Lynch Speech Draws Praise And Battle Lines

By Josh Rogers on Thursday, January 6, 2005.

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Inauguration speech provokes the requisite choruses of cheers and standing ovations. Afterwards, reaction is similarly pro-forma.

Anytime there's a partisan switch in the corner office, the winning side tends to exult. To Manchester Mayor Bob Baines, Governor Lynch's maiden speech was an ideal blend of substance and inspiration.

"He made a clarion call to solve the issues and I have to believe he's committed to doing. But he's going to need cooperation, and I hope the leadership of the house and senate are ready to do it."

House minority leader Jim Craig says democrats will certainly do what they can to further the Lynch agenda. Craig also allowed that the new Governor set a tall order by promising to permanently solve school funding this year.

"That's what he said. That's what he said -- he laid it out there. He laid out a challenge to all of us and to ourselves and you don't see that very much -- some one sticking his neck out there like that, so we've all got a lot of work to do and I think he's serious about doing something."

"The devil is in the details, it sounded like a campaign speech. He plans on living within existing revenues with a shortfall, than I want to know where the cuts are."

That's Senate President Tom Eaton. The Keene Republican says he shares Lynch's goal of bipartisan cooperation, adding that he, House speaker Doug Scamman and the Governor plan on using weekly breakfasts to improve communication. Eaton was also quick to indicate that Lynch's longstanding pledge to repeal the heath insurance rating law know as Senate Bill 110 will prove a thorny topic.

"Well I had talked to the governor on this before and we had talked about reform, not repeal. I was very surprised on that word that we used. We can't turn back the clock we can fix 110 and go forward. "

GOP house member Fran Wendelboe seconded the senate president -- adding that a push to gut senate bill 110 will provoke what she termed a huge fight. Wendelboe also admitted to being a bit put off by Lynch's decision to invoke ethics no fewer than five times in a 26 minute speech.

"I think that ethics, honesty and integrity was played a bit more heavily than it needed to be -- I think were all aware of it."

One man who showed no annoyance with Lynch's stress on ethics and open government is Health and Human services commissioner John Stephen. Lynch had criticized Stephen during his campaign for helping Craig Benson craft what Lynch called a secret plan overhaul the state's Medicaid system. When asked for an assessment of the new Governor's first speech, Stephen instead posited Health and Human services as the embodiment of good government.

"We have one of the best departments in state government -- the integrity is as high as it gets. And I can't wait to work these next two years to work these problems that we've got facing us out together."

Governor John Lynch's first inaugural ball will take place on Saturday night in Manchester. A second ball will take place later this month in Bartlett.