NH House Ignores ITL and Supports More Local Budget Transparency - Granite Grok

NH House Ignores ITL and Supports More Local Budget Transparency

Dollars

This is not the sort of thing you expect from your Democrat-majority legislature, but we’re fans of giving credit when it is due. And it is due. HB1460 is a budget bill that incorporates line item detail at the local level. The Committee panned it 10-8, but the full House did something amazing.

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HB1460, “requires governing bodies and budget committees of municipalities, districts, and school administrative units to use full line item detail in active spreadsheet format for all budgets.”

The committee voted the bill Inexpedient to Legislate. It went to the floor of the house will a kill order. But the House had other ideas. It voted to relabel the bill Ought to Pass and proceeded to approve it by a vote of 281 to 8.

Even with all 111 missing Reps in our 400 seat Legislature voting on the final vote still passes. That is an impressive effort to add detail and transparency to local budgets and spending.

As a reader noted this bill, “the governing body will provide elected officials with the budget in full line item detail in active spreadsheet format. They will be able to see the actual beak down pure transparency, no more rubber stamp.”

This won’t guarantee that folks will actually look, but that’s not the purpose. The idea (seems to me to be) to provide details to policy and decision-makers who answer to voters. And to make those numbers available so people can ask questions and challenge spending decisions.

That’s always a good thing.

At some point, this will move to the State Senate but no word on when the legislature will reconvene. We encourage you to reach out to them and offer your support.

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