Gov.-elect Maggie Hassan is calling on state agencies to submit 2014 budgets that spend 97 percent of their adjusted 2013 appropriation.
For Fiscal Year 2015, Hassan wants to see budgets that are 100 percent of the adjusted 2013 appropriation. In a memo to state agencies Dec. 5, she directed:
“While we are beginning to see signs of recovery and revenue growth, we face fiscal uncertainty, particularly around how decisions in Washington and the so-called fiscal cliff will impact New Hampshire’s state budget, economic growth and revenues. There are also investments that we must make as a state in the coming two years in order to protect the health and safety of our citizens and to build an innovative economy that will ensure long-term growth. These budget targets will give us options and flexibility to assess and respond to unfolding economic and external events.”
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She underscored, however, that the 97 percent budget targets should not include cuts that would "violate maintenance of effort requirements or federal laws or regulations that should focus on identifying reductions through innovation and efficiencies, not across-the-board cuts."
Hassan will deliver her budget recommendations for 2014-2015 on Feb. 15.
