NH Republican Budget: Higher Costs, Fewer Solutions
- Amplify NH
- Apr 7
- 5 min read
This Thursday, the NH House will vote on a proposal put forward by House Republicans that raises costs on hardworking Granite Staters and provides fewer solutions to the challenges New Hampshire faces.
Just as we explored last week in Manchester, where Republican Mayor Jay Ruais put forward a city budget proposal that increased property taxes AND cut funding from Manchester schools, the NH House Republican budget increases costs for Granite Staters while at the same time fails to address the challenges our state is facing by gutting critical services.
So as the NH House prepares to debate and vote on the budget this week, let’s take a look at what’s in store for Granite Staters:
NH Republican Budget Will Increase Your Costs
Just like the Trump Administration and Republicans in Washington, despite campaigning on lowering costs and lowering taxes, NH Republicans are putting forward a state budget proposal that breaks this promise and raises costs on Granite Staters across the board:
The NH House Republican budget will increase your property taxes:
This budget cuts the Meals and Room tax distribution to cities and towns by $11.2 million, which will need to be offset by local property tax increases.
This budget expands the use of public taxpayer dollars to fund private and religious schools and could divert more than $100 million per year away from public schools, which will need to be offset by local property taxes.
The NH House Republican budget increases healthcare costs:
This budget will raise the cost of prescription drugs by eliminating a program that identified more than $6 million in savings for prescriptions for Granite Staters in just one year.
This budget eliminates the Family Planning Program, which will increase costs on birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment for lower-income Granite Staters.
This budget endorses Kelly Ayotte’s new healthcare income tax, which forces low-income Granite Staters to pay a 5% tax on their income for healthcare insurance premiums.
A single parent with two kids making $68,000 per year would have their healthcare costs increased by $283 a month.
This budget cuts $52.5 million in funding for hospitals and healthcare providers, which will force them to increase costs on healthcare services for all Granite Staters.
The House Republican Budget makes housing less affordable:
By eliminating the Housing Appeals Board, this budget creates more red tape, increases the time it takes to settle disputes between towns and developers, and will lead to fewer affordable housing units being built.
This budget eliminates the Housing Champion grant program, which provides $5 million in funding to towns and cities to increase housing, and will result in fewer new housing units and higher housing costs.
The House Republican Budget increases the costs to educate our kids:
This budget cuts funding for early childhood education, which is already severely underfunded.
According to a recent NH Fiscal Policy Institute analysis, the state’s failure to adequately fund early childhood education cost $22,416-$35,004 in lost earnings to Granite State families and reduced revenues of state government, local governments, and small businesses.
This budget cuts $50 million from the University System of NH, eliminates $5.4 million in scholarship funding, and cuts $4 million from the Community College System, which will increase the cost of education for hardworking Granite Staters.
With a 2023 court ruling that NH is underfunding public education by close to $1 billion per year, this budget fails to address this court ruling and leaves local property taxpayers shouldering the cost burden.
The House Republican Budget increases fees that will end up costing New Hampshire families and small businesses more:
Doubles the application fees for terrain alteration
Increases the price of elevator inspection fees
Increases the registration fees for dams
Increases fees for dredging and filling wetlands
Increases sewage fees
Increases fees for agricultural products and equipment
Increases driver’s license card fees
Increases motor vehicle title fees
Increases trucking fees
Increases vanity plate fees
Instead of Solutions, the NH Republican Budget Creates More Challenges for Granite Staters
Despite all the increased costs this budget is pushing onto Granite Staters, Republican mismanagement will also result in more challenges for our communities, families, and businesses:
The NH House Republican budget will make New Hampshire less safe:
This budget puts vulnerable Granite State youth at risk.
While the state is embroiled with one of the largest child abuse scandals and court cases in US history, this budget eliminates the Child Advocate, which identifies situations where children are being harmed and addressing them and oversees the Sununu Youth Servies Center, a juvenile corrections facility in Manchester.
This budget eliminates more than 190 public safety jobs in the Department of Corrections.
This budget forces the Department of Justice and the Judicial Branch to further cut their budgets by $22.6 million, which will severely impact their ability to keep New Hampshire safe.
The NH House Republican budget punishes pregnant and nursing mothers and their kids:
This budget takes away a food assistance program that helps pregnant and nursing mothers purchase nutritious foods across the state.
Without funding for this program, the mothers and children who rely on this funding will not be able purchase healthy food options and local farmers will lose income on the food they provide to this program.
The House Republican Budget fails to protect New Hampshire from the chaos caused by the Trump Administration:
This budget had to fill an enormous hole created by the Trump Administration taking back $80 million in federal funding. By losing this funding without a fight, Republicans further cut desperately needed services and investments in our state.
This budget fails to protect 60,000 Granite Staters who will lose healthcare coverage if the federal government decreases Medicaid funding.
Just as the damage of the Trump Administration’s tariffs begin to be felt, this budget drastically cuts funding for tourism promotion and puts our small businesses at further risk in this volatile economy.
What You Can Do About It: Take Action This Week!
Call your state reps now and tell them to oppose the Republican budget that increases your costs, increases taxes, and guts essential services.
Call or email Governor Ayotte and demand she veto this budget if it reaches her desk.
Share our social media posts highlighting the devastating impacts of this budget.
Attend a rally in front of the State House on Wednesday to demand a better budget or a rally on Thursday to protect reproductive healthcare and lower healthcare costs.
Join Us on Bluesky!
Just like millions of Americans have done over the last few weeks, Amplify NH has now joined Bluesky! To make sure you’re getting the latest from Amplify, please make sure to follow us there, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Not signed up for Bluesky yet? Not sure how to best utilize this growing social media platform? Keep an eye out for our next Amplify NH training session on Bluesky early in 2025!
Sign Up For Granite Post’s Morning Digest!
Together, Amplify NH and the Courier News Network have brought Granite Post, a new social-media-first newsroom dedicated to factual, relevant, pro-democracy, local news, to New Hampshire. We’re excited to provide Granite Staters with important news and information, on top of coverage on all things New Hampshire politics!
Since its launch, the Granite Post has worked to add important new voices to New Hampshire’s media ecosystem -- not only fighting misinformation, but bringing important issues and unique stories to the attention of Granite Staters who don't get their news from traditional media sources.
Granite Post Newsletters are now publishing! Make sure you sign-up here. They are also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, and TikTok.
Thank you,
Ryan Mahoney
Executive Director