Crafting budget a grueling, 4-stage process

In the Nashua Telegraph, Kevin Landrigan reports on the long and winding road of putting together New Hampshire's two-year state budget:

Gov. John Lynch took the stage first on Feb. 12, offering his two-year spending plan that employs $400 million in federal stimulus money to cushion the state from a severe recession expected to shrink state revenues this year by at least $250 million.

But legally, Lynch's work ended in preparing his 1,200-page document. The governor must wait on what the two branches of the Legislature do with his tax and spending plans.

Lynch offered a plan that in non-school state dollars spent $40 million, or 1 percent, less over the next two years.

The three-term Democrat kept promises to raise state aid to public schools $123 million in 2010 and 2011. Taken together, that translates to a 2.3 percent increase.