Policy Blog NH

How NH towns and cities are managing the Recession

New Hampshire is moving into Town Meeting season, when local budgets will be debated and decided upon by citizens. To mark that annual ritual, the Center has developed an updated analysis of how the Great Recession has impacts local government operations across the state.

Our new report (available here) also provides examples of the data the Center has collected on each city and town in the state. New this year, we've also designed an interactive map, available on our website, which displays differences in municipal financing patterns, including a comparison to statewide averages for each city and town.

Three New Members Appointed to Center's Board

Former manufacturing executive Jim Putnam, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation president Richard Ober and former software company executive Eric Herr were recently elected to the board of directors of the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies. 

In gambling debate, assumptions shape everything

Lawmakers tomorrow return to the debate over whether to allow expanded gambling in New Hampshire. The issue has taken on new relevance this year since Massachusetts legalized casinos just three months ago. The question facing legislators: Now that Massachusetts has acted, what should we do?

Revenue update: January 2012

New Hampshire state unrestricted revenue (that is, money collected in the General Fund and Education Trust Fund) came in $14.3 million higher than expected in January 2012, and 13.5 million higher than January 2011.

While that’s good news, the long-term projection is a little murkier.

The marginal costs of education

The issue of tax credits for private schools is now being debated in the Legislature, with several new bills moving through the State House.

One key question in the debate is: what are the costs or educating a single child, and how do those costs change when that child (or several children) leave a public school? As part of this discussion, the Center was asked to help calculate the marginal costs of public education, as a way of estimating the potential financial impact of such legislation. Our conclusion is that the financial impact of the proposed tax credits would vary considerably depending on several factors, including the size of the school, desired student-teacher ratios, and the magnitude of the changes in public school enrollment that followed the implementation of the legislation in question.

Our full response follows.

A regional approach to policymaking?

New Hampshire's traditions of strong local control and town-based governance are deeply rooted in the state's politics and culture. But we at the Center have lately been thinking of ways that more cross-border, regional approaches might improve decision-making across the state.

An in-depth look at crime in New Hampshire

New Hampshire has not published a comprehensive report of crime statistics since 1993. The Center's latest publication (which you can find here) is the first to meet the need of criminal justice professionals, researchers, and policymakers in understanding crime in New Hampshire by examining recent trends in criminal activity.

The report includes detailed crime statistics for the state's largest communities, compares New Hampshire's crime trends to those of other New England states, and examines the link between crime rates and state corrections policy.

Update on gambling: Movement in Massachusetts

It may be NH Primary Day, but that doesn't mean state policy questions are taking the day off.

The New Hampshire House is set to vote soon on the latest proposal to legalize casinos. Gov. Lynch has promised to veto any bills that allows expanded gambling, but the current bill has earned the support of House leadership. In addition, the recent decision by Massachusetts lawmakers to legalize casinos in that state has raised the stakes in New Hampshire's gambling debate.

Uncertainty over November state revenues

Today or tomorrow – when November’s revenue estimates are released – state policy makers will get another data point that will help us understand New Hampshire's budget position. But there's still some uncertainty about one significant source of tax revenue.

A closer look at NH's senior population

New figures released today by the U.S. Census Bureau show the growth in senior citizen populations across the country in the past decade. The numbers underscore the fact that New Hampshire – and the Northeast in general – is adding older people at a faster rate than the country as a whole.