Republican lawmakers moved Monday to give Gov. Kelly Ayotte the authority to hire and fire the administrator who oversees settlements with victims abused at the former youth detention center. The power lies currently with the state Supreme Court.
Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee did not publicly disclose reasons for the proposed change during a meeting Monday. But they recently requested the settlement fund be audited after Attorney General John Formella questioned decisions by the current administrator, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick.
The audit found that Broderick and his staff are following the Youth Development Settlement Fund rules approved by Formella and lawmakers.
Neither Broderick nor Ayotte could be immediately reached for comment.
Broderick was named administrator in 2022 in an agreement between Formella and the lawyers representing victims. Under the proposed change, the attorney general and victims’ attorneys would still recommend an administrator, but the governor and Executive Council would have to approve the choice.
While Ayotte would have oversight of the settlement fund administrator under the proposed changes, she would not be allowed to review the administrator’s decisions.
Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, a Nashua Democrat and member of the Senate Finance Committee, raised the lone objection Monday.
She said shifting personnel decisions to the governor and Executive Council could drive victims and their lawyers to sue the state rather than settle. Lawsuits could prove more costly and are hard to budget for because payouts would be decided by jurors.
“The more I think about having the administrator appointed by the governor and (Executive) Council, the more it seems like the defendant – being the state – is picking the negotiator, which I think could cause anxiety on the part of claimants and their counsel and maybe less willingness to engage with the fund,” Rosenwald said.
Attorney David Vicinanzo, who has represented hundreds of clients through the settlement fund, agreed. He was one of the lawyers who helped choose Broderick three years ago.
"None of the victims actually harmed by the state as children were consulted on this amendment. If they had been, the legislature would know that this would be a betrayal of the victims," he said in an email (emphasis Vicinanzo's).
"The State is the perpetrator of the abuse against these kids," Vicinanzo wrote. "Now, the State wants to be the judge in its own case, and throw out the impartial process the State itself adopted and has been promising for three years."
Chuck Miles, a Youth Development Center abuse survivor and board member of the newly-formed Justice for YDC Victims, criticized the proposed changes in a statement Monday.
“The Senate's proposal to remove any semblance of impartiality surrounding the YDC Settlement Fund administrator is an affront to YDC victims who have voluntarily paused their constitutional rights to a court trial with the understanding that the settlement fund would be a fair, impartial process,” he said.
A new administrator would take over at a difficult time. There are more than 1,000 claims pending and not nearly enough money to settle them.
The last Legislature anticipated spending $150 million a year on claims. The House budget cut that to $20 million. The Senate Finance Committee voted to increase that to $100 million, with most of that coming from the sale of the Sununu Youth Development Center.
