Policy Blog NH

Thinking About a Local Option Meals And Rooms Tax

State government is on the path to giving cities and towns the ability to add a local levy to the state's meals and rooms tax, as an offset to reduced state revenue sharing.  If towns want to raise an amount equal to the reduced aid from the state, the local levy will be very different from town to town.

by Dennis Delay and Steve Norton

Health Care Reform: What We Know About Medicaid and Uninsured Adults in NH

What do we know about health care reform and its impacts?  Every policy analyst is trying to understand this piece of federal legislation and answers are not simple nor straightforward. 

Town Meeting Time Again

The New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies is again partnering with New Hampshire Public Radio on their 2010 Town Meeting website.  Town historic spending and revenue is available on our website.  We also have information available on SB2.  One frequent question we get is:  What share of New Hampshire local governance follows the traditional town meeting format? 

Deficits, the Federal Budget and the NH State Budget

The Center recently made a presentation to the House Finance Committe on the status of the 2010-2011 budget, highlighting major uncertainty regarding critical aspects of that budget.  The Obama adminsitration's proposed budget represents the second blow (following on the heels of the JUA deicision) to the stability of the current 2010-2011 New Hamsphrie state budget.   How does President Obama's unveiling of the administration's proposed budget -- and estimates of the potential federal deficit -- change the landscape for budget makers? 

Better news and bad news on the State Budget

First the bad news.  Today the New Hampshire Supreme Court determined that the State could not have $110 million in a medical malpractice insurance fund (JUA).  Originally proposed by the Governor a year ago as one way to help fund the state budget, the Court affirmed a lower court decision barring the state from access to the fund.  Read the Court decision here.

The better news is

Looking Toward the Next Budget Conversation

Interest in the state budget is increasing as the next legislative session approaches.  Steve Norton talked about the state budget recently with the BIA’s Economic Development and Fiscal Policy Committee.  You can find the presentation at http://bit.ly/6HP4xH.  States across the country are also having these conversations.  

What Do November Estimates of State Revenue Mean?

For the twelve months ending November 2009, New Hampshire revenues destined for the General Fund and Education Trust Fund are 3.6% less than for the twelve months ending a year earlier.   What does that mean for the future?  Given the difficulty of predicting anything about the economy right now, no one is really sure.  However, we do know that 2010 revenues will fall short of estimates unless the next 7 month period shows a 3% increase above the same period last year.  In other words, revenue estimates produced as part of last year’s budget process could be accurate, but only if the economic situation is clearly on the mend and the free-fall in state revenues has stopped.   Has it?

 

Bending the Cost Curve: Are Changes in Medicare Enough?

Policy analysts continue to struggle to understand the degree to which health care reform legislation will ‘bend the cost curve.’  Here is an interesting description of some current thinking in the Atlantic Monthly.   How successful have we been at controlling costs in the past?  A look at the past in various markets raises important questions as policy analysts struggle to answer these questions. 

No Sign of a Turnaround in State Revenues Yet

For the twelve months preceding September 2009, New Hampshire revenues destined for the General Fund and Education Trust Fund were 6% less than for the twelve months ending a year earlier. The decline in state revenues is broad based, affecting all revenue sources, whether from business, consumer spending, or gaming.

Declining Prices: Good News for State Policy?

In a recession the demand for goods and services drops, putting downward pressure on prices.   One measure of how severe this recession has been is that the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) may actually decline in 2009.  The last time this measure of consumer inflation dropped was in 1956.  This sounds like good news to the average consumer, but there are important state policy questions raised by a declining CPI.  Many policy decisions (including state education funding) are linked to consumer price changes. 

Access to mental health care for poorer children in wealthier communities

The relationship between income and the risk of mental illness has been extensively studied in the US.  Generally speaking, the higher one’s income is the lower the risk for mental illness.  This also holds true for the income of the community as well.  But, that doesn’t mean that the higher income communities in the state are without residents who, unfortunately, struggle with mental health needs.  This is especially true in communities with greater income inequality.