Governor Craig Benson says he’ll veto lawmakers’ budget compromise if they don’t cut more money from their 2.7 billion dollar proposal. Benson’s threat drew sharp rebukes from GOP legislative leaders.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Josh Rogers reports.
The governor made his announcement via a powerpoint presentation that stressed a by now familiar theme.
I’m not going to support a budget that leads us down the road to an income tax…..or any other large taxes…..And I’m not going to spend now and hand the invoice to our children down the road.
Benson insists that invoice will include a 212 million dollar deficit in the next biennium if NH enacts the budget agreed to by legislative leaders last week…..The Governor says the only way to avert that future deficit is for lawmakers to join him in “rightsizing the government” and running it more like a business….. If the goal of such exhortations was to reach out to his republican colleagues……Benson achieved the opposite….. Leaders from both chambers dismissed the Governor’s deficit numbers as contrived…..And said they expect the veto threat to actually strengthen support for the budget proposal. Deputy House Speaker Mike Whalley……says lawmakers worked hard to create a spending plan that met Benson’s initial criteria of no new or increased taxes……And confessed disappointment that those criteria have continued to evolve.
As I’ve said he’s moved the goaline….He’s established different parameters depaenting on what day of the week it is…..Maybe he should have just made that part of his campaing promise.
House leaderships frustration is more than shared by their Senate counterparts…..Majority leader Bob Clegg says he was particularly surprised that Benson is now emphasizing the need for cooperation.
You know, if the governor had wanted teamwork he should have been working with the senate…..we saw one of his people for one day for a half an hour if that’s his idea of teamwork than I guess we’ve elected a dictator.
Senate finance chairman Dick Green…..says Benson is acting like a “spoiled brat”…...Green adds that the governor’s inability to get along with the republicans who control the legislature is indicative of a far broader failure.
He really has got a real problem with competence in running government. He speaks a lot but he doesn’t perform on the job…..And I think that people are really starting to get the idea that he is not capable of handling this position.
The budget will be put to a vote in both chambers later this morning. If lawmakers and the Governor remain at impasse all non-essential government services could be shut down on July 1st.
