At long last, New Hampshire has a new state budget.
The 8.8 billion dollar spending plan cleared both bodies of the legislature by wide margins yesterday morning, and Governor Craig Benson signed it into law during the afternoon.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers has more.
As he signed the budget Governor Craig Benson had this to say.
"Well I'm pleased that we got things done by two o'clock - it just shows we can move fast in government.".
Those comments may seem an odd way to greet a spending package that's more than two months late. But the Governor didn't seem to think so. Benson also didn't hesitate to claim perhaps more than his fair share of credit for a budget that essentially mirrors the proposal he rejected in June.
"I want to say that legislative leadership worked with me closely to craft this set of documents and along with it a promise that we will move quickly as a group to enact legislation or less ideas or whatever ideas �.to finds the ideas what ever it takes to find the efficiencies that are in this budget�."
Those efficiencies are 50 million dollars in hoped for savings and new revenue that Benson wants to use to replenish the state�s rainy day fund� Benson described the 50 million dollar figure as a floor and not a ceiling � and guaranteed that he will put at least 70 million dollars into the rainy day fund by the end of the biennium��For their part, Legislative leaders have been more circumspect��promising only that the savings could fall anywhere between zero and fifty million�But they also say they are hoping for the best and relieved the budget impasse has been resolved. House speaker Gene Chandler.
" A lot of people could have been doing other things this summer for sure��But the end result is a good budget for the citizens of the state�..So I think it�s a win, win, for everybody."
Chandler�s magnanimousness isn�t however, universal�..Both the budget�..and the Governor�s role in the entire process have drawn fire from across the political spectrum. Some Conservatives continue to maintain it spends too much money�.and believe in supporting the final proposal Benson renegned on his priciples and left them out to dry. Speaking on the house floor, Freshman Representative Gregory Sorg urged colleagues to remember what Benson did after the House upheld his veto.
"Now the veto was sustained and the Senate simply just imposed the budget that had just been vetoed and to my astonishment the Governor simply surrendered��and the 128 members who had supported the veto were still here."
Democrats, meanwhile insist the budget remains too lean��and accused the governor of using the budget process for polticial gain. After listening to Benson�s remarks at the signing ceremony House Democratic leader Peter Burling acknowledged the budget may have been the best available under the circumstances��but said it still shortchanges critical state programs.
"We have to deal with the LCHIP shortfund�.We have to deal with the disabilities waiting list�..We have to provide HHS with the real needs of the state of NH��and I have no reason to believe that this governor is up to this task."
The budget package cleared the house by a margin of 318 to 39��and the senate by 20-4.
