Is this a sucker’s bet? That Maggie is already set to ratchet up the spending (and the taxes to support them) – and this is the excuse she’ll use (emphasis mine)?
CONCORD – Gov.-elect Maggie Hassan issued an upbeat but sobering call for agency heads to lower their expectations as hearings on a new, two-year state budget commenced Monday.
In their initial budget requests, state administrators asked for a 26 percent increase in total spending to a record $11.97 billion for the cycle that begins June 30.
Spending from state tax and fee sources alone would go up 19 percent, to $3.3 billion, if those who run state departments get their way.
Earlier this month, Hassan won election to replace retiring Gov. John Lynch vowing to undo deep cuts in state aid for higher education and acute care hospitals.
That rise in spending will pretty much erase the downsizing of the State’s budget during Speaker O’Brien’s tenure.
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