House and Senate to begin budget talks

Negotiations over a new $10.3 billion New Hampshire budget for the two years beginning July 1 are beginning this afternoon, giving the House and Senate a week to reach a compromise under legislative rules.

The Senate voted yesterday to agree to confer over the budget package.

The two chambers are about $75 million apart on general fund spending. The budget is about $10.3 billion when all funding sources are tallied.

But their packages differ more over proposed policy changes, such as the House's provision to take away public employees' union protections if their contracts expired. The Senate took out that and other policy changes it felt should have been dealt with in separate legislation. The House disagrees with the Senate's push in the budget to lease the state's Cannon Mountain ski area.

The biggest spending differences are on services for the mentally ill and disabled. The Senate restored millions of dollars in cuts to those services made by the House and added money not included in budgets proposed by the House or the governor for the disabled on a waiting list for services.

The Senate's budget spends less than Democratic Gov. John Lynch proposed - about $244 million less from state taxes - but $75 million more than the House. The House had made much deeper cuts to Lynch's budget, which already had reduced state spending.

The Senate's general fund budget is $2.5 billion. The total budget is closer to $10.3 billion once spending from federal and other nonstate tax sources is included.

Many had hoped the Senate would restore most if not all the spending the GOP-controlled House cut from Lynch's recommended budget. Lynch had cut most agencies' budgets about 5 percent.

Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers, and attempts by Democrats to restore funding failed. For example, in the Senate the Democrats tried to win support for $1.5 million to help about 240 elderly people with housing services such as meals and light housekeeping to help keep them independent and out of nursing homes.

House and Senate Republican leaders promised to write budgets that did not raise fees or taxes, which meant deep cuts had to be made.

Big losers in the Senate and House versions of the budget are college students and hospitals.

The Senate did not restore deep cuts in state aid to the University System of New Hampshire.