Yesterday Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire released an ad targeting Governor Hassan for her failure to sign a budget deal and how it is affecting the heroin abuse problem in the state. The state legislature has compromised on much of the budget yet that isn’t good enough for Hassan. She wants to increase spending and taxes, neither of which will help the state.
While Hassan continues to play ‘Veruca Salt’ with the legislature, funding for drug programs isn’t flowing as it would be had the budget been passed. This has been going on for months now. Hassan’s original budget was not only irresponsible but it was unaffordable. The legislature’s budget that was presented also increased spending but just not as much as Hassan’s.
The problem is by holding up the budget, Hassan is also holding up funding to fight the ever-growing heroin problem in the Granite State. It’s seems there are several reports a week of people either being caught using or selling heroin. The legislature passed a budget that doubled funding to fight the heroin problem with prevention, treatment and recovery.
Watch the ad here:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOlsEfPvTVw]
According to the Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire press release:
The New Hampshire Legislature passed a budget that would have doubled prevention, treatment, and recovery funding to $6.7 million, allowing the state to begin investing in recovery programs that the state is sorely lacking. Regrettably,Governor Maggie Hassan vetoed the budget in June, and has since only supported budget proposals that include increases in taxes and fees. Thus, due to her veto, Granite Staters have been forced to suffer as the state operates under a continuing resolution that does not include necessary funding for the required programs and services.
David Lang, head of Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire has come to Hassan’s aid against the ad. They are a union organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO that has long supported Hassan as well as most Democrats on the ballot. For a union organization to say something shouldn’t be politicized is almost amusing. This is a serious issue and it should be known across the state that Governor Hassan is single-handedly holding up funding that could indeed help save lives.
In response to the union’s demand they take down the ad, Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire released another statement that they stand by the ad and will not be taking it down. They cite the clear effectiveness the ad is having along with the politics that Governor Hassan is playing by continuing to stand by her budget veto.
When contacted for a comment, Derek Dufresne, Partner and Co-Founder of RightOnStrategies said the following:
While Granite Staters are suffering, Governor Maggie Hassan has been playing politics with the budget process all summer. The harm that her stonewalling has caused the state is why even her Democratic predecessor, former Governor John Lynch, decided against vetoing a state budget. We stand by our ad and call on Governor Maggie Hassan to finally do the right thing. It is time for her to stop blocking the funds that are so important in the fight against New Hampshire’s tragic drug epidemic and sign the budget.
On September 16th the legislature will once again be in session. First up will be veto overrides. It will be up to the legislature to override Governor Hassan’s veto but as is par for the course, most Democrats will just go along with what their party bosses tell them rather than considering the impact on their constituents. Heroin is a frightening and serious issue in New Hampshire that is growing on a daily basis. Governor Hassan is 100% responsible for allowing it to continue to grow because of her unreasonable and partisan demands.
Cross posted from Examiner
