The New Hampshire Senate’s budget writers seem to have taken their jobs a little more seriously than their colleagues in the New Hampshire House. But only a little.
Gone from the Senate version of the budget is the 30-cents per thousand tax hike on the sale of property. The Senate appears to have pared down the “trucker tax” hike as well as the cigarette tax hike. And while the final tally had not been calculated as of the time Norma Love of the Associated Press filed her story, it appears the Senate budget holds back on spending increases a bit.
But it’s hardly all good news.
Senators plan to increase the tax on your phone bill. They also appear to be tinkering with court fees. And then there’s this:
Despite the spending reductions, the committee found $2 million at the last minute to pay for incontinence supplies for about 1,000 poor adults. The state already pays for the supplies for children ages 2-21, but stops after that unless they are in a nursing home.
I don’t mean to be indelicate, but did someone shove a $2 million appropriation for adult diapers into the state budget? Yep:
Sen. Maggie Hassan, who has a disabled child, urged her colleagues to find the money to cover the costs and support a bill to require coverage. The state will save money over time by helping prevent skin ulcers and other costly medical issues caused by incontinence, she said.
How much you wanna bet we don’t “save money over time” on this?
Curiously, the money for the adult diapers appears to have come out of spending commitments for higher education:
The Senate plan also rolled a number of agency budgets back to the lower levels recommended by the Lynch — notably the community technical colleges and university system. … That was a reduction of $2 million and $3 million respectively.
I have argued for some time now that the Democrats in the legislature have badly misunderstood their mandate from the 2006 election and that their priorities are out of whack.
More soon …