Governor Lynch's proposed budget directs new money to the North Country.
That's good news to legislators from the region.
But as New Hampshire Public Radio's Dan Gorenstein reports, those same lawmakers warn the governor's education plan could diminish any gains.
Part of the thinking behind Governor Lynch's budget proposal last week was to promote the state through its recreational opportunities and natural resources.
By getting tourists to spend money, the state could reap the rewards.
That's at least partly why the Governor calls for 6 million dollars to refurbish state parks.
TAPE: I believe that our state parks are treasures, treasures that provide countless hours of enjoyment for our citizens and our visitors. We must continue to work to make sure our state park system is vibrant, and meets the demands of our population- as we did last year when we created a new ATV park in Berlin.
The Governor's budget also tries to shore up the cash-strapped Fish and Game Department.
Many from Coos, Grafton and Carroll Counties consider the department essential in driving the economy.
In addition to reducing certain agency expenses, the Governor wants to make a limited number of moose hunt permits available to the highest bidder.
North Country Senator John Gallus loves the idea.
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4:45...We have to take advantage of garnering any kind of revenues we can for Fish and Game...you have a lot of people who want to participate in hunts around the world...they really enjoy going somewhere for the big game aspect, so they go to Alaska for grizzly bears, or to South Africa for something else, and they are not afraid to pay for those trips.
Budget writers believe the auction would net $250 thousand dollars a year.
Almost immediately the concept angered a number of North Country lawmakers who say moose hunting permits shouldn't be reserved for the wealthy.
State Senator Joe Kenney who represents towns in Carroll County has his doubts about any windfall.
Fish and Game has been requesting millions of dollars in assistance.
But Kenney says it seems to him the governor's plan doesn’t provide much help.
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2:57 we have 700-800 lakes, maybe 150 of them have public access...we need more money and resources to support public access when it comes to people being able to fish on our lakes. So having a complete budget for Fish and Game allows us to fund a conservation officer, and promote hunting and other recreational aspects that Fish and Game does so well.
Another boon for the North Country is the proposed expansion of the state prison system in Berlin.
Lynch wants to spend ten million dollars on the project.
Even though Senator Gallus says he'd like to see a bigger financial commitment, he says it's a good start.
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2:45 what it means, to me, is an economic opportunity to the North Country. It will create more jobs. We are going to have more prisoners, but you are going to have to have more staff to take care of these folks. So it means state jobs, good benefits, good pay for the people in my district....and we need it.
What Gallus says his district doesn't need is the governor's education funding program.
Under the current funding formula many cities and towns are scheduled to receive more money for the next school year.
Lynch's budget, instead would maintain this year's grant level for the next two years, plus five percent.
T.1
:37 it hurts most of my communities. My communities are the targeted aid communities. They need help, scheduled to get much more money with the bill that is currently law. If we circumvent that, my towns all lose out big time.
With the budget nearly 1200 pages long, few have had time to fully analyze how well North Country communities fair under Lynch's proposal.
But there's no doubt senators and representatives thought the rhetoric sounded good.
Now lawmakers will begin putting their own budget plans in place.
North Country residents won't know how good a deal they'll actually get until late June.
For NHPR News, I'm DG.
