Senate budget brings back state support for arts
Bowing to public and political pressure, Senate budget writers approved a spending and tax credit proposal to leverage up to $3.7 million in support for the arts.
In another major decision, the Senate Finance Committee more than doubled the amount of state aid to the University System of New Hampshire that had been included in the House-approved spending plan.
The House budget would eliminate all funding for the Council on the Arts, essentially eliminating the council..
Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, had convinced his budget colleagues earlier this month to set aside only $1 for the state Council on the Arts and to seek private donations and federal grants to pick up the slack.
'My email inbox was filled when I allocated $1,' Lang said. 'This creative solution leverages scarce state resources with matching private sector donations and federal grants to generate more than $3.7 million for the Arts Council.'
Gov. Ayotte had been pushing senators to reconsider their position after she had proposed $2 million in state and federal grants for the arts — about half of what the council currently receives.
Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, authored the new proposal with Lang.
Senate budget revives state support for arts
Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, co-authored with Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, a proposal that took a step forward to provide up to $3.7 million in support for the arts.
'We all wanted to find a way to keep the Arts Council alive,' Carson said.
The proposal creates a Granite Patron of the Arts program that would provide donors with a 50% state tax credit. The program would have a total donation limit of $700,000 a year, which would cost the state $350,000 in tax credits.
The plan also sets aside $150,000 each year that should cover overhead costs for the arts council, and allows the council to seek federal grants that could amount to up to $1 million a year.
Sen. Daniel Innis, R-Webster, who had been urging his GOP colleagues to support the arts, said, 'I think we are in a good spot with this change."
Reversing the House
The move is the latest of many the Senate committee has made to undo actions taken by House budget writers.
The Senate Finance Committee's action on funding for the university system would bring annual state aid to the system's three fpur-year colleges up to $85 million annually. Gov. Kelly Ayotte had proposed state aid each year of $91.2 million.
Carson noted the first decisions Senate budget writers made were to reverse House-approved cuts to Medicaid providers and programs for mental health and individuals with developmental disabilities.
The House spending plan also eliminated funding for the Office of the Child Advocate, the Commission on Aging, the Human Rights Commission, the Housing Appeals Board and the Board of Land and Tax Appeals.
The Senate restored all of those programs in some form, reducing the Housing Appeals Board by one member, giving the Commission on Aging a significant budget cut, and requiring the Human Rights Commission's annual report to address a critical performance audit that came out late last year.
The Senate budget would also create a one-year advisory council in the judicial branch to monitor how well the Human Rights Commission is addressing its case backlog and other administrative shortcomings that auditors found.
More action
The Senate spending plan would also use an estimated $10 million from the sale of the former Laconia State School to a private developer to purchase 1 Granite Place in Concord, an office building that houses the Department of Justice.
Concord developer and former state Republican Party Chairman Steve Duprey owns the office complex.
Also winning approval was $3.8 million in state dollars to maintain a call center that is used to help the Department of Health and Human Services make timely decisions on Medicaid eligibility for nursing home placements.
The call center opened a few years ago with the support of federal American Rescue Plan Act grant money that is no longer available, state officials said.
Brendan Williams, chief executive officer of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, said nearly all private nursing homes are facing critical cash shortages as they wait months for potential residents to be approved for admission.
Nursing home executives have agreed to a state fee increase to help support the effort.
'We think this is the means to give the department the resources to timely make these critical decisions for our industry,' Williams said.
The Senate budget would also provide $500,000 in state grants for family planning programs that generate roughly double that amount in federal support.
Finance Committee Chairman James Gray, R-Rochester, said his panel will make final votes on its budget proposal next Tuesday.
A key decision still to be made is whether to grant $28 million each year in pension benefit enhancements for first responders with government jobs who had their retirements cut by a 2011 reform law.
klandrigan@unionleader.com
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