Governor Seeks ‘Roadmap To Common Ground’ For NH's New Budget

CONCORD, NH — New Hampshire’s governor is seeking to negotiate some of the finer points of three different FY2020-2021 biennium budget proposals with members of the Legislature while not approving new taxes which he said were not needed. The state currently, according to Gov. Chris Sununu, R-NH, has hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus funds that could be used to iron out new spending proposals put forward by both the House and the Senate, bodies that are controlled by Democrats. Regardless of the conference committee comes up with, it will probably end up being one of the largest state budgets in the history of New Hampshire.

In the Executive Council Chambers at the Statehouse on Wednesday, Sununu spoke before four placards featuring his budget, the House budget, and the Senate budget, as well as a “Roadmap to Common Ground” placard which featured nearly two dozen points of agreement between the political bodies. The placards, he noted, were an effort to be transparent as possible and line everything up, especially with big ticket items, for all to see.

“I really believe we can find some amazing common ground,” he said, “and make sure we are just delivering the best document, the best fiscally responsible (budget), that we can … for the people of the state … who count on us to do our jobs every single day.”

Some of the items include millions in school building – a line item that had been under a moratorium, targeted infrastructure aid for low valuation communities, stabilization education fund, reduced student debt aid, and a new forensic hospital. Another was paid family leave – something both the governor and Democrats want – but the bickering point is whether or not the program is voluntary or includes a new 0.5 percent payroll tax on income (or, an income tax, as Sununu has stated previously). Other flashpoints are whether or not to roll back previous business tax rate cuts by 0.2 percent – which have led to more revenues flowing into the state’s coffers than expected – or the implementation of a 5 percent capital gains tax and cut the statewide property tax by 25 percent.

Millions for lead remediation, expanding nursing opportunities in the community college system, as well as more money for operational funds in the university system were also on the table to be negotiated, he said.

One thing that is not up for negotiation though is new taxes. Sununu said he would veto any conference committee renegotiated budget with new taxes.

“To tell the people of the state that we have to raise their taxes is just irresponsible,” Sununu said. “It’s not just not the right time but it’s not the right way to do things … We’ve been really clear about certain lines that not only will we not cross but we just don’t need to cross.”

State Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester, who is the chairman of the state Senate’s Finance Committee and attended the press conference, issued a press statement afterward saying that he looked forward to continued collaboration with the House, Senate, and governor on the budget.

“The budget is the most important piece of legislation the state considers; it’s an expression of our values that impacts every single Granite Stater,” he said. “The stabilization of businesses taxes is a key component to the Senate budget, as well as meaningful business tax reform that businesses have asked for and will allow stability and sustainability moving forward.”

State Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, another member of the committee, was critical of the governor’s Medicaid reimbursement rate proposal – saying in a press release that it was gutting her plan – about half of what the Senate wants to raise rates across the board. However, Sununu said the proposal was up for negotiation – with him starting at $0 and moving up to $30 million.

Some organizations, he noted, needed higher rate reimbursements while others were OK.

“We want to give the commissioner and his department – really give the experts – the flexibility of how openly to drive those rates,” Sununu said.

Holly Shulman, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire Democratic Party, also issued a press statement calling Sununu's veto threat concerning the family medical leave proposal just an opportunity "to score political points for himself" at the cost of families in the Granite State.

"The governor is so strongly opposed to giving working Granite Staters time off to care for their loved ones," she said, "that he's threatening to hold up property tax relief, education funding, mental health services, substance use disorder treatment, and other critical investments in our state's future."