Kevin Landrigan- Bad Luck Comes in Threes

Kevin Landrigan summarizes the legal challenges facing the New Hampshire budget in his Sunday column in the Nashua Telegraph:

There may soon be three lawsuits against Gov. John Lynch and the state Legislature over the state budget.

Superior Court Justice Kathleen McGuire is expected to rule this week on the state's use of $110 million from the Joint Underwriting Association, a quasi-public malpractice insurer of last resort the state set up in the 1970s to help doctors.

A coalition of local and county government groups is raising money for a lawsuit to challenge a reduction in the state's contribution to local and county retirement funds. State officials believe they can win that case because the state has cut its contribution before – from 40 percent to 30 percent in the 1980s.

The current budget further reduces that to 25 percent in 2010 and 20 percent in 2011.

The third suit, still in the talking stages, would challenge a requirement that all retirees younger than 65 contribute $65 a month toward their health insurance.