Expanded gambling not always sure thing

Kevin Landrigan leads off his weekly column in the Nashua Telegraph by reporting a glitch in the proposal to put video slot machines at the state's racetracks.

As it turns out, VLT gaming appears to meet the definition of a state lottery game. Voters approved more than a decade ago an amendment to the state Constitution which says that all profit from lottery games has to go to education.

For the layman, the essential difference is that at a VLT, all players are competing for one big jackpot. Theoretically at least, two people sitting next to one another playing a slot machine can win the jackpot at the same time.

Gaming Commission Chairman Andrew Lietz has confirmed that he would be asking Attorney General Michael Delaney’s office for a legal opinion on this subject.

Lots of other good stuff in the column, as always.

New Hampshire may have to lift Charter School moratorium to get federal aid

Kevin Landrigan reports on the Nashua Telegraph that New Hampshire officials are applying for $75 million in federal funds from the Department of Education, but might not qualify unless it lifts its Charter School moratorium.

It’s likely some state education laws will have to be changed for the state to become eligible, the state educators said.

The state has a moratorium on additional, state-created charter schools. New charter schools can still open up in the state as long as they are first approved by local voters.

The Race to the Top law encourages charter schools; Barry said existing federal advisories have warned states against having any caps on charter schools.

Maine is not eligible to apply for any of the money because there are no charter schools in that state, Barry said.

State backing loan for Claremont newspaper

Further down in Kevin Landrigan's Sunday column is a note on a the Executive Council backing a loan for the new owners of the Claremont Eagle Times.

Sign of the Times

The council approved a state guarantee loan of up to $250,000 for the new publishers of the resurrected Claremont Eagle Times.

The loan is for working capital for Eagle Printing and Publishing, the company linked to the Pennsylvania media group that emerged as the suitor after its previous ownership sought bankruptcy protection four months ago.

The lenders will pay an interest rate of 5 percent for the first year and following that, the prime lending rate plus 1.25 percent.

For its part, the guarantee makes the state liable for up to 75 percent of any amount on which the group defaults.

Putting New Hampshire taxpayers on the hook for a private business is a fundamentally bad idea, especially since the loan is at the whim of elected officials rather than through an independant revolving loan fund. The implications of a newspaper existing because of the generosity of politicians is even more disturbing.

Watchdogs sound alarm on spending

Kevin Landrigan writes up yesterday's "Stop the Spending Summit", featuring some of the leading state budget experts in New Hampshire who are also my boss.

Charles Arlinghaus, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, said lawmakers in 2012-13 face a shortfall of $637 million when one-time stimulus grants totaling $550 million go away as well as other one-time fixes.

To close the current budget, lawmakers deeply cut aid to cities and towns for revenue sharing and retirement costs but those get restored after July 1, 2011.

“That’s the starting problem for the budget next year,” Arlinghaus said. “I don’t know how many of you have decided to run for re-election or not; God help you.”

Health care for public retirees could be reality

Kevin Landrigan reports in his Nashua Telegraph column on a move to set up permanent health care subsidies for retired municipal workers.

The New Hampshire Commission to Propose a Retiree Health Care Benefits Funding Model – that’s a mouthful – took a big leap last week toward finding a viable way to help public retirees get health care from somewhere other than Medicare.

It’s no longer an academic debate. Thanks to the plummeting assets of the New Hampshire Retirement System, the days of a medical subsidy helping to pay some of the coverage costs for retirees are fast disappearing.

By one insider’s estimate, the subsidy no longer applies to as many as half of the existing 52,000 public employees who one day will need health coverage after they’ve ceased working.

State tries to justify $110m seizure

Kevin Landrigan summarizes yesterday's oral arguments in the JUA Lawsuit.

David Leslie, a Boston lawyer representing Attorney General Michael Delaney, said the policyholders had no vested right to the surplus and the Legislature could take at least some of it to support spending on access to health care.

“Do the policyholders have a vested right? They don’t,’’ Leslie argued.

But Kevin Fitzgerald, lead lawyer for the parties that sued the state, said politicians in Concord took the money without any legal foundation.

‘’You can’t take that which doesn’t belong to you, neither can you supplant the plain contractual rights of others,’’ Fitzgerald answered.

State union employees hit hard by job cuts

In the Nashua Telegraph, Kevin Landrigan takes a personal look at the impact of layoffs on state employees.

Worried about the jobs of his co-workers, state Revenue Operations Officer Bill Champagne said Monday he voted for a pending labor contract, that if approved, would have cost him $3,300 in unpaid furlough days.

On Tuesday, Champagne, 63, listened in stunned disbelief while being told he was one of seven Department of Revenue employees to be let go.

“I was just flabbergasted. I would have bet the farm I was the last one to go and that would have been after the commissioner,” Champagne said. “I am just devastated. It does bring your self-worth and self-esteem down to zero.

Lynch Layoff Roundup

In the Telegraph, Kevin Landrigan says Governor John Lynch is moving forward with plans to lay off 250 workers and demote 60 more.

Some of the savings will occur through the elimination of vacant jobs that are paid for in the existing $11.5 billion state budget, Lynch told reporters.

The three-term Democratic chief executive said some employees at all levels of authority will be let go, but whole agencies and specific jobs solely paid for with federal or other nonstate dollars would be exempt from the layoff.

Many of those vacancies were already included in the budget, which extended the partial hiring freeze imposed by Lynch in February 2008.

Shira Schoenberg gets reaction from the head of the State Employees Association in the Monitor.

"Services are going to go unprovided," said SEA President Gary Smith. "Kids are going to go unprotected. Elderly are going to freeze. And we're going to be able to say this didn't have to happen. . . . This happened because the governor didn't recognize the need and didn't give the resources to it."

Smith said the union is considering whether it has any legal avenue to challenge the layoffs.

He added that after the vote, Lynch had little choice.

"(Lynch) built his own political box," Smith said. "He had nowhere to go but to show that he's tough and can follow through on his threat."

In the Union Leader, Tom Fahey reports that the cuts will come from departments funded with state General Fund dollars.

Lynch would not specify what government agencies will be hit. Only jobs that will save the state money will be cut, he said.

That means layoffs are unlikely at the Department of Employment Security, which is federally funded. Banking, Insurance and the Public Utilities Commission appear safe, too, since they run on fees from companies they regulate.

Many Safety and Transportation jobs rely on highway funds, not general tax revenues. Safety Commissioner John Barthelmes told his workers in a memo yesterday "there will be no layoffs" in his department.

Sunday Column Rundown

Kevin Landrigan in the Nashua Telegraph- Lots of political stuff in there, but he does predict that state employees will narrowly approve the contract deal voted on last week.

With seniority playing a major part in who would get laid off, many state workers in these departments have a pretty good understanding whether they’re under the knife or free and clear even if the layoff is carried out.

With 6,800 voting, that means a super-majority of those casting ballots will enter the exercise expecting that if they vote the contract down, they’ll still have a job.

Then what drives them: the naked self-interest of not having to do without an estimated 3.5 percent of pay that comes with furloughs or the compassion that would oppose throwing any state worker out on the street in this tough economy?

I've predicted they vote down the contract when votes are counted tomorrow, so one of us will be right, and one of us will pretend this never happened.

Capital Beat in the Concord Monitor- pretty much all politics this week, focusing largely on the 2nd CD.

Under the State House Dome in the Union Leader- not online yet.

City Hall in the Union Leader- requiring city department heads to live within city limits, and lots of stuff about the upcoming city election.

Top lawmakers join in backing taking

Kevin Landrigan reports in the Nashua Telegraph on the Amicus Brief filed last week by Democratic legislative leaders in the JUA Lawsuit.

Among the legal arguments was the assertion that taking the money from the Joint Underwriting Association was not simply to balance the two-year state budget but to preserve state programs that make health care more accessible.

Lawyers for Lakes Region Hospital, Derry Medical Center and Dr. Georgia Tuttle had characterized using the surplus as a “money grab.” “There is nothing superficial about what is at stake, and that it can be asserted the public policy interests involved are more than merely financial ones,” Frydman wrote.

Senate Republican Leader Peter Bragdon, of Milford, saw no point in GOP opponents of this JUA move preparing their legal arguments.

“There are plenty of capable parties making our assertion we first made early on that taking this money was in violation of the state Constitution,” Bragdon said.

Sunday Column Rundown

Yesterday's political columns were, well, political. But they did report some on state policy as well.

Under the State House Dome, Tom Fahey writes about the upcoming SEA vote on the state contract, and some problems the union has had getting the ballots out properly.

SEA leaders are downplaying the errors that led to some members getting more than one ballot. Spokesman Mike Barwell said a problem with an address label printer led to some duplicate envelopes being sent out. In other cases, two ballots got stuck together and went into a single envelope.

Best reckoning by SEA is that 16 duplicate envelopes went out, and that 40 or 50 people got double ballots.

"At worst it amounts to .008 percent of the membership -- statistically pretty insignificant," Barwell said.

Fahey also writes about the upcoming Veto Day in the Legislature, with the medical marijuana bill drawing the most attention, and on our recent study on vanity license plates.

In the Monitor's Capital Beat column, Shira Schoenberg reports that the State Employees Association is pointing to the large number of vacancies in state positions as an alternative to furlughs or layoffs.

The Legislature has mandated that Lynch find $25 million in personnel savings. "It's hard to believe that the governor can't find $25 million of general fund monies somewhere in that 123-page list of vacant positions," the State Employees' Association said in an e-mail to its supporters last week. Jay Ward, SEIU political director, said the state should examine unfilled positions before resorting to layoffs.

Ward said the list proves that state employees have already taken a hit. "For every person that doesn't get hired, we're picking up the slack for all of those unfilled positions," Ward said. Lynch is asking state employees to give up another $25 million, Ward said, but "how much has he already taken in personnel cuts?"

The vacancies won't save the day for the SEA. Many are not funded with General Funds, where the $25 million in savings has to be found, many are unfunded already in the budget, and more importantly, many have already been counted in the budget. We've done extensive reporting on the Executive Order hiring freeze put in place in February 2008. Those savings have been built into the Legislature's plans, and can't be tapped again. Schoenberg also writes about the 680 House bills filed for next year's session.

In the Nashua Telegraph, Kevin Landrigan writes on the SEA's vacancy argument, the dispute over whether state agencies should have emailed an op-ed on the contract to employees, and the latest news on state revenues.

Tax, fee revenues $26m short

Kevin Landrigan reports in the Nashua Telegraph that state revenues at the end of September are short of the budget plan, but not as bad as they could have been.

Administrative Services Commissioner Linda Hodgdon said she took some solace September was a big revenue month, and the state’s revenue shortfall of $8.5 million was smaller than the one in July and August combined.

“We knew going into this we were going to see some negatives at the beginning of the year, and hopefully, we will see more positive going into the next calendar year,” Hodgdon said.

Senate Republican Leader Peter Bragdon, of Milford, said the shortfall will be a challenge for lawmakers but is smaller than had been feared to this point.

“We still take issue with the last minute decision when they put this budget together to raise revenue estimates by $75 million. I think we need to get later into the year to know for sure whether these estimates will hold up or not,” Bragdon said.

In the Concord Monitor, Shira Schoenberg says the state budget is showing some encouraging signs.

Colin Manning, spokesman for Gov. John Lynch, attributed the fall-off from predictions to the economy. "Revenue numbers from September show the economy continues to struggle, which is why we have to continue to watch revenues and spending very closely," Manning said.

But overall, the numbers were positive for the state.

Last month, Republicans raised alarms when revenue predictions fell $17 million short in a month that was expected to bring in just $111 million. But this month, even Senate Republican Leader Peter Bragdon was satisfied.

"Next month, October is supposed to be another high month and if that kind of performance can repeat, things will look on a better footing," Bragdon said. "It's certainly a very positive sign."

Confusion over rail plan in Nashua

The Nashua Telegraph runs a pair of stories on transportation plans in the city. Tom West reports on Tuesday's public hearing on the Ten Year Transportation Improvement Plan.

Just before polling the audience, District 5 Executive Councilor Debora Pignatelli had asked Department of Transportation Commissioner George Campbell when residents could expect the see the trains rolling.

Although he prefaced his answer with talk about the uncertainties surrounding the project, mostly how the state would pay for it, he answered, “2011.”

“You heard it here,’’ Pignatelli said. “2011.” The meeting was held in the City Hall auditorium Tuesday to discuss major transportation projects in the region with state officials and representatives from the Nashua Regional Planning Commission.

While Kevin Landrigan writes up Wednesday's announcement that the state would not be applying for federal funding for the project.

“The competition for this money is too intense. The federal government made it clear to us if there is no operating agreement, there’s no point in making an application or the state just loses its credibility for the future,” Campbell said.

High-speed projects totaling $102 billion have already applied for these limited dollars. The deadline to apply is Friday.

This setback has Campbell placing a renewed look at bringing rail service back first only to the Massachusetts state line in Nashua next to the Pheasant Lane Mall.

State will make cuts to Medicaid, welfare

Kevin Landrigan reports on cutbacks at HHS stemming from low-ball caseload estimates written into the state budget.

The state’s health and human services chief says Medicaid and state welfare assistance spending will have to be cut because the recession has caused caseloads to rise above estimates made only four months ago.

Health & Human Services Commissioner Nick Toumpas said that unless spending adjustments are made, the Medicaid and Transitional Assistance to Needy Families programs together will spend $10 million more than their budget this year.

“Our belief is that what we need to do as an agency is look at taking further cost containment measures,” Toumpas told the Legislative Fiscal Committee on Tuesday.

Political fallout from SEA Contract Mess

In the Sunday columns, both Kevin Landrigan and Tom Fahey look at the political fallout of the State Employees Association contract squabble.

In his column, Landrigran reports that union negotiator Diana Lacey says state workers are looking out for New Hampshire residents and not just their paychecks.

SEA chief negotiator Diana Lacey said that in casting their votes, employees will have the proper delivery of state services on their minds as much as their own finances.

"Therein lies the struggle that has far more to do with a long-term issue state employees have been living with, but for which the public is essentially unaware,'' she wrote in an op-ed piece released Friday.

Under the State House Dome, Fahey writes that the contract isn't the only choice facing union members.

This isn't the only big vote coming up for SEA, either. On Oct. 24, about 400 union delegates will gather in Nashua to vote for SEA president, second vice president and secretary. The last time President Gary Smith was elected, the results were challenged. The new vote is the negotiated outcome of a complaint to the U.S. Department of Labor that Smith used a delegate contact list he withheld from other candidates.

The union also faces a renewed effort by the New England Police Benevolent Association to woo corrections officers away from SEA. The group already voted once to join NEPBA, but the results were thrown out because of problems in timing of the organizing petition.

Connecticut passes New Hampshire in property tax burden

The main argument made by supporters of a broadbased income tax is that it would ease the burden on local property taxpayers. Yet Kevin Landrigran reports in the Nashua Telegraph that the last two states to institute an income tax, New Jersey and Connecticut, both have higher property taxes than the Granite State.

The Tax Foundation reported that Connecticut displaced New Hampshire as the second-highest taxed state in the region; Connecticut property taxes in 2008 totaled $4,603 compared to New Hampshire's total of $4,501 last year.

New Hampshire had been second highest over each of the last five years, according to the group's analysis.

New Jersey led the nation as it has for more than a decade with an average property tax bill of $6,320 per household.

This isn't to say that property taxes in New Hampshire aren't high, or a tough burden for home and business owners. But you don't lower taxes by raising taxes.

Sunday Columns

Shira Schoenberg's Capitol Beat in the Concord Monitor: lots of politics.

Tom Fahey's Under the State House Dome in the Union Leader: not online. Is it in the print edition?

Kevin Landrigan in the Nashua Telegraph: lots of politics, but he also provides some behind the scenes reporting on the negotiations going into the state employees' new contract proposal.

Negotiating tactics

How tough did Lynch have to get in order to gain agreement on a final contract with the State Employees Association?

Answer: Not very. It's clearly in SEA's best interest to reach a deal on furloughing state workers to avoid what would have been as many as 500 employee layoffs.

SEA President Gary Smith was under some pressure as an ex-corrections officer who was trying to deliver for his members a pay increase to make up for the loss of 15 minutes of daily overtime pay they had been getting for a morning briefing.

But Lynch couldn't and wouldn't go along with a pay increase for a small group at the same time he was making more than 10,000 state workers put up with the equivalent of a 6 percent pay cut by taking 19 days off without pay over the next 21 months.

Lynch gave up making all workers join a point-of-service health plan that would have reduced the state's administrative costs. In exchange, the union accepted one more furlough day.

Price of health coverage rises 4.3 times faster than earnings

Kevin Landrigan writes in the Nashua Telegraph on federal studies showing health insurance premiums sky-rocketing in the Granite State.

The sources for both studies, the left-leaning Families USA and the Obama administration, used the results to promote pending legislation in Congress to offer universal health care coverage.

"Our findings are clear. Health coverage is suddenly becoming too costly for New Hampshire's working families,'' the Families USA report concluded.

Average, annual premiums rose 92 percent to $14,448 last year compared to $7,525 in 2000.

Meanwhile, wages during the same period of the Families USA study rose only 21 percent to $33,003 up from $27,226.

The New Hampshire Legislature last year dramatically increased its interference in the health insurance market, creating a "public option" style plan written by state bureaucrats, and increasing mandated coverage requirements. Not surprisingly, premiums went up dramatically. Now, the same advocates who drove prices sky-high are calling on even greater government intervention to bring them down.

NH looks to cut inmate recidivism

Kevin Landrigan reports in the Nashua Telegraph on state efforts to cut the rate of which released prisoners re-offend.

Gov. John Lynch said the 44 percent rate – measured by the percentage of inmates who commit a crime or violate parole and land back behind bars within three years of release – is unacceptable. The grant of up to $700,000 in cost and three years in length will analyze state correction policies and the criminal code for possible solutions, Lynch said.

"To make New Hampshire safer and to reduce correction costs, we must do more to ensure that released offenders become productive and contributing members of our state, and not commit new crimes," Lynch said at a news conference to announce the grant.

Travel Spending Rises

Yesterday, Kevin Landrigan noted in his Nashua Telegraph column that the travel budget for the New Hampshire House has jumped quite a bit despite limits on out-of-state travel in the Executive Branch.

Norelli defended the fact that despite the economic downturn, spending on legislative travel went up by about $25,000 over the last year.

Norelli noted that while travel budgets may have grown smaller in other states, those lawmakers get hefty salaries, compared with the $100 annual pay here, and they have large campaign war chests from which they can finance junkets.

The Portsmouth Democrat also noted that since she has taken over the House, she has made sure that the majority party didn't dominate the taxpayer-financed journeys. Republicans aren't getting half the travel money, but it's more than 40 percent of what's been spent, which is in keeping with their representation in the Legislature.

By contrast, several of Norelli's predecessors made a career out of doling out nearly all of the travel money to members of their own party.

Well, as long as everyone is spending our money for out-of-state travel, I guess that makes it alright.