New Hampshire Senate approves $15.9 billion state budget plan

Yahoo

06-06-2025

New Hampshire senators debate various aspects of the budget in the State House Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Photo by William Skipworth/New Hampshire Bulletin)
The New Hampshire Senate approved a roughly $15.9 billion two-year state budget Thursday.
The Senate passed House Bill 1 — the budget — and House Bill 2 — accompanying legislation that adjusts policy necessary to implement the budget — on votes of 15-9 and 14-10, respectively. Leading up to the second vote, Democrats proposed a series of amendments to remove or curtail Republican priorities, such as the voucher-like education freedom account program, and provide funding for their priorities, such as the renewable energy fund. All the amendments were voted down by the Republican majority.
The Senate's budget vote comes two months after the House passed its version of the budget. In April, the Republican-controlled House approved a roughly $15.5 billion budget. The Senate's budget marks a more optimistic outlook and cuts state services less harshly, though it is a far cry from the larger budget Gov. Kelly Ayotte requested.
The House, pessimistic about how much revenue the state would receive from business tax revenues, made heavy reductions to state services. That includes entirely eliminating the Office of the Child Advocate, the Housing Appeals Board, the Commission for Human Rights, and the State Commission on Aging. In their budget, the Senate, which was slightly more bullish about tax revenues, restored those agencies, but reduced them to save money. For example, the House had laid off the entirety of the Office of Child Advocate's staff of nine; the Senate restored the office, but eliminated four positions.
The Senate also rolled back the House's layoffs in the Department of Corrections from 190 positions to 60 civilian positions, many of which are currently vacant. It also set aside more money to a settlement fund created in response to a massive abuse scandal at the state-run Youth Development Center, in which courts are compelling them to pay settlements to victims. The Senate also reversed a 3% cut to Medicaid reimbursement rates made by the House. However, there were some places where the Senate cut more deeply than the House, such as special education in public schools and $32 million of general 'back of the budget' cuts that gives Ayotte's administration the flexibility to decide where to cut.
The House and Senate are now set to enter a process called committees of conference, in which they'll hash out the differences between their two budget proposals. They'll have two weeks to merge their budget proposals into one before their deadline to send a budget to Ayotte's desk. Ayotte, the state's Republican governor, will then have the choice of whether to sign, veto, or allow the budget to pass without her signature.