The June unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.6%. While the ranks of the unemployed grew by 17,000, the increase was not large enough to change the rate. The number of those not in the workforce grew by 12,000, but those classified as wanting a job fell by 132,000.

The Fiscal Year 2014-15 Budget passed both the House and Senate by wide margins on June 26th, and is currently awaiting Governor Hassan’s signature, who has said that she will sign it. So how does this year’s final budget look like over all? In General Funds, it spends roughly $213.9 million more than in the previous biennium.

Every two years, state employee pay and benefits is a big part of the budget battle yet most policymakers have only vague concepts of whether state workers are the largest cost in the budget and whether employees are over or under compensated.

According to New Hampshire Employment Security, the unemployment rate for the state in the month of May fell to 5.3%, a drop from 5.5% in April.

The Committee of Conference is over and a final budget has been produced for approval by both chambers; so what became of all of the controversial items? For the most part, the House acceded to the Senate position on most issues, although for the two largest stumbling blocks in the budget, Medicaid Expansion and Personnel Reductions, there was some compromise.

The intelligent and hard-working members and staff at the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission are working hard to lower your electric rate. They’re from the government, and they’re here to help.

The current debate over Medicaid expansion is misleading simply because the expansion doesn’t do what supporters think it does. Experience shows that it does almost the opposite of what they intend: it doesn’t affect the uninsured and doesn’t reduce uncompensated care costs that are passed on to those with private insurance. The experience of two neighboring states, Maine and New Hampshire, should be studied.

“The final decision in this case was always going to come from the Supreme Court which I’m sure will uphold the law. No education tax credit has ever been struck down by a Supreme Court in any state. This ruling is particularly odd. The entire program is fine unless a parent by their own choice chooses a religious school. By this logic a program is illegal if neutral and only legal if actively hostile to religion. That’s absurd and I trust the Supreme Court will find it so. I hope the Supreme Court will act quickly so parents have some certainty for the coming school year.”

Now that the House and Senate have each passed their respective versions of the budget, the next phase in the process is the Committee of Conference, where appointees from each body will meet to hammer out a deal to reconcile the two proposed budgets. There is much common ground between the two proposals; however, there are a few key differences. While some are dollar figures others are more philosophically driven.

Grant D. Bosse June 2013 Click here to view as a pdf A hiring freeze put in place five years ago by Governor John Lynch is doing little to prevent state agencies from filling their vacant positions, as the Governor’s Office has issued 436 waivers so far this Fiscal Year. Governor Maggie Hassan has not […]