NH Governor Says ‘State Of The State’ Is Really Great: Video

CONCORD, NH — New Hampshire’s governor said at a recent luncheon that despite the coronavirus pandemic and economic uncertainty, the state is in pretty great shape.

Gov. Chris Sununu spoke to several business leaders at the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce’s "state of the state" luncheon on Tuesday. During the talk, the governor highlighted a number of achievements during his administration — including a rebounding economy, lower taxes on businesses, increased revenues, and a huge rainy-day surplus, which had tripled during his time in office.

At the same time, there was still more work to be done, especially around housing and mental health. Sununu spoke about both issues extensively and said they were the ones that kept him up at night.

Housing, Sununu believed, was one of the major issues holding the state back. He called it “a very real” problem that was multifaceted. As more people have moved to New Hampshire, competition for the limited housing stock has driven the price up while, at the same time, pricing out current residents, newer residents, and others in a lower economic status who may not be able to afford current single-family home prices.

Sununu said housing needed to be built all around the state and not just in the cities. Local zoning and planning were keeping housing from being built for those who were not affluent.

“Local control is great,” he said, “until you come to housing.”

The governor said there was a balance needed between the current state of housing and the units needed. Sununu said fear of higher school enrollments was “antiquated thinking,” while adding demographics showed younger families having fewer children. At some point, he said, “school enrollments will iron themselves out.”

The governor has set up millions of dollars in funding for cities and towns to rethink their planning and also incentivize the construction of units that needed to be built.

The state also had made major investments in mental health and was working to spend more money to get residents the help they need at what is often the worst time of their lives.

Sununu was especially worried about young people and noted he had two teenagers himself. He called social media “the bane of human existence” while adding, “it’s wonderful, but the worst thing in the world.” It needed to be “handled responsibly.” Social media can often be “the loneliest place on Earth — everyone has something to say but no one is talking.”

Schools being closed during the pandemic, too, had done great harm to students. Getting students back in the classroom, as soon as possible, “was so critical,” he said.

One idea being promoted was having a mental health emergency hotline placed on the back of all student identification —so those students would call for help when they needed it.

Sununu spoke in favor of lowering the gas tax temporarily. He also said he was still concerned about a third wave of coronavirus in the fall, especially with new variants being discovered.

“I want to be wrong with that,” he said. “But I also want to be prepared.”

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