By Terry Date
tdate@eagletribune.com
July 05, 2009 01:07 am The Legislature's Democratic majority departed little from the fiscal ways of its Republican predecessors this session, but strayed from the worn path on social questions. After 100 years of Republican control, it was only natural the Democrats would want to distinguish themselves and they did so on the social front, said Charles Arlinghaus of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy in Concord. In addition to allowing gay couples to wed, the Legislature legalized medicinal use of marijuana. This was a departure for the Legislature, Arlinghaus said. "This group, as a rule, is more willing to make changes," he said. "The obvious example is gay marriage." Lawmakers also showed a willingness to stray from a traditional reluctance to make seat-belt use mandatory. But, in the end, they stopped short of telling motorists to buckle their seat belt. When it comes to change, New Hampshire's tradition is to do nothing or nibble at the edges, Arlinghaus said. House lawmakers were more willing to depart from the fiscal norm, but, as a whole, the Legislature refused to break with traditional restraint on large revenue enhancers. Boosting the gas tax had the House's support and legalizing slot machine gambling had the Senate's support, but neither money maker had both chambers' approval. "This budget was an attempt to not do anything dramatic," Arlinghaus said. Steve Norton, director of the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies, an independent think tank in Concord, places this year's budgetary resolution in line with previous budgetary solutions. Lawmakers behaved similarly to lawmakers the last time the state faced a major fiscal struggle. In the early 1990s, as revenues shrank and shortfalls loomed, the state relied on a potpourri of revenue raisers, including increases to the rooms and meal tax and the real estate transfer tax. In addition, the state relied on hundreds of millions of enhanced federal Medicaid dollars, using the health insurance for the poor to plug budget shortfalls. This time around, the recently approved $11.5 billion budget once again relied upon a potpourri of tax and fee increases. The rooms and meals tax was increased from 8 percent to 9 percent and expanded to include to campgrounds, and a vehicle registration surcharge was added, as well as a cigarette tax increase. Once again, the state benefitted from the largesse of federal dollars, this time in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding. "In both cases, the state was not forced to make really hard revenue decisions," Norton said. "They were largely about tinkering. ... What we have experienced this year was relatively consistent with what we have historically experienced." Republican Walter Peterson, a former two-term governor and two-term speaker of the House, said the Democrats' hold on the majority will depend, in part, on how the national economy fares and how the public reacts to the variety of fee and tax increases. "The fiscal problems hit us with great force because they are national problems," the 86-year-old Peterson said. If the national and state economies get on a firmer footing, that would help boost revenues in the state and help the majority party. On the other hand, the majority party gets blamed when things don't go well. A lot of taxes have to be raised and they will serve as irritants to the people who pay them. Time will tell how the public digests the state budget, he said. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating," Peterson said. ÔÇ°ÔÇ°ÔÇ° Join the discussion. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to eagletribune.com.
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