September 26, 2008
Union Leader
The U.S. economy is teetering because millions of people obligated themselves to spend money they didn’t have — on the hope that enough cash to pay the bills would materialize sometime in the future. On Wednesday the state Legislature, at the urging of Gov. John Lynch, appropriated $12.1 million that it doesn’t have on the hope that enough cash to pay the bills will materialize sometime in the future.
The new spending comes in two parts: $10 million in home heating assistance and $2.1 million in weatherization assistance. It comes halfway through a two-year state budget that grew by 17.5 percent, or $475 million, over the previous one. The state’s obligations in the current budget already outstrip its ability to pay them. Gov. Lynch and legislators spent this year cutting here and raising taxes there to try to make ends meet. Even so, the budget is projected to end in a deficit of about $100 million. The New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies estimates that the next state budget will be at least $286 million, and as much as $495 million, in the red.
But no matter. Legislators and the governor stared at all of that red ink and said, “Spend more!” They claim that $10 million will be repaid by the federal government and $2.1 million will be repaid by fees collected from carbon allowances purchased at auction under the new Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. But in reality, they have no idea if the state will get any of that $12.1 million back this year or ever.
At this point, why don’t we all just close our eyes and wish really hard that we’ll wake up tomorrow morning and the budget will be balanced? As futile as that step would be, it would be more than our elected officials are doing to bring the state budget into the black.