Can Republicans Fix the State Budget?

at a candidate's forum (0.00 / 0)

for house candidates in NH House district 1, former (and wannebe again) speaker Gene Chandler spoke against gambling, along with his fellow candidates; Karen Umberger, Frank McCarthy, and Laurie Pettingill. McCarthy bellowed that the found gambling "disgusting."

I nearly peed myself laughing at these people who express such contempt for the nanny state, speaking against gambling. I thought they loved business and personal freedoms?


sanctimonious purist/professional lefty

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by: susanthe @ Mon Nov 15, 2010 at 18:26:28 PM CST

Great diary! n/t (0.00 / 0)

Hope > Fear




Create a free Blue Hampshire account and join the conversation.

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by: Mike Hoefer @ Mon Nov 15, 2010 at 18:29:48 PM CST

Well... (0.00 / 0)

I don't smoke or drink anyhow, let alone marijuana, but I really wouldn't have a problem with selling it at state liquor stores. But that goes back to the question of legalization, which those 'libertarians' on the right are somehow very quiet about supporting.

Only the left protects anyone's rights.

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by: RealNRH @ Mon Nov 15, 2010 at 22:10:33 PM CST

Well Yes (0.00 / 0)

Gambling causes harm, real harm, yet many favor its expansion. Meanwhile taxing legal marijuana in the state liquor stores makes probably too much sense.
It could rescue struggling farms and get the stuff under control, keep it away from kids.

Surely there must be a libertarian type Republican legislator who'd introduce this? Why should NH miss out on all this easy revenue?  

No'm Sayn?

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by: BurtCohen @ Wed Nov 17, 2010 at 14:44:53 PM CST

[ Parent ]

All Good Points, Professor Mike (4.00 / 1)

I've been in the House or Senate for 30 years, with my first House term being in 1969, and I've seen many versions of the State budget through these past decades.  

Each one is bare bones.  That doesn't necessarily mean "efficient," meaning that we COULD be more efficient in our government operations, i.e. technology, processes, and systems, and save money.  There is always built-in waste in the way we do things.

BUT, I agree with you that the Republicans coming into temporary (I emphasize that to remind us the next election is just 721 days from now!) power will not make smart changes.  They will cut programs that affect the needy and the poor, our children and our seniors.  They will gut the heart of government.  

I think our budget process has been poor.  It's been that way for too long.  Democrats inherited it.  It's not much different today than when I was on the Senate Finance Committee in the early 1980s.  

Budgets are prepared by the department heads.  The Governor receives them and approves passing them onto the House/Senate Committees.  Hearings are held.  Lobbyists and interests attend, and speak, and do their persuasion behind closed doors.  Committees make their recommendations to the entire House and Senate membership, and those members had other things to focus on so they don't get into the details of the budget much so approve, or not, what the Committees came up with.  Then the money is spent by department heads.

But those department heads are usually short-termers.  They were appointed to their positions by Governors, with the approval of the Executive Council, usually for 3 or 6 year terms of office.  Usually they haven't come to the top through the department.  Depending on their management style and their personality, they may or may not involve those lower-level employees who know what's good, and what's wrong, with the way the system has been operating.

What I think we need is a bottom-to-top review  each budget cycle of each department accomplished from within by all the employees -- everyone form the clerks and labor grade personnel to the mid-and top managers, and involve outside input from people familiar with the work of that department.  That kind of self-analysis and examination could identify the kind of "continuous improvement" needed to be more efficient.  If it sounds familiar, it's the core of the concept of "Total Quality Management," which has been widely used in many businesses and in some government systems.  

Having a statewide Citizens' Budget Commission could also go a long way toward making sure that efficiencies and streamlining of government is accomplished without gutting it.  There is a role for government in helping people, but just making budget cuts for the purpose of delivering on campaign promises isn't going to do anything else other than bring more of the same -- the kind of politics that, supposedly, the new brand of incoming politicians say they're against.

And if they do it, Democrats should yell loudly because many of our good New Hampshire citizens will be hurt.  

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by: Rep. Jim Splaine @ Tue Nov 16, 2010 at 04:57:41 AM CST

two funny details from the House calendar (4.00 / 1)

At the top of the weekly calendar, Speaker Norelli says:

Through the first quarter of the current fiscal year, expenditures in the in-state travel budget have been reduced considerably.  I thank the members for your understanding and patience as we continue holding the line on this expense by restricting travel to the State House for essential business only.  Through the remainder of November, legislative activity will continue to be restricted to Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays only; mileage will not be paid on Mondays and Fridays except for statutory committees and commissions.

Then farther down, there is a notice about a two-day series of budget hearings, held under the auspices of the Governor's office.  Check out which two days the hearings are being held on:

GOVERNOR'S BUDGET HEARING SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19

ROOMS 210-211, LOB

9:00 a.m.         Opening Session - Governor Lynch

9:10 a.m.         University System

9:40 a.m.         Department of Safety and Plumbers Board

10:05 a.m.        Racing and Charitable Gaming

10:20 a.m.        Department of Resources and Economic Development

10:40 a.m.        Pease Development Authority

10:55 a.m.        Department of Environmental Services

11:15 a.m.        Veterans' Home

11:30 a.m.        Office of Veterans' Services

11:45 a.m.        Judicial Council

1:00 p.m.         Department of Administrative Services

1:20 p.m.         Community Development Finance Authority

1:35 p.m.         Developmental Disabilities Council

1:50 p.m.         Postsecondary Education Commission

2:05 p.m.         Department of Education

2:25 p.m.         Department of Transportation

2:45 p.m.         Commission on Disabilities

3:00 p.m.         Office of Energy and Planning

3:15 p.m.         NH Retirement System

3:35 p.m.         Highway Safety Agency

3:50 p.m.         Secretary of State

                                     Real Estate Commission

                                    Accountancy Board

                                    Joint Board

                                    Boxing & Wrestling Commission

                                    Real Estate Appraisers Board

4:10 p.m.         NH Lottery Commission

4:30 p.m.         Insurance Department

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22

ROOMS 210-211, LOB

8:30 a.m.         Department of Labor

8:50 a.m.         Liquor Commission

9:10 a.m.         Public Utilities Commission

                             Consumer Advocate

9:25 a.m.         Board of Tax and Land Appeals

9:40 a.m.         Banking Commission

9:55 a.m.         Department of Employment Security

10:15 a.m.        Department of Cultural Resources

10:30 a.m.        Human Rights Commission

10:45 a.m.        Adjutant General

11:00 a.m.        Agriculture and Veterinarian Board

11:15 a.m.        Department of Justice

11:30 a.m.        Community College System of NH

11:40 a.m.        Police Standards and Training

11:45 a.m.        McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center

11:50 a.m.        Regulatory Boards & Commissions

                             Public Employees Labor Relations Board

                             Manufactured Housing Board

1:05 p.m.         Department of Corrections

1:25 p.m.         Fish and Game

1:45 p.m.         Executive Council

2:00 p.m.         Department of Health and Human Services

2:20 p.m.         Revenue Administration

2:35 p.m.         Treasury Department

2:50 p.m.         Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP)

3:05 p.m.         Department of Information Technology

3:20 p.m.         DHHS-Administratively Attached Boards

                            Medicine Board

                                    Optometry

                                    Registration in Podiatry

                                    Nursing Home Examination

                                    Allied Health Professionals

                                    Nursing Registrations

                                    Pharmacy Commission

                                    Chiropractic Examiners

                                    Cosmetology & Barbers Board

                                    Dental Board

                                    Electrolysis Board

                                    Funeral Directors & Embalmers

                                    Mental Health Practice

                                    Ophthalmic Dispenser

                                    Naturopathic Examiners

                                    Hearing Care Providers

                                    Acupuncture Board

                                    Midwifery Council

                                    Dietitians Council

                                    Alcohol and Drug Abuse Professionals

                                    Massage Therapy

 

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by: TimothyHorrigan @ Tue Nov 16, 2010 at 05:29:12 AM CST

[ Parent ]

speaking of legislative expenses (0.00 / 0)

Bill O'Brien has said publically that he wants to cut back the House's expenses 10-15%.  However, there are rumors that he wants to make some changes which would massively increase the House's operating costs: he supposedly wants to nearly double the number of standing committees and he also supposedly wants to hold many hearings in the evenings and/or on weekends outside conventional working hours.  Currently, the State House complex goes dark in the evenings and on weekends: under Norelli's leadership there weren't even any regular Wednesday sessions which ran past dinner time.  (The Senate's session days ran overtime occasionally--- but only very occasionally.)

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by: TimothyHorrigan @ Tue Nov 16, 2010 at 05:36:59 AM CST

[ Parent ]

No Such Thing as a Free Lunch (0.00 / 0)

The Republicans spend an amazing amount of time talking about how they are going to fix the deficit and lower taxes.  Of course they aren't very good at keeping this promise.  During the Bush Administration they became involved in two very expensive and unnecessary wars while at the same time lowering taxes, especially on the rich.  Even an idiot knows that if you increase expenses by billions of dollars and cut income by billions of dollars you are going to create an economic problem.  So how did the Republicans explain this embarrassing situation?  Simple, they blamed the Democrats!  It's strange but in the election of 2010; a majority of voters fell for this ridicules statement.

Speaking of ridicules statements, according to AP, U.S. Sen.-elect, God I hate to say that, Kelly Ayotte has signed a letter supporting an amendment to the Constitution requiring the president to submit a balanced budget to Congress.  Ayotte and 11 incumbent and newly elected senators are pushing for the amendment. Their proposal also would require a super majority vote in Congress to raise taxes. They also want a limit placed on federal spending.

We elect people to go to Washington to represent us in the decision making process.  So Ayotte and friends want to opt out of decision process by mandating a balanced budget and making it hard to raise taxes.  Sounds good until you realize that like any other business in an emergency government may need to increase income.  Because Ayotte, etc. doesn't think that she and the rest of the Congress can do their jobs she wants them to give up their power to make budget decisions.  So if she can't do her job, why did she run for the Senate?

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by: ProfessorMike @ Tue Nov 16, 2010 at 11:48:25 AM CST