Tagged: Newscast

New Hampshire lawmakers are trying to pressure the so-called “supercommittee” to exceed its goal of cutting $1.2 trillion  from the debt, but the special panel remains grid locked as it nears its end date.  If the supercommittee fails to reach a bipartisan solution by next Wednesday, deep spending cuts are supposed to fall on nearly the entire federal budget.

Some lawmakers want to scrap that agreement to protect the Pentagon’s budget and other favorite spending items.

The new federal prison in Berlin – which has been sitting empty – could finally be funded this week, providing a huge economic boost to the North Country.  NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

Funding for the federal prison in Berlin is likely to be approved this week, according to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

“We’re very excited because there has been an agreement reached between the House and Senate on the bill that includes funding for the Berlin prison.”

Shaheen sees it as a done deal.

The Northern Pass hydro-electric project is interested in buying a section of land associated with The Balsams Resort. If such a sale went through it’s likely to create a furor in the North Country. NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

One of the companies interested in purchasing a slice of the Balsams resort in Dixville Notch is Northern Pass.

“They have identified land that they would like.”

That’s Tom Deans.

He’s the president of the Tillotson Corporation. It has been hoping to stem financial losses by selling the resort.

Texas governor Rick Perry is stumping in the state today.  The Republican presidential hopeful urged workers at a manufacturing plant in Manchester to put pressure on congress to change. 

Rick Perry has been targeting the Washington establishment in recent days.  He issued a plan to cut the salaries of senators and congressmen in half.  Asked how he would get congress to go along, he said the public would need to browbeat them into agreement.

Perry said the counties around DC are some of the wealthiest in the country.

House Speaker Bill O’Brien says he could get behind the education funding constitutional amendment proposed by the governor. The Speaker’s support comes with one caveat.

House Speaker Bill O’Brien says he’s not thrilled with the language included in Governor Lynch’s education funding constitutional amendment.

He believes it gives the courts too much oversight.

But O’Brien says he’s open-minded, provided this is truly a bi-partisan proposal.

House Democrats are raising alarms that a handful of bills they oppose could be voted on later this month. The announcement comes before lawmakers return to Concord November 30th. 

Speaker Bill O’Brien has taken the unusual step to call the full House together several times this fall already. The chamber is returning in two weeks to take up education funding constitutional amendments.

Democrats say they aren’t sure if Republicans will use that session day to push a number of controversial bills.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative faces an uncertain future in some states. New Jersey plans to end its participation and New Hampshire has considered legislation that would do the same.

But a new analysis shows the carbon dioxide cap and trade program has saved consumers money and created jobs. Under the program, power producers buy pollution allowances at auction for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit.

Governor John Lynch promises to veto any bill that would allow casinos or similar forms of gambling in the state.

Governor Lynch struck preemptively.  In a letter to the Republican leaders in the House and Senate, he said more gambling would increase social service costs and, with casinos likely to come to Massachusetts,  fail to raise as much revenue as backers predict.

The governor’s spokesman, Colin Manning said furthermore, any expansion will lead to proliferation.