A group of senators and representatives are expected to begin negotiating a budget deal this week after the House quietly agreed to a committee of conference Tuesday.
The Republican-led Senate recently signed off on an $11.8 billion spending plan along party lines. Though some members of the House Freedom Caucus were prepared to try to kill the budget during the Thursday session, they won’t get that chance.
Under recess rules approved last week, House leaders were able to request the conference committee without a full chamber vote. The group will meet at 10 a.m. Friday, according to Republican House Finance Committee Chairman Neal Kurk.
No Freedom Caucus members will be representing the House in budget negotiations. Republicans on the House team include Kurk, Speaker Shawn Jasper, Karen Umberger, Majority House Leader Dick Hinch and Finance Division Chairwoman Lynne Ober. The lone Democrat is Concord Rep. Mary Jane Wallner, who sits on the Finance Committee. Senate President Chuck Morse is expected to name conferees Wednesday.
House Freedom Caucus members JR Hoell said it’s not surprising the group isn’t represented, but he called it “short-sighted.”
“The House will need to have a majority of votes to pass the budget, and excluding a large portion of the Republican caucus from this is not a wise thing,” said Hoell, a Dunbarton Republican.
Even though Republicans control the House, Senate and corner office, the party hasn’t found unity on the next state spending plan. For the first time in decades, the House failed to pass a budget after conservatives banded with Democrats to kill the blueprint put forward by GOP leaders.
Those two groups remain largely opposed to the spending plan, which could spell problems in the House. Republicans hold a slim majority in the lower chamber, and a budget could fail if roughly two dozen conservatives unite with Democrats against it.
House conservatives argue the Senate-passed budget spends too much, though they have offered few specific areas for cuts. In an effort to address those concerns, House leaders invited Republicans who had opposed the budget to a discussion Tuesday, Umberger said. About 15 to 20 showed up, she estimated.
On the other side, Democrats argue the budget doesn’t go far enough addressing the needs of people with mental illness, children at risk of abuse and those misusing substances. They also have raised concerns with another round of proposed cuts to the state’s business profits and enterprise tax rates.
“There are a lot of things we are not happy with as far as the budget. The business tax cuts trouble us quite a bit,” House Minority Leader Steve Shurtleff said. “Whenever we see business tax cuts we always seem to see a downshifting to cities and towns.”
Republican senators tout the plan, saying it takes steps to address crises in mental health and child protection without raising taxes or fees.
(Allie Morris can be reached at 369-3307 or
amorris@cmonitor.com.)