$21 Million Deficit: New Hampshire Taxpayers Bear the Cost of Republican Mismanagement

Contact: Ryan Mahoney, ryan@amplifynh.org

$21 Million Deficit: New Hampshire Taxpayers Bear the Cost of Republican Mismanagement

Ayotte misled Granite Staters on State’s Financial Health in Inaugural Address

MANCHESTER, NH — Today’s Union Leader report of a looming $21 million state deficit underscores a clear pattern of gross fiscal irresponsibility by New Hampshire's Republican leadership, led by Governor Chris Sununu and a state legislature under full Republican control. Governor Kelly Ayotte’s inaugural address notably ignored this financial crisis, instead bragging about the “balanced” budget, leaving Granite Staters wondering: How did the Republican-led state government manage to lose an average of $28.87 from every single New Hampshire taxpayer?

The answer is simple: gross mismanagement, misplaced priorities like tax giveaways to the ultra-wealthy and a focus on radical cultural issues like abortion and book bans, and a shell game that downshifted costs to local taxpayers so Republicans could appear to be slashing waste from the state budget without being on the hook for cutting services.

While Governor Ayotte falsely praised the budget as “balanced” while knowing full well about the budget deficit, she attempted to shift blame for New Hampshire’s financial struggles to outside forces, like the federal government and Massachusetts. What she failed to acknowledge is the deeply entrenched fiscal mismanagement under Republican leadership after years of balanced budgets while investing in critical needs like education, healthcare, and infrastructure under the Democratic administrations of Governors Jeanne Shaheen, John Lynch, and Maggie Hassan.

Instead of presenting real solutions, Ayotte has resorted to recycled, half-baked ideas like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s bitcoin-meme-inspired Department on Government Efficiency “DOGE” proposals or a copycat of Missouri’s Commission on Government Efficiency, now rebranded as “COGE.” If anything, this speaks to the depths of desperation: Ayotte’s administration knows it needs drastic action to fix the mess her Republican predecessor created.

“Governor Sununu and the Republican state government have run New Hampshire’s finances into the ground, prioritizing fringe ideological crusades and giveaways to the ultra-wealthy over real policy solutions that help New Hampshire families,” said Amplify New Hampshire Executive Director Ryan Mahoney. “While Republicans have spent eight years passing costs down to taxpayers in the name of ‘fiscal prudence,’ Governor Ayotte needs to quit the sloganeering, focus on substance, and look to her Democratic predecessors as an example of how to govern responsibly.”

It’s looking less likely Ayotte will be able to fulfill her promise of no new taxes. Under Republican leadership, statewide property taxes increased by $100.7 million in FY2024, a 38.3% jump, with local taxpayers expressing concern about the dramatic increases they have seen in the last several months. 

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About Amplify New Hampshire

Amplify New Hampshire is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization founded to keep Granite Staters informed of the decisions made in local, state, and federal government that will impact their lives and empower them to enact change. For more information, visit amplifynh.org.