Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate John Lynch says Craig Benson is wrong to say the state ended the fiscal year with a surplus. Lynch says Benson is hiding an 18 million dollar shortfall in the state's health insurance fund.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers has more.
Governor Benson has done his best to publicize his claim that the state finished fiscal year 2004 16 million dollars in the black…….In recent weeks, the governor's office and campaign have issued no less than 11 press releases touting the surplus.…..Last week, a beaming Benson credited his own management and the legislatures resolve as he handed over the state's financial statements to auditors.
"You can manage the state budget and you can manage it…..to a place of success…you can manage it to a surplus you can manage it so that we live within our means."
But according to Democratic opponent John Lynch, the claimed surplus is a sham -- made possible only because the governor managed to ignore an 18 million dollar deficit in the state's self-insurance fund.
"The only thing there is no shortage of is Craig Benson's phony double-talk."
Speaking at a Concord press conference Lynch called on Benson to give taxpayers what he calls an honest accounting of the bottom line.
"What I'm talking about is if in fact we are going to look at a 9 million dollar surplus from the general fund and we age going to add to that a 7 million dollar surplus that exists in the education trust fund we also need to for the honesty for the financial management of the state also look at the deficit of that exists in the insurance fund -- then creating a 2 million dollar deficit in 04 and exacerbating the deficit we face in this biennium."
Neither Lynch nor Benson can have the final word. That power rests with the auditors -- and they won't be done until after the election……But the Benson camp wants nothing to tarnish the governor's fiscal credentials. Accordingly, Benson campaign adviser Keith Herman dismisses the 18 million dollars in estimated medical bills the state will have to pay as irrelevant.
"The self-insurance issue being brought out today has nothing to do with reality and how the final books will be audited . And if John Lynch wants to be an expert in self-insurance he should run for another office."
Herman adds that Governor Benson expects the coming year to bring better news on the self-insurance front. But this much is clear: the 18 million dollars represents bills the state can expect to pay. It's also clear that the state has not and will not recognize the savings it had hoped for when it shifted to self-insurance. That's according to the department of administrative services……..When Craig Benson signed the current state budget he predicted a 45 million dollar surplus for the year just ended…….There are no numbers on the table that suggest he will achieve that goal……And if the state pays out any portion of the 18 million dollars in estimated claims, it will be that much harder for the governor to stick to his original budget plan.
