Global Courant
The New Hampshire Senate on Wednesday approved a $15.2 billion two-year state budget with bipartisan support and sent the watered-down proposal back to the House for further consideration.
The Republican-led Senate unanimously and quickly approved the operating budget recommended by its finance committee before spending hours debating and rejecting all proposed amendments to an accompanying policy bill. That bill also received unanimous support, except for a provision that would accelerate the elimination of state interest and dividend taxes, which was approved in a separate 14-9 vote.
“We still have issues to solve and we’re going to work on that tomorrow, but I think we all know that budgets are about priorities, and it’s really about compromise,” said Senator Sharon Carson, a Republican from Londonderry. “People are looking to see what we’re doing, and I think they might be happy that we can compromise, we can work together for their benefit, we can disagree, but we can also agree.”
The House, where Republicans have an ultra-thin majority, had approved spending about $750 million more over the biennium. Although party leaders had squabbled over the budget early in the session, they eventually came together with a proposal jointly sponsored by Republican Majority Leader Jason Osborne and Democratic Minority Leader Matt Wilhelm.
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“I bet the house could even send a budget, with numbers so close, I didn’t think that was possible,” said Senator Donna Soucy, a Democrat from Manchester. But the ability of both chambers to compromise bodes well, she said.
“We’re not all happy with everything that happened here, and I’m sure every one of us going home will think of that one thing we wish we had gotten,” she said. “But I think sometimes we all need to come together for the collective good.”
Shawn Jones, left, and Ed Friedrich hold signs outside the Senate Chamber of the New Hampshire Statehouse in Concord, New Hampshire, on June 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Holly Ramer)
Senator James Gray, R-Rochester, said the proposal addresses the needs of the most vulnerable residents while increasing opportunity, returning $245 million to cities and towns through tax revenue sharing for rooms and meals.
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“It prioritizes education, health care and the environment in New Hampshire,” he said. “It does these things without raising taxes and keeps our state’s economy growing.”
Both the House and Senate budgets include pay increases for public employees and increased spending on payments to Medicaid providers and public education. Among other changes recommended by the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate also passed amendments on Wednesday to increase funding for transportation for students attending classes at regional career and technical education centers and for the state’s affordable housing fund.
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This year’s budget process has been considerably smoother than in previous years. When Democrats controlled both chambers four years ago, Republican Governor Chris Sununu vetoed the budget, forcing the state to operate under a temporary spending plan until a compromise was signed into law three months later. And two years ago, divisions within the GOP nearly derailed the process. Now the House will decide whether to accept the Senate’s version or, more likely, ask a committee of conferences to negotiate a compromise.
