The finer points of a proposed $2.796 billion two-year general fund budget for New Hampshire will be presented to lawmakers today by the House Finance Committee, in advance of a full House vote later this week.
The budget is split into two parts, House Bills 1 and 2. Generally speaking, HB 1 (weighing in at 862 pages) is a massive spreadsheet whose lists include revenue estimates, job cuts, and spending plans. Its counterpart, HB 2, is the nuts and bolts bill detailing a host of statute repeals, executive branch reorganizations, fee reduction explanations and many other matters.
The Finance Committee’s amended 2012-2013 budget recommendations have been posted and are linked here for your viewing. It’s pretty dense material, so if you’d like to dig in, we suggest starting with a helpful 152-point amended analysis at the bottom HB 2. There is also a lengthy amended analysis beginning at Page 802 for HB 1.
We’ll continue researching these budget documents and what they mean for New Hampshire households. In the meantime, here are a few notable points from HB 2:
- Proposed retirement system changes (pp. 46-73)
- Disallowing the Department of Justice from using any funds to take up legal action against the Legislature (p. 90)
- A provision to strip all local and state public employees of collective bargaining protection when a contract expires. Workers would be ‘at will’ at the end of their contracts, subject to wage and benefit guidelines at the employer’s discretion (p. 135)
- Abolishing of the Department of Cultural Resources (p. 84)
- A measure to “Encourage law enforcement personnel to assist, whenever possible, the traveling public by providing them with a hospitable reception and appropriate information” (p. 104)
>> Presentation by House Finance Committee on its 2012-2013 budget recommendations, Representatives Hall at the State House, Tuesday, March 29, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord.