New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan unveiled her budget for the next two years and joined Chris Ryan on NH Now to answer questions regarding her proposals. In a separate interview, Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley discussed Governor Hassan’s proposed budget. Governor Hassan described the budget as a fiscally responsible, balanced budget without a sales or income tax. While maintaining New Hampshire’s low tax status, the governor wants to be able to accomplish the following goals: expand opportunities for middle class families; support job creating businesses; encourage innovation; and attract and retain young people in New Hampshire. In order to do achieve these goals, Governor Hassan wants to create the position Chief Operating Officer. The role of this person would be to ensure government efficiency by developing metrics to ensure that government spending would be strategic and effective. The Innovation Committee recommended that the state government go in this direction. Senate Majority Leader, Jeb Bradley, held that the governor should ultimately be the chief financial officer of the state. However, he was willing to take a wait and see approach to the creation this new post. To Bradley, it would depend on who is appointed to the post–a person whose goal is developing government efficiency (a role he could support) or a person whose goal is growing government. Governor Hassan envisions that a Chief Operating Officer would help to keep the government leaner by helping to consolidate some agencies and showing ways to share a administrative and technological resources.
Hassan pointed out that the budget allows for increased spending in the following areas: higher education, at the university and community college levels; economic development; mental health; and transportation infrastructure. This would include highways and bridges and exploring the development of light rail service to Nashua and Manchester. The governor related that two groups have been asking for rail service in southern New Hampshire–the business community and younger voters, the millennials. Jeb Bradley also had a wait and see attitude about this proposal. He was skeptical about the rosy study that was used to put forward this idea. Also, he questions why all New Hampshire taxpayers should foot the bill for a service which would be used by such a small number of people, two to three thousand people per day. That would only provide a 1 to 1 1/2 % decrease in the traffic on the main highways in that area of the state. The cost of the rail line would be about $250 million with New Hampshire’s part being $70 million. He believes that there are other more important priorities such as highway infrastructure.
Additionally, the Senate Majority Leader was concerned that Governor Hassan had “closed the door” on the possibility of business tax credits. Bradley believes that New Hampshire needs to be more competitive in this area in order to attract and keep businesses–especially, since New Hampshire has such high energy and healthcare costs. On the whole, Bradley is hopeful that a bipartisan budget can be achieved and was complimentary about some of Governor Hassan’s proposals. One major area of difficulty would be that the governor expects to add $26 million to the state’s coffers by bringing in Keno style gambling to restaurants and bars in the Granite State. Bradley described this a budget gimmick. He believes that there is only a 50-50 chance that the Keno bill be passed and that it is nearly impossible to project how much revenue it would create. Therefore, he doesn’t want such a substantial part of budget revenue to be based on this questionable source.
