Committee of Conference Budget Represents Missed Opportunities to Put People First

CONCORD, N.H.—Yesterday, the joint Committee of Conference assigned to work through differences on the New Hampshire state budget bills finalized its recommendation, which represents multiple missed opportunities to put People First and invest in the health and well-being of Granite Staters. While the final budget includes some positive elements, it falls short of addressing the pressing needs of New Hampshire families and communities.

New Futures acknowledges several positive provisions of the budget, including Momnibus 2.0, which improves maternal mental health, strengthens workforce protections, expands family supports, and supports moms across New Hampshire, as well as SB 243, which streamlines the New Hampshire Child Care Scholarship for parents and providers, ensuring Granite State families have better access to the program.

However, on the whole, the budget fails to adequately address the needs of New Hampshire’s children and families, according to Michele D. Merritt, President of New Futures, New Hampshire’s leading health policy and advocacy organization. By failing to strengthen behavioral health services for children and reducing funding and supports for families on Medicaid; substance use prevention, treatment and recovery programs; and child protection services, among others, the budget proposal weakens New Hampshire’s safety net and support systems.

“Our lawmakers had an opportunity to create a budget that fully supports all Granite Staters,” Merritt said. “Instead, the overall proposal does more harm than good and falls short of what our state deserves. Throughout this budget process, lawmakers heard from Granite Staters about their priorities: access to mental health services, affordable health care, and support for families in crisis. We hope future budget discussions will better listen to these voices and prioritize the programs and services that help people thrive.”

New Futures’ Budget Concerns:

• Absence of funding for the 988 Crisis and Suicide Prevention Lifeline, missing an opportunity to strengthen mental health crisis response
• Failure to create a private-public partnership for FAST Forward wraparound services, which provide comprehensive support for children and families of children experiencing mental or behavioral challenges
• Implementation of Medicaid work requirements and increased cost-sharing that may create barriers to health care access for low-income Granite Staters
• Failure to include expansion of Medicaid Savings Plans, a missed chance to help older adults access affordable health care coverage
• Elimination of the Prescription Drug Affordability Board, removing New Hampshire's dedicated mechanism for addressing prescription drug costs
• Reduced funding for the Alcohol Fund and changing the funding structure, jeopardizing the state’s long-term support for prevention, treatment, and recovery services
• Missed opportunity to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for our healthcare system

The House and Senate are scheduled to hold final "yes or no" votes on the budget on Thursday, June 26. If both chambers approve the Committee of Conference report, the budget bills will advance to Governor Ayotte's desk for her signature or veto. If either chamber votes "no," the bills will be killed and lawmakers will be forced to return to the drawing board to craft a new budget proposal.

People First State Budget Priorities

Earlier this session, New Futures identified key priorities for lawmakers to include in the state budget. See where they stand: