Budget Signed, But Work Remains

Compared to the work he did to get this budget through, signing the bills was easy work:

"First we have HB 1…."

And the Governor seemed pretty relaxed. He joked with reporters about getting his counsel Mike Delaney some face time on TV.

"Try to get Mike on camera if you will -- He even smiled on camera, that’s good.”

'Ok HB 2, and HB 25 the capital budget, These 3 bills are now law in the state of NH."cheers…

And when the applause from his staff died down, Lynch reassumed his game face to stress a basic bottom line.

“It’s a good and appropriate budget for the people of NH and for our state.”

And a game face will be needed going forward, because the Governor’s work in making this budget work is just beginning. Issue number one is reaching an agreement with state employees on a new contract.

“It’s been a difficult negotiation and these are tough economic times. But I am hopeful we will be able to reach an agreement.”

Failure to do so would be costly. The budget banks on the governor finding 25 million dollars in personnel savings. That means at least 200 layoffs, and state employee furloughs --12 days a year for every worker if the state to meet savings targets. Until a new deal is reached, the current contract remains place, which, as the Governor stresses, will make it harder to save money, thus making more layoffs more likely.

“You know I’d like to minimize layoffs that would be my goal. And I think everyone understands that the longer we go the harder it will be to achieve savings, so I hope these negotiations continue with a sense of urgency.”

But the contract may not be the biggest obstacle Lynch faces as he works to keep the state books in balance. There’s also the legal battle over his decision to take 110 million dollars from a state-created medical malpractice insurance fund known as the JUA; 65 million of which would be used to close the gap in the current state budget, the other 45 is for the next budget. Last week Judge Kathleen McGuire ruled that contrary to a central claim of the attorney general, the JUA isn’t a state entity. While that early ruling calls into question whether the state should count on keeping the JUA money, Governor Lynch isn’t doubting.

“We will get the money from the JUA. We have and opinion from the Attorney General's office, and that’s significant.”

The Governor declined to say if anyone in his office was working on contingency plans if the if AGs solid opinion doesn’t carry the day in court. He indicated that all anyone was thinking about was getting what he says the state is due.

“My plan is to use the JUA money for the purposes that it was included in the budget. That’s the plan we are working on.”