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6/14/2010

NH Newspapers Pan Lynch's Phony Budget "Fix"

Not A State Budget To Be Proud Of
Editorial
Concord Monitor
June 13, 2010
 
Over Republican objections, New Hampshire House and Senate Democrats balanced the state budget with a wish, a prayer and a credit card. The $295 million budget package contained no sizeable increase in revenue from new or existing sources, let alone a broad-base sales or income tax. But it is not a budget to brag about. In fact, some items in it may not even be real.
 
Legislators and governors have always managed to scare up some one-time sources of revenue to balance the books. Lawmakers did that this year too, but couldn't find enough - so they had to borrow from the future. The state borrowed $25 million for the university system - not to finance the construction of a new building but to pay the university system's ongoing maintenance expenses. And lawmakers borrowed another $40 million by restructuring the state debt. Republicans are correct to describe those measures as using a credit card to buy groceries and cutting mortgage payments by refinancing for a longer term…..
 
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A Phony Budget
Editorial
Foster’s Daily Democrat
June 12, 2010

The state budget debate is over for now. Wednesday the House and Senate passed a budget bill that, at least on paper, erases a $295 million deficit.

Much could be written about the smoke and mirrors used to create the illusion of a balance budget. But one excerpt from the Nashua Telegraph sums it all up.

"GOP leaders such as Deputy Minority Leader David Hess, R-Hooksett, called the final product a phony solution to the deficit dilemma ... ."

That said, it is time for legislators to go home for the summer. And hopefully many who prided themselves on their legerdemain will not be allowed to return after the November elections.
 
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Legislature's Bad Budget Practices
Editorial
Portsmouth Herald
June 13, 2010
 
The New Hampshire Legislature last Wednesday took steps to wipe out a $295 million budget deficit. That's good. The Legislature cut the deficit without relying exclusively on spending cuts. That's great. The plan only relies on relatively minor tax and fee increases. That's even better.
 
The downside? Budgetary maneuvers created in Wednesday's special session continue practices that have proven ineffective and perhaps deserve significant blame for the $295 million deficit. Further, is the pesky possibility that revenue estimates for the remaining 12 months of the biennium may be as inaccurate as those for the first 12 months. The poor economy increased demand for myriad state services, but there's no more significant cause of the $295 million deficit than overly optimistic revenue projections, but on that point, there is no need to beat a dead horse…..
 
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Much Finger Crossing With New Budget Bill
Editorial
Nashua Telegraph
June 11, 2010
 
Nearly one year ago, Gov. John Lynch authored an op-ed piece that urged the Legislature to approve what would become the current two-year, $11.5 billion budget, calling it a “responsible and balanced budget” and one that “fits with the times.”
 
On Wednesday night, the same governor issued a statement praising the same Legislature for approving legislation to close a projected $295 million shortfall in that same budget, calling it a “sensible plan that makes difficult, but responsible cuts, and allows us to balance the budget without any new taxes.”
 
And given how the projected budget deficit has been rising like a thermometer in summertime – from $65 million in February to $216 million as recently as April – it wouldn’t surprise us if we end up going through a similar exercise at least one more time before the two-year budget cycle ends June 30, 2011.
 
We say this as one of the many voices that didn’t buy the assumptions that served as the foundation for the original budget……
 
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Punting Again: The State Budget 'Fix'
Editorial
Union Leader
June 9, 2010

Say you had an old car with a serious oil leak. Every year, instead of fixing it, you just added more duct tape. What do you think would eventually happen?
 
That's pretty much what New Hampshire legislators and Gov. John Lynch have done with the state budget. It's bleeding money. But instead of fixing the leaks, they just keep applying temporary patches that will have to be replaced in the not-too-distant future. That's why we have a current budget with a roughly $300 million hole in it; and it's why experts expect a more than $600 million hole in the next budget…..
 
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