New Hampshire’s budget battles are always about revenue, and this year is no exception. Revenue estimates drive spending and make some decisions possible, others impossible. This year’s estimates will determine the path the budget takes.

According to the New Hampshire Employment Security, December’s unemployment rate for the state was 5.7%, a .1 percentage point increase over last month. This upturn translates to 430 additional unemployed workers. There were 7368 initial claimants over the month with 45,784 continued claimants.

Every two years in New Hampshire we have a budget crisis. Some crises are worse than others but no budget seems to be easy. This year, a new governor has been welcomes to office with problems that demand she take action long before the official budget is even adopted. She has no choice but to take immediate executive action to cut the existing budget just winding down and then put on hold any new or increased spending for another two years.

A proposed hike on the Beer Tax hike would push New Hampshire’s rate to nearly four times that of Massachusetts. The state Beer Tax is currently assessed on brewers at $0.30 per gallon sold, with the cost passed on to consumers. HB 168, introduced by Reps Charles Weed and Richard Eaton, would increase the beer tax by $0.10 per gallon, putting the tax at $0.40 per gallon.

Yesterday’s approval by the Capital Budget Overview Committee to use Turnpike Credits to help fund a transportation study of the Capitol Corridor has revived hopes of commuter rail in New Hampshire. The Corridor project, if completed in its entirety, would see passenger rail service run from Concord through Manchester and Nashua, continuing south into North Station in Boston.

The music for the Washington fiscal cliff debate ought to be that written by Sergei Prokofiev for his “Tale of the Buffoon who Outwits Seven Other Buffoons.” Hard to believe he hadn’t of the fiscal cliff when he wrote it.

The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy’s comprehensive analysis demonstrates that a choice program is consistent with court opinions and permissible under the New Hampshire State Constitution. In addition, a discussion of the Blaine Amendment describes their bigoted history.

With the US Treasury rapidly closing in on another debt limit ceiling, the idea of minting trillion dollar platinum coins to get around Congressional approval of a debt limit hike has gained some steam in the pundit world and with the public at large. It has even spawned the twitter hashtag #mintthecoin and a White House petition in support of the proposal.

Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly jobs report for December, which showed that the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.8%. The BLS also revised the November rate upwards to 7.8% from 7.7%. Establishment Survey (i.e. employer) data showed that roughly 155,000 jobs were created. As we do every month, we delve deeper in the unemployment data to gain a better understanding of the labor market.

Charlie Arlinghaus January 2, 2013 As originally published in the New Hampshire Union Leader   As Gov. Maggie Hassan takes over the ship of state, many of the management efforts of Gov. John Lynch’s four terms hold practical lessons for her, especially for her next six months in office. Gov. Lynch is the most recent […]