Bruce Berke, Sheehan Phinney Capitol Group

If playing Sodoku or putting together jigsaw puzzles is your favorite hobby and you happen to enjoy the development of public policy, then this past week would have been Nirvana for you.

While the Governor delivered her budget address last week, much of what took place this week was driven by the initiatives she set forth in her proposal. Most of the intrigue focused on revenues and who was supporting which methodology to accomplish the proposals put forth last week.

First, there was the road toll or more commonly described as the gas tax. In her address, the Governor did not have a specific solution but indicated that she would entertain responsible approaches to maintaining our highways. A House bill called for a gas tax increase of 12 cents over three years plus an increased fee for the vehicle registrations but was amended in committee to drop the registration fee and add .03 to the overall increase bringing the tax to .33 after 3 years.  However, the Senate Finance Chair called that idea irresponsible as Senator Morse prefers to fund our highway infrastructure with revenues from expanded gambling. Others have different ideas for how that money may be spent. Competing interests for the same dollars. 

Speaking of gambling, it was difficult at times to know who was for gambling expansion and who was against it unless you had a program!  Leading off in support of expanded gambling was Governor Hassan. With her no broad base tax pledge, the Governor is somewhat hamstrung to find the necessary revenues to fund the initiatives outlined in the budget. If gambling expansion does not pass, then all bets are off on the budget and the potential of other revenue sources being tapped.  

Because the Governor's support for gambling is limited to one high-end, destination resort, some of the usual suspects that would normally be 100 percent behind expanded gambling were either opposed or at a minimum throwing a lot of rocks at the bill introduced by Senators Morse and D'Allesandro. Who wants to be the lucky winner? Well, at the top of the list is Rockingham Park. Close behind is a group from Hudson that want to develop a resort and conference center and at their side is the New Hampshire Motor Speedway that suggests its facility will be the greatest draw of all potential sites. As proposed, the bill sends money to many different sectors of governments in order to attract as much support for the bill. But as mentioned above, already a schism has emerged between the House and the Senate as it relates to highways and the gas tax. 

And finally, there was the tobacco tax. While there is near unanimity that the tax will increase, there appear to be differences as to how much.  First the Governor called for a hike that would increase the levy to $1.98, just .02 less than our neighboring state to the east. The House Ways & Means Committee heard a bill this week that would take the tax to $1.88 and it was sponsored by a leading Democrat on the House Finance Committee, the committee which writes the budget. Clearly, not everyone is singing from the same song sheet on this the most easily raised tax over the last 20 years. Just another example of the work that is necessary to bring the state's multi-billion dollar budget to a successful conclusion in about four months.

It is still only February and the final budget will not emerge until June. But with some of the major elements of the budget debate already receiving such high profile "looks," you can bet on many more differences of opinion and re-writes of these measures between now and June 30 when the current fiscal year concludes. Stay tuned.