Portsmouth Herald- "Poorly vetted state budget must be axed"

Portsmouth Herald columnist Rick Fabrizio urges lawmakers to reject the state budget, and the haphazard budget process that created it:

If Lynch wanted to effectively guide his Democratic-controlled Legislature, he would have called on it to focus on the budget in January instead of a slew of social issues. Pols spent three months on the death penalty, gay marriage and transgender rights, and only intensely focused on the budget in the past three weeks.

It has been suggested that the select few who guide the legislative session opened it with social issues by design, creating a buzz of involvement among residents that tapered off when it came time to focus on the budget. And what has a larger impact: A death penalty study committee, medical marijuana and gay marriage or a slew of increased taxes or fees?

Some reaction to this suggestion was that these legislative leaders were not that manipulative. Either that was the case though, or representatives and senators allowed themselves to get caught up in the passion of social issues instead of an arduous budget process that should have taken months of concentrated efforts, not weeks.

Why should the House and Senate reject this budget despite warnings from Lynch that a continuing resolution could cost the state $11 million a month? Because they failed to allow affected stakeholders to debate tax and fee increases that will have an impact on their lives and livelihoods.