A Chaotic and Costly State Budget
- Amplify NH
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
After months of deliberation and chaos, Republicans at the State House were finally able to get it together to pass a final version of the New Hampshire state budget.
In passing this version of the budget, it remains clear that this budget fails hardworking Granite Staters. Instead of securing essential resources for New Hampshire communities and reducing costs for Granite State families, Republicans opted to continue their pattern of unnecessary spending cuts to critical resources.
Take a look at the chaos surrounding the budget’s ultimate passage, as well as how Granite Staters have spoken out against its harmful provisions:
After Chaotic Republican Infighting, State Budget is Passed
Although the state budget has passed, it did not move through the State House’s legislative chambers without some difficulty.
In the first House vote, the first part of the budget legislation failed by a 1-vote margin, with 22 Republicans joining 160 Democrats to reject it. The House then later reconsidered, then passing the bill by a margin of 185-180.
The second part of the budget also passed by a tight margin of 184-184, with Speaker Packard casting a tiebreaking vote.
And this tight passage in the House followed a week of infighting amongst State House Republicans after Governor Kelly Ayotte promised to veto the budget after Republican negotiators in the House and Senate agreed on a final proposal earlier this month.
“If this budget were to come to me now, I couldn’t support it and would have to veto it,” Ayotte had told WMUR.
‘We need a budget that serves all of New Hampshire, and this budget falls short of that promise,” Ayotte also said.
Ayotte spent much of last week in a stand off with state legislative leadership over the budget proposal, while courting others to fall in line with her proposed changes over lunch at the governor’s mansion, much to the dissatisfaction of Senate President Sharon Carson.
Carson accused Ayotte of refusing to negotiate with legislators during this period.
“She said, ‘I will not negotiate. I will not compromise,’” Carson said in an interview on “Good Morning N.H. with Jack Heath”. “That is not the New Hampshire way, that is not how we work here. … She just didn’t want to listen.”
“We are trying to protect the taxpayers ... of New Hampshire. She refuses to negotiate at all even though we tried and now we find ourselves in this position,” Carson added.
Last Thursday, following the budget’s passage in the House, Ayotte signaled that she was willing to sign this version into law.
“I look forward to signing this budget into law when it reaches my desk, and I thank the Legislature for passing it today,” she said in a statement.
And despite Republicans’ “win” in passing their budget, Granite Staters will ultimately lose out given the included provisions. In the face of this ongoing political theater by Republicans in Concord, this budget will raise costs on hardworking Granite Staters while the wealthy and well-connected get rewarded.
Granite Staters Take to the State House to Fight for Our Future
In the midst of the Republican-driven budget chaos, last Tuesday night, hundreds of Granite Staters gathered at the State House Plaza for a powerful rally to “Fight for Our Future.” The rally, organized by the “Fight for Our Future” coalition, called out elected officials for failing to stand up for working families amid rising costs and legislative decisions that favor the wealthy and well-connected.
The rally featured speakers directly impacted by cuts in the state budget and other harmful legislation passed during this legislative session. With the final votes of the legislative session imminent at the time of the rally, everyday Granite Staters addressing those in attendance sent a clear message: they are fed up with broken promises — and ready to hold their leaders accountable.
“We're watching a whole generation of good, hardworking people get priced out of the communities they were raised in. Teachers, nurses, construction workers, grocery clerks--the people who keep our economy running--can't afford to live in the places they serve,” said Rosie Emrich of Hooksett. “And if you do manage to hang on to housing, guess what? The system hits you again. New Hampshire has some of the highest property taxes in the country--because the state refuses to fund our public schools fairly.”
Speakers also included Pastor Jon Hopkins of Concordia Lutheran Church in Concord, UNH student Ty Wyman, school board member Liz Cote of Franklin, Jenny Belmont-Earl of Barrington, and Michelle Lawrence, a Granite Stater who lives with a rare chronic cancer. These speakers stood in solidarity with New Hampshire families demanding a better budget for working families that lower costs, supports critical public services, and restores trust in government that politicians at the State House have squandered with irresponsible and radical governance.
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Thank you,
Ryan Mahoney
Executive Director