The Executive Council is sometimes described as the most powerful office in government that nobody knows about. The council can check the New Hampshire governor’s power by approving or rejecting government contracts and appointments for judges and department heads.
Republican John Stephen, former Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Democrat Karen Liot Hill, former Lebanon City Councilor, were elected to the Executive Council this November. NHPR’s Morning Edition host Rick Ganley spoke with them about their goals as they prepare to take office.
Transcript
Rick Ganley: It's my understanding you're both just meeting for the first time today here in the studio.
John Stephen: Yes.
Karen Liot Hill: That's right.
John Stephen: Pretty cool.
Rick Ganley: That is very interesting. Tell us a little more about your priorities when you're in office. As executive councilors, you don't create policy, but your votes can make an impact on nominations and state contracts. Let's start with you, Councilor-elect Stephen. What is top of your mind as you step into this position?
John Stephen: Part of my message in the campaign was to grow the New Hampshire advantage. I don't want to just protect it. New Hampshire is a wonderful state for so many reasons. We're diverse, and we work together, and we get things done, and companies thrive and communities thrive. And I just want to make sure government is working efficiently. We're not policymakers. You said that so well early on, and that's so true. But a lot of the policy is going to be enacted in the legislature.
And this is going to be a tough budget cycle, I can tell you. Because over the past few years from COVID, the CARES Act dollars that have come into the state of New Hampshire are going away. And 2025 is the start. By 2026, there's no more COVID dollars, and the federal government is going to push back on a few things. And I can see a federal government that's going to start really streamlining, and it may impact the state in terms of their enhanced matches and other things they get from federal and Medicaid, I know well. So we need to be very mindful and fiscally responsible, in my opinion, and make sure that every dollar that we're spending is spending wisely.
And I've got a lot of examples coming from [New Hampshire Department of Human Health and Services]. When I saw we would give the universities indirect costs of over 25%, when every other vendor got 10%. And, well, that's just because [it's] the university and they have a lot of overhead. And so there's going to be a lot of, in my opinion, need for scrutiny so that the services that we absolutely need, the public needs are able to be delivered and continue to be delivered in a in a very efficient manner. And that's all. I think that's going to be an important issue for us to look at in terms of the contracts.
Karen Liot Hill: It is going to be a very difficult couple of years ahead with regard to the state budget, and I know all too well as a city councilor for the past two decades, and also from my perspective as county treasurer over the last eight years, what happens when there are fewer dollars in state government typically means that local taxpayers pick up the difference. And I think this is going to be a really difficult environment for local taxpayers in the next couple of years. It's already a real struggle for a lot of people. That is what I heard on the campaign trail. People are having a hard time paying their bills. And so the scrutiny that the Executive Council can play in making sure that the dollars that we are spending at the state level are being well spent is going to be important. And I think we're also going to have to be the eyes and the ears for local taxpayers as well, to make sure that we are not just downshifting costs onto the local level.
Rick Ganley: Well, Councilor-elect Karen Liot Hill, I want to ask you, you ran on advocating for reproductive freedom. The Executive Council has repeatedly rejected funding [for] some organizations that provide reproductive health care. You'll be the only Democrat on the council. How will you work with other councilors to achieve your goals?
Karen Liot Hill: Well, I think that it's probably safe to say the other executive councilors are going to expect me to give them a bit of a hard time on certain issues, and I suspect that I will again, be potentially the lone vote on family planning contracts. And so certainly there are going to be places where we differ. But I do think that overall, there are going to be a lot of places where we're going to be able to find common ground, and it certainly is my hope that women's health is not a partisan issue, and that we can make sure that especially lower income families and women in particular, are getting access to things like cancer screenings and STI testing and contraception, because that's what's at stake in some of those family planning contracts. And so, you know, I hope that whether it's in the, you know, reproductive rights and the family planning contracts or whether it's in education that we're going to find ways to keep politics out and to really be able to focus on finding the common ground where we can agree and we can keep moving things forward and really making a difference in people's lives.
John Stephen: If I could just answer, I mean--
Rick Ganley: Sure, yeah.
John Stephen: I respectfully disagree that I am not going to vote in favor of family planning contracts. At the end of the day, I was commissioner of [DHHS] and we put millions of dollars into family planning. I am a big believer in making sure that family planning is not just available, but I want to enhance access as a councilor. We can do that by helping our commissioners understand -- and especially the HHS commissioner-- I want to know from her, you know, why aren't we utilizing our community-based health centers? Those are federally qualified health centers all over the state that do great work in family planning. Why aren't we doing more with them? So I'm going to be really looking at this issue. On the campaign trail, I spoke to Gov.-elect Ayotte about this. I want to see access to family planning increased. I'm not a policymaker, but I'm going to be asking a lot of questions to make sure that women do get the type of services they need at these critical junctures. Because if we don't do that, the future costs are going to be enormous and it won't e something that we value as as a community.
Karen Liot Hill: I really appreciate, I really appreciate your comments because I think it's a good point. We can't make any assumptions. This is going to be a new council. You and I, Councilor-elect Stephen and I, will be new at the table. And Gov.-elect Ayotte will also be a new person at the table as well. And so maybe there are some opportunities for us to turn the page and find some new ways forward in the area of family planning contracts. And I'm really glad to hear that.
