Governor Maggie Hassan's First Budget Proposal Should Be a Winner

   New Democrat governor Maggie Hassan is off to a good start in her gubernatorial career, if the first seven weeks is any harbinger. The historic blizzard in early February was handled without a hitch, with driver media warnings out by midweek and the plows deployed early that Saturday, minimizing what could've been a rocky ushering into her Concord office. And now as promised during last year's campaign Hassan and her team are proposing, with her first budget released last week, a near-complete restoration of the damaging cuts and general policy insanity propagated by former House head Bill O'Brien over the past two years.

   On the GOP-savaged education front, one of her first priorities is to restore much of the funds sliced by the former Tea Party-dominated legislature from 2011-2012. The 60% in fund cuts to the University of New Hampshire and other area colleges will be restored in her projected budget, and her brilliant deal includes a tuition freeze by those universities for the next two years. This will be welcome news to both young college-age students as well as their parents, as the days of wholesale school funding eradication are over, at least here in the Granite State.

   Our Medicaid program, due for an increase after O'Brien actually refused federal funding from the Obama administration last year by voting against the program's expansion, is another important facet of the 2013 budget. Hassan's aim is to include more poor working adults, especially targeting medical aides and other low-paid professionals, as well as children, pregnant women and other needy groups. If the Legislature votes for Hassan's proposed expansion, the federal government would assume the entire cost for the first three years of benefits and 90% after that, subject to financial feasibility.

 
   Regarding public safety, Hassan's budget will put 15 new state troopers on the job, as well as allocate funds to the Children In Need of Services (CHINS) program, cut drastically by O'Brien in 2011.          

   Where's the money coming from? Last Tuesday the NH Senate Ways and Means Committee approved Hassan's proposed single-casino plan by a 4-1 vote, and the plan was sent to the House for ratification. With the overwhelming Democrat majority there passage of this legislation is hoped for within a few weeks, which will after implementation and construction bring a large chunk of the gaming dollars that other New England states are or will be realizing to our coffers (most estimates figure as much as $75 million annually would be lost to our neighbors in the absence of the casino project).

   Hassan's other major revenue raiser is adding a 30-cent tax on a pack of cigarettes. The prior GOP legislature quickly dropped the per-carton tax $1 in 2011, said dollar being quickly added to the total price by the tobacco companies for a buck-a-carton net gain for them. The levy on a pack would go from its present $1.68 to $1.98 , which still makes the Granite State's tax on cancer sticks the lowest in New England, keeping our carton prices far below that of every other New England state and preserving the steady stream of Massachusetts and Maine smokers who venture over our borders every weekend. And a welcome side benefit of the slightly more-expensive habit could be some smokers dropping down a pack or two a week, similar to many people driving less due to our prohibitive gasoline prices, making the legislation a true win-win both fiscally and health-wise. And with our current state rate of 19.8% of high schoolers being current smokers, maybe some nicotine-tightening is in order. 

   Public hearings have been ongoing over the past couple weeks, scheduled by the House of Representatives. The last two are slated for this Monday (March 18), both from 5-8 PM. The two locations will be the Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center on 111 South Street in Claremont, and the Rochester Community Center in Rochester. Please try to make one of these gatherings to make your opinions known about our upcoming state budget proposals, pro or con.