Representative Tom Buco

Getting ready for the 2010 July 4th Parade

New Hampshire's Balanced Budget

Video from C-span video archive of Tom Fahey talking about the New Hampshire's balanced budget in the current economic climate, ongoing challenges the state faces, and what is unique about that state’s budget process.

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     While I can’t say that I’ve ever much agreed with Jeb Bradley’s politics when he was in the New Hampshire legislature, I could at least respect his opinions. Sadly, that is no longer the case. Since going to Washington six years ago, Jeb has lost his way and even more so since his election to the state senate, where he has become little more than the mouthpiece for Republican Chairman John H. Sununu. Even worse, he has made a habit of repeating the Washington Republican insiders’ talking points, disregarding the truth about New Hampshire and wrongly bashing our great state.

     Despite his false claims, New Hampshire and our state budget are weathering this economic storm better than most other states. Governor

     Lynch and the Democratic majorities have kept spending and taxes at some of the lowest rates in the nation. The Tax Foundation, a conservative think tank, cites New Hampshire as having one of the five lowest tax rates and state spending levels per capita — one of the five lowest in the entire country!

     Since Governor Lynch was elected, spending has increased only at or below the rate of inflation. There have been no new broad-based taxes, the budgets have been balanced, and the essential services New Hampshire’s most vulnerable residents count on have been protected. Our job market is also stronger than most other states with New Hampshire’s unemployment rate at 30 percent below the national rate.

     At the same time, we are also leading the nation in many quality of life measures. New Hampshire students score in the top five in key measures of reading and math, and our high school dropout rate declined 30 percent in the last year to the lowest rate in the northeast. We have also been rated the safest state in the nation, the best state to raise a child in, and the most livable state.

     Further, Democrats have achieved a number of major legislative accomplishments to protect jobs and grow the economy.
     The Health First program is on track to reduce health care costs for small businesses by 15 percent this year. The minimum wage was raised for the first time in over a decade, and the W.A.R.N Act was installed to protect workers from unannounced plant closings and mass layoffs.

     All of these accomplishments provide a stark contrast to the New Hampshire Republicans’ record. During the last 30 years, Republican governors have increased spending, on average, by a whopping 17 percent per biennium. During the last major recession, former Republican Governor Judd Gregg followed party orders and increased the budget by 17 percent.
When he left office, general fund spending was over 27 percent higher than the day he was sworn in.

     We cannot afford a return to that kind of reckless Republican spending. Too many people are still out of work, and we are only beginning to dig our way out of the national recession caused by eight failed years of Republican policies in Washington policies which Jeb Bradley voted for as a member of Congress.

     One effect of the recession is that state revenues are down, and demand for state services are up. It’s ironic that Jeb points this out, because aside from not bringing in as much money as lawmakers from both parties expected, there is one thing the Communications Service Tax, the Real Estate Transfer Tax, and dozens of other taxes and fees in New Hampshire all have in common: they were all created or raised by Republicans in the House, Senate, and corner office during the recession in the early 1990s.

     While Jeb Bradley is busy running around the state making baseless claims about New Hampshire’s responsible Democratic leadership, whom is he endorsing to be our next governor? John Stephen, a man he called, “A big spending bureaucrat,” and who as commissioner of Health and Human Services, lost 70 million dollars in an ‘accounting error.’ That kind of fiscal mismanagement is something New Hampshire’s hardworking residents neither need nor deserve. Bradley’s endorsement of it makes it harder than ever to take him seriously.

Beth Funicella is the chair of the
Carroll County Democratic Committee.
She lives in Jackson.

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