Lynch Begins Third Term With A Call For Austerity

Governor John Lynch gives his third inaugural address. (Tracy Lee Carroll, NHPR)

The Governor was blunt in describing the issue that’s likely to dominate his third term.

“We face a budget challenge of unprecedented dimension. The next budget cannot be balanced by tweaks and minor adjustments.”

But he was also optimistic the challenge could be met with coordinated government action: A stimulus package from Washington,
“This package should help protect the safety net for our most vulnerable citizens and put people to work by investing in our infrastructure.”

And some hardcore fiscal restraint in Concord:

“We won’t be able to do everything we want to do, or even everything we should do as a state.”

Lynch promised to do all he can to continue to protect public safety, help the vulnerable, educate the state’s children and preserve New Hampshire’s quality of life -- and do so without a enacting a sales or income tax. He urged lawmakers to help him meet the challenge with shared purpose.

“We must have confidence in our ability to seek common sense solutions to uncommon problems, to employ calm in the face of fear, and assert the certainly of our core values in these uncertain times.”

As is typical of inaugural addresses this speech was longer on values than specifics. But the governor did mention a few, and he signaled he will -- for now at least --relax his push for a school funding constitutional amendment.

“I still believe the best ways to improve education, but I also recognize there has not been a consensus on the legislature on a constitutional amendment that would allow for that approach.”

But the Governor said he will push hard to reduce unemployment by expanding the job training fund, and launching a green jobs initiative and pay for it with sales of pollution credits under the regional greenhouse gas initiative. Such ideas, and the governor’s message of austerity got a mostly enthusiastic response from lawmakers across the spectrum.

“The acknowledgement that we need to say no, that’s an important thing. Obviously the sales and income tax, is a traditional republican thing.”

Peter Bragdon is New Hampshire’s the top GOP state Senator. He says he’s like to have heard promises not to raise other taxes, and he says he worried when Lynch highlighted the 90 million dollars the state now has in its rainy day fund.

“Coincidently, that’s about as much money as we are short in the current budget. Yes it is raining but it’s a drizzle compared to what it’s going to be in two years. And that money need to be there two years from now because we’re going to need it then.”

"Leading democrats less leery on that front, but they did agree the next two years will be tough, and they could define large John Lynch’s governorship."

"This is the acid test."

Lou D’Alessandro chairs the Senate finance committee.

"It’s the acid test because everything is known at this point in time. We know we have a problem, we know we have other needs and we have to work to address them."

Far more detail on how the John Lynch faces these problems will come next month, when he unveils his next two year state budget.