible that even the Democrat controlled House of Representative would not support it despite months of intense lobbying from her incompetent administration. Hassan has failed her first test of leadership in the corner office, and demonstrated that she lacks the skills, vision and gravitas required to control her own party and effectively govern our state.

"The governor gambled with New Hampshire's future by basing her budget on $80 million in casino licensing fees even though there was never any proof that gaming legislation would pass the Legislature. Now her fiscally irresponsible house of cards has collapsed, damaging her credibility and leaving her budget proposal in shambles. It is time for the governor to go back to the drawing board and work with the Legislature on a new plan that will keep taxes low, control spending and protect the New Hampshire Advantage."

NH Senate Ways & Means estimates state revenues for FY14-FY15 at $4.3B

Total is $74.5M less than House, $162.7 less than Governor

Table now set for Finance Committee to finalize state budget for June 6^th Senate vote

CONCORD – The Senate committee charged with estimating revenues came out with its projections today regarding how much money will be available to fund the state’s budget for the next two years.  After Ways and Means voted unanimously to set the number at $4.3 billion, Chairman Bob Odell, R-Lempster, issued the following statement:  

    “After careful consideration, the committee believes $4.3 billion is the base amount of state revenues we can expect for FY 2014-2015.  ($2.139B FY14 + $2.193B FY15) This puts Senate revenues at $74.5 million less than what the House proposed and $162.7 less than Governor Hassan’s budget. This base amount reflects revenues that have actually come in since the governor and the House had their turn with the budget and the fact our committee anticipates only modest growth in state revenues over the nexttwo years.” 

    “For the next biennium, the Senate comes out $92.4 million ahead of the House in business taxes. However, we do project lower, more conservative totals in other traditional revenue categories based on strong returns over the last few months of the current fiscal year.”

     “The major differences between the House and Senate estimates come by way of Schedule 2 adjustments.  This is where the House counted on additional funding from a tobacco tax increase, postponement of business tax cuts, and increased revenues from new DRA audits.  At a time when the business climate in New Hampshire appears to be improving, Senate Ways & Means did not believe relying on millions in new taxes on businesses and consumers was the way to balance the budget.  As a result, when you look at total estimates after adjustments, the Senate comes in $74.5 million lower than the House for the next biennium.”

   “Additionally, when you combine the revenues we can really trust with our MET payment issues, the Senate came up $300 million short of the revenues the House used to support its level of spending.” 

Josiah Bartlett Center - Budgets, NH Unemployment, and the MTBE Lawsuit

Weekly Update from the
Josiah Bartlett Center

Keeping you up to date on our latest research
on the issues impacting New Hampshire

NH Budget Should be Fixed, Not Punted

New Hampshire’s budget experiences the greatest difficulty when short-term fixes solve nothing and merely delay decisions by creating a bigger hole for future legislatures to fix. A budget based on gimmicks and one-time unusual events does nothing to solve anything.

Every New Hampshire budget requires some decisions about which programs can be afforded with existing revenues and which must be curtailed. The weighing of competing options is the whole point of a budget. Programs are never evaluated in and of themselves. Instead, they are weighed against competing alternatives and the resources available... Click here to keep reading.

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NH's Newest Revenue Scheme: Sue the Unpopular!

On the MTBE Verdict

New Hampshire is getting really good at the shakedown.

Last week, a Merrimack County Superior Court jury found Exxon Mobil liable for contaminated well water with the gasoline additive MTBE and awarded the state $236 million, easily the largest jury verdict in New Hampshire history... Click here to keep reading

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NH Unemployment Falls in March

But not for the right reasons

Sound familiar? New Hampshire’s unemployment rate dropped from 5.8% to 5.7% in March, but not due to increased employment. According to the Household Survey Data, the number of unemployed fell by 360 people, resulting in the .1 percentage point drop. However, the number of employed residents increased only by 20, while the labor force shrank by 340... Click here to keep reading.

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The State's Online Checkbook

JBC's Transparency Project

With the budget process underway here in Concord are you curious where all that money is spent? Look no further than NHOpenGov. We have data on every last check the state wrote going back to 2009.... Click here to start looking!

Josiah Bartlett Center - Monopolies, Unemployment, and Old Budget Gimmicks

Weekly Update from the
Josiah Bartlett Center

Keeping you up to date on our latest research
on the issues impacting New Hampshire

Sometimes a Monopoly Is Not Enough

Every problem does not demand government action. Every business relationship doesn’t need micromanaging intervention by legislators. Yet in this day and age the first course of action for many businesses is to turn to their elected friends for a little help.

A classic example of crony capitalism at work is the legislature’s intervention on behalf of auto dealers in their relationship with manufacturers. Everyone likes auto dealers. They’re nice guys, big donors to a variety of civic and political interests, even think tanks on occasion. They tend to be among the largest employers in many political districts and a very visible part of the community... Click here to keep reading.

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NH Paying for Decision to Borrow School Building Aid Funds

Budget Gimmick from 3 years Ago Haunting Current Budget Writers

New Hampshire’s decision to borrow money for three years to pay for the state’s Building Aid Program is adding a $27.6 million crunch to the current budget debate. Click here to keep reading

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Unemployment Falls in March

But not for the right reasons

According to the BLS, the national unemployment rate fell in March to 7.6%, from 7.7% in February. On the surface it would appear that the labor is recovering, however the data contained within the report shows the opposite to be true... Click here to keep reading.

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The State's Online Checkbook

JBC's Transparency Project

With the budget process underway here in Concord are you curious where all that money is spent? Look no further than NHOpenGov. We have data on every last check the state wrote going back to 2009.... Click here to start looking!

Josiah Bartlett Center - The Budget, Gimmicks, and the Tobacco Settlement

Keeping you up to date on our latest research
on the issues impacting New Hampshire

Games and Gimmicks are always part of the Budget

The current state budget is a work in progress that needs a lot more work and some more progress. As with any budget, there are good things and bad. The House version is a step forward from the governor’s but has a few glaring problems that need fixing.

To begin with, while general fund spending is up 9.1% over the two years of the budget, that fact is obscured by a return to accounting gimmicks that serve no real purpose except to hide the increase. Two large categories of spending have been relabeled so that they appear in the old budget totals under general fund but are left out of the new general fund total... Click here to keep reading.

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House Budget Relies on Tobacco Settlement to Balanced

Yet to be Finalized

The two-year state budget up for debate in the New Hampshire House today relies on $30 million from a settlement with tobacco companies that hasn’t been finalized. Click here to keep reading

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2014-2015 Budget Resources

One stop shop for all our work on the budget

As the Budget Process gets under way at the State House, in addition to publishing our pieces on the main page, we will be aggregating all of budget related content here... Click here to keep reading.

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The State's Online Checkbook

Continuing our look at the Highway Fund

AWith the budget process underway here in Concord are you curious where all that money is spent? Look no further than NHOpenGov. We have data on every last check the state wrote going back to 2009.... Click here to start looking!