TAKE ACTIONSupport a People First State Budget

• Protect investments in NH’s Child Care Scholarship Program and stabilize programs that support the child care workforce to ensure access to quality child care for working families.
  
  • The House budget does not currently include adequate investments to remove administrative barriers that currently limit access to quality, affordable child care in the Child Care Scholarship Program. 
• Maintain funding for home visiting programs and family resource centers to prevent and mitigate childhood trauma.

• Support sustainable financing for the emergency behavioral health crisis system, including the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
  
• Maintain investments in NH’s Children’s System of Care to ensure access to community- and school-based services.
  • NOTE: The House budget eliminates positions at the Department of Education responsible for implementing prevention programming in schools. The House budget also eliminates funding for the Children’s Behavioral Health Resource Center, which provides critical training for service providers across the state.

• Protect funding for the System of Care for Healthy Aging to ensure older adults have a meaningful choice in care options, including for the Choices for Independence Program.
  • NOTE: The House budget eliminates the Commission on Aging, which is essential for pragmatic planning as New Hampshire ages and does not support strong caregiver respite and senior volunteer programs.
• Strengthen programs that provide Caregiver Respite and Senior Volunteer services.
• TAKE ACTION: Save the NH Commission on Aging, which plays an important role in preparing our state to support all of our residents as we age.

• Grow NH’s health care workforce by boosting Medicaid reimbursement rates for health care providers across the state.
  
• Ensure state investments in Medicaid continue to provide access to health insurance for those who need it.
• Ensure the state is committed to lowering prescription drug costs so that all Granite Staters can stay healthy. 

NOTE: The House budget cuts Medicaid reimbursement rates by 3% and freezes loan repayment and other workforce initiatives, which will further strain our health care system. It implements insurance premiums and increases co-pays for low-income Granite Staters, who can afford it least, and it defunds the Prescription Drug Affordability Board, the state’s only body dedicated to lowering drug prices for Granite Staters.

• Preserve funds for local and state public health services and protect critical programs such as NH’s Vaccine for Children program.

NOTE: The House budget eliminates all general funds dedicated to prevention, education, and cessation resources for tobacco and vaping use. The House budget also eliminates 19 enforcement positions at the NH Liquor Commission, limiting the state’s ability to conduct tobacco and alcohol compliance checks.

• Support New Hampshire’s substance use treatment network by maintaining state funding for Doorways, drug courts, and other programs across the continuum of care.
  • NOTE: The House budget eliminates treatment programs within state prison and cuts funding for the state’s Community Mental Health Program by $19 million per year, which will affect substance use and co-occurring treatment programs.
• Ensure the Alcohol Abuse Prevention and Treatment Fund (‘Alcohol Fund’) is fully funded ($10.7 million estimated) to support prevention, treatment and recovery.
  • NOTE: The House funds the Alcohol Fund with money from the state's Opioid Abatement Trust Fund. This limits approved funding to services for opioid misuse only, requiring cuts to services related to alcohol or stimulant misuse.