|
|
|
|
 HelloReturn to index of stories... |
Hello. I'm Allison McNair. Welcome to NH Outlook. |
| Intro Legislature Return to index of stories... |
Arriving at a balanced state budget promises to be a daunting task for the governor and legislature. To make the process as efficient as possible, the House and Senate have decided to hold joint budget hearings and work together as much as possible. But first, they're going to school together. Richard Ager attended class. |
| Legislature Day Return to index of stories... |
Host: Arriving at a balanced state budget promises to be a daunting task for the governor and legislature. To make the process as efficient as possible, the House and Senate have decided to hold joint budget hearings and work together as much as possible. But first, they're going to school together and Richard Ager attended class. Track: It is the first time in the history of the state that the House and Senate have formed a joint committee to tackle the budget. They're beginning the process with two weeks of in-depth orientation sessions on revenues and expenditures. bite: tape 2 12:03:25 And after the end of these 8 or 9 days where we're focusing on a variety of issues, we will have a much better understanding than we did in the past, whether new members or returning members. And we'll be able to do a better job when the governor presents his budget to us in mid-February. Soundup: tape 1 10:21:57 "By way of comparison, since history was to be part of this, this is the 1932 state revenue sources." Track: Who better to lead the class on the history of the state budget, than a veteran legislator turned policy analyst. Doug Hall spent 8 years in the legislature, working on state budgets, before leaving to found the NH Center for Public Policy Studies. Bite: tape 1 10:10:18 For all the time I worked on the budget, I never realized we were spending more money on the state hospital than on UNH/Durham. Track: Hall's presentation to the joint House/Senate Finance committee covered not only the history of the budget, but the six main areas of the budget that have grown over the past decade. Graphic; They are: Municipal aid to towns and cities, retirement system contributions, the department of corrections, medicaid provider payments, nursing homes and home nursing, and state education funding. Graphic: Municipal aid Retirement System Contributions Department of Corrections Medicaid Provider Payments Nursing Homes and Home Nursing Foundation/Adequate Education Aid Soundup: tape 1 10:25:48 Let's take a look at the revenue coming in. Track: Hall says the economy has a structural deficit, which means the overall economy has been expanding more rapidly than state revenues. That could mean legislators would have to take action just to maintain existing services. Bite: tape 1 10:37:54 Without changing services, in order to bring the revenue up, you've got to increase tax rates or create new taxes. That's in order to maintain services, Track: Hall said that NH's structural deficit has other effects. Bite: tape 1 10:38:55 It does create a regular atmosphere of crisis and stress which you are in the beginning stages of but will obviously get into a little more as it gets into March and April. Track: Of course, some representatives believe having a built-in structural deficit is not a problem at all - in fact, they see it as a plus. tape 2 11:57:32 Even though people say we have a structural deficit and we have to keep making adjustments, well, that's what we're here for. We jwouldn't really have as important a job on Ways and Means and the Finance Committee if there weren't these variations. Otherwise you could set everything and put it on a time clock and let it go. But decisions have to be constantly made because we're working on things that 10 years ago weren't really a big deal. Track: Doug Hall has seen what works - and what doesn't. And one item that has been consistently used to balance the state budget is the medicaid money known as mediscam. Standup: tape 2 12:15:07 For a short demonstration on how the mediscam works, I'll be the federal govt., Doug is the state, and Rick is the hospitals. Doug, take it away. "Okay, first we're going to tax the hospitals 6% of their gross revenues so the hospitals have to pay the state. So the state now has the money but the state has decided we're going to make grants to the hospitals for care of low-income individuals. It happens - we're going to make a grant of $1 to the hospitals. THE MONEY WENT BACK. However, that's medicaid-eligible expenditure on the state's part, and the federal govt. owes us half that expenditure so you have to pay me 50 cents. THERE YOU GO. So at the end of all this, the hospitals have what they started with, I have 50 cents I didn't have in the beginning, and you've lost 50 cents. The difference is, in NH - that's $100 million. AND THAT'S BALANCING THE BUDGET. Track: Once the joint budget hearings are done, the House will pass its budget which will go to the Senate which will pass it's own version - and then both will work to reconcile any differences, which are expected to be minimal. bite; tape 2 11:54:30 I think the effectiveness of saving agencies time of coming into the House, doing their presentation there , coming back to the Senate and doing the same presentation there - I think it's going to effectively save an awful lot of time, an awful lot of money to the stateside and we're going to be able to come to a conclusion on the House side and Senate side a lot sooner on budgets. Track: And lest you think the budget is just about numbers. Bite: tape 2 12:07;35 I learned more about what NH does by being on the Finance Committee and being involved in the budget process than I think have learned serving in any other capacity in the state. If you really want to know who gets what and how the pie is divided; if you really want to know what things are done from the environment to human services to education - you really need to be involved in the budget. Because it's not just superficial here. We get down to the nitty-gritty. We can't make generalized statements in the budget. We have to talk about specific dollars for specific programs, whether it's couple of thousands of dollars or hundreds of millions of dollars. And the programs that we look at vary in those dimensions. It's a very extraordinary opportunity to learn about what this state does and how the people of this state have organized themselves and want the govt. to do some things for them, but for the most part really prefer to keep for themselves much of what goes on in their lives. And not have govt. involved in those areas. Track: Of course, there was one piece of advice from Doug Hall that not everyone may adopt. Bite: tape 1 10:39:37 The other comment I would make is, because this is a natural part of the way we have structured the budget process, if everybody just acknowledged it and said, that's what we're doing - those are the advantages and disadvantages, we acknowledge that - budget deficits shouldn't be used as a political weapon to bludgeon each other - it's your fault, it's your fault - it's actually everybody's fault. Track: For NH Outlook, I'm richard Ager. |
| Intro Discussion Return to index of stories... |
Joining us now. Representative Peter Burling, Peter is the House Minority leader and House Majority Leader, Representative David Hess. Thank you both for joining us. |
| Intro Anemones Return to index of stories... |
New Hampshire's small businesses are the backbone of the state's economy. And in this next story, you'll see how diverse these businesses can be. Producer Susan Hajdu introduces us to a family who has found a niche in the wholesale trade. They're growing their business one flower at a time. |
| Anemones Return to index of stories... |
Shot of greenhouse exterior/dissolve to interior |
| Tag Anemones Return to index of stories... |
New England Anemones' Gary Matterson is the chair of New Hampshire Stories, a program inspired to differentiate New Hampshire's products and services in the marketplace. The New Hampshire Stories program promotes the people, products, and services of New Hampshire. You can visit their website at n-h made- dot-com |
| Tomorrow Return to index of stories... |
On the next New Hampshire Outlook - It's our Friday Edition as journalists from around the Granite state discuss the week's top stories. |
| Goodnight Return to index of stories... |
That's it for this edition of our program. For all of us here at New Hampshire Public Television, I'm Ally McNair. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time on New Hampshire Outlook. |
| founders Return to index of stories... |
Thanks to our founding sponsors who have provided major funding for the production of New Hampshire Outlook: New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Public Service of New Hampshire Alice J. Reen Charitable Trust Putnam Foundation Stratford Foundation |
| WEB PROMO Return to index of stories... |
Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. It's our Friday Edition as journalists from around the Granite state discuss the week's top stories. Tonight at 10pm on New Hampshire Public Television. |
| key: State Politics / Government Return to index of stories... |
NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 1/16/03 22:00 HOST: Allison McNair Length: 19:33 minutes In this edition of New Hampshire Outlook, NHPTV's nightly news magazine, we wrap up the week in the legislature with the capitol roundup and we here from both sides of the aisle. We began with a package about the budget. Arriving at a balanced state budget promises to be a daunting task for the governor and legislature. To make the process as efficient as possible, the House and Senate have decided to hold joint budget hearings and work together as much as possible. But first, they're going to school together. In studio with us this week Representative Peter Burling, Peter is the House Minority leader and House Majority Leader, Representative David Hess. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Rep. Neal Kurk\Chair, House Finance Committee, Doug Hall\NH Center for Public Policy Studies, Rep. Ken Weyler\R - Kingston, Sen. Ted Gatsas\R - District 16, Rep. Peter Burling\NH House Minority Leader, Rep. David Hess\NH House Majority Leader |
| key: Economy / Business Return to index of stories... |
NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 1/16/03 22:00 HOST: Allison McNair Length: 5:00 minutes In this edition of New Hampshire Outlook, NHPTV's nightly news magazine, we wrap up our pogram with our continuing series, Growing in New Hampshire. New Hampshire's small businesses are the backbone of the state's economy. And in this next story, you'll see how diverse these businesses can be. Producer Susan Hajdu introduces us to a family who has found a niche in the wholesale trade. They're growing their business one flower at a time. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Susan Hajdu NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Gary Matteson\New England Anemones, Sabrina Matteson\New England Anemones |
| key: Environment Return to index of stories... |
NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 1/16/03 22:00 HOST: Allison McNair Length: 5:00 minutes In this edition of New Hampshire Outlook, NHPTV's nightly news magazine, we wrap up our program with our continuing series, Growing in New Hampshire. New Hampshire's small businesses are the backbone of the state's economy. And in this next story, you'll see how diverse these businesses can be. Producer Susan Hajdu introduces us to a family who has found a niche in the wholesale trade. They're growing their business one flower at a time. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Susan Hajdu NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Gary Matteson\New England Anemones, Sabrina Matteson\New England Anemones |
| Tonight 10:00 Return to index of stories... |
Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. Join us tonight at 10:00 only on New Hampshire Outlook. |