NH Business Review August 19, 2016 A summer spent rewriting history The governor s claims about the state budget don t match the reality Chuck Morse

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1 NH Business Review August 19, 2016 A summer spent rewriting history The governor s claims about the state budget don t match the reality Chuck Morse Governor Hassan is spending her summer rewriting history, taking credit for the sound, conservative budget Republican legislators wrote, which she vetoed last June. The current budget is one that does more with less and meets our critical needs, while not increasing the burden on taxpayers. It spends $11.35 billion in total funds which is a decrease from six years ago and provides considerably more services with nearly 2,000 fewer employees during the same period. Last year, House and Senate Republicans crafted a fiscally responsible budget that helped grow New Hampshire s economy and create jobs. Specifically, this budget included: The first cuts to the onerous business enterprise tax ever, and to the business profits tax in more than 20 years, lessening the uncompetitive financial burden on small businesses. A 75 percent increase in substance abuse funding critical to addressing the heroin and opioid crisis. Eliminating the Developmental Disabilities Waitlist, providing these citizens with the proper care and resources they need for a good quality of life. Funding to finish and open the 10-bed mental health crisis unit at New Hampshire Hospital. A $23 million increase to the Rainy Day Fund. Returned significant funding to cities and towns to support community needs. Funding for critical road, bridge and infrastructure repair projects. Increases in education funding for our students in public schools across New Hampshire. Governor Hassan, in a purely politically motivated move, vetoed the responsible budget Republican legislators built after crowing that it was unfunded and irresponsible. But, after our Democratic colleagues realized the harm the three month absence of a new budget was having on the citizens in our state, they stepped in to support the Senate and House budget in a historic override of the governor s veto. The reality is that the governor s veto, and the three-month standoff she perpetuated, caused unnecessary and dangerous uncertainty for state agencies serving our citizens. Governor Hassan s veto delayed critical policy changes and essential funding for key initiatives including the heroin crisis and mental health care in the state, which we are still battling today. However, the business tax cuts Senate Republicans passed in the last budget, which were the main cause of Governor Hassan s misguided veto, are proving to have the intended effect of restoring confidence in our small business owners, growing jobs and steadily improving the state s economy, driving up revenues month over month to the tune of a $100 million surplus. Now, Governor Hassan shamelessly claims ownership of the budget she vetoed, touting its success, including the $100 million in surplus funds it has generated so far. That s revisionist history at its worst. 1

2 Rather than taking credit for a budget she didn t write while campaigning for a new job, perhaps she should focus on the one she already has and provide the leadership required to implement the current budget. For reasons unknown to us, and despite fully funding the developmentally disabled community, a list remains with 151 families waiting for services, and the funds provided have not been deployed. In the middle of a heroin epidemic plaguing our friends, family and neighbors, patients are still waiting for intensive mental health care in hospital emergency rooms due, in part, to a senseless year-long wait to open the new 10-bed mental health unit at New Hampshire Hospital. House and Senate Republicans stand behind our record of crafting a smart, effective yet lean budget that helps New Hampshire s economy. All we are asking of Governor Hassan is to stand behind her record. Sen. Chuck Morse, R-Salem, is president of the NH Senate. NH Union Leader August 19, 2016 Gubernatorial candidate Gatsas calls for delay in voting on state contract with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Republican gubernatorial candidate Ted Gatsas is calling on Gov. Maggie Hassan and the Executive Council to delay next week s vote on a state contract with Dartmouth- Hitchcock Health Systems for staffing at the New Hampshire Hospital. Gatsas, the mayor of Manchester, is asking the council to postpone a vote on the proposed three-year contract when it meets on Aug. 24 while the state investigates the suicide last month of a Nashua woman hours after she was discharged from the state hospital. The unidentified woman s death coincided with a staffing crisis at the hospital after 11 long-time employees left over a contract dispute with Dartmouth-Hitchcock. The tragedy involving a patient who committed suicide hours after being discharged from the state s psychiatric hospital, combined with the resignation of 11 long-time mental health professionals, raises serious questions about staffing levels at this facility, Gatsas said in a news release. The public has a right to know more about the staffing levels at New Hampshire Hospital before Governor Hassan and the Executive Council vote to award a longterm staffing contract to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health Systems. The senior employee in the hospital s administration, with first-hand knowledge of operating conditions at the hospital, told the New Hampshire Sunday News last week that had the proper level of care been in place, the woman s death might have been averted. The administrator was not identified for fear of reprisal. The employee also said the woman who jumped to her death had been at New Hampshire Hospital multiple times in the last several months, with a specific plan for suicide. Guns.com August 19, 2016 NH Gov. Hassan gets some $3.5 million in support from gun control groups by Chris Eger New Hampshire s Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan has a history of vetoing gun rights legislation, and now gun control advocates are dropping huge sums to get her to Capitol Hill. Running to unseat incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Hassan is getting a $2 million ad buy from the super PAC 2

3 Independence USA, funded exclusively by former New York Mayor and gun control philanthropist Michael Bloomberg, as reported by NH1.com. Set to begin airing Friday, the spot opens with a clip of Ayotte attesting that she is an independent strong voice for New Hampshire, then takes aim at her support for Donald Trump for president. Independent minded Republicans across America put principle ahead of party and said no to Trump, but not Kelly Ayotte, says the ad. If she s so independent, why is she still supporting Trump? This comes as Ayotte s campaign has repeatedly highlighted Hassan s refusal to weigh in on if she thinks Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is honest. Besides the PAC ad buy, Bloomberg s Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund has dropped another $27,548 into the bucket against Ayotte in an effort to bolster Hassan, while American s for Responsible Solutions, founded by former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, has likewise fed $1,409,767 into the anti-ayotte fight, mainly in the form of ad buys of their own attacking the Senator over gun control. Giffords and husband Capt. Mark Kelly were in New Hampshire last December to found a local group, the Granite State Coalition for Common Sense, with a mandate to expand background checks to include most private gun transfers and increased reporting of mental health records by the state to the Federal Bureau of Investigation s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Hassan vetoed the Granite State s popular constitutional carry measure last year and doubled down on the proposal this session as well. The National Rifle Association, who supported the bills both times around, has contributed $4,950 to Ayotte s campaign so far this year, which is about on par for their funding for other federal candidates. In 2013, they released ads in New Hampshire defending Ayotte s stand against expanded background checks. Speaking of which, it should be noted that Bloomberg isn t just supporting Democrat challengers in the Senate. Independence USA has also dropped $1,155,300 in the bucket to help fund the campaign to reelect Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. The GOP lawmaker has repeatedly crossed the aisle to lend a smattering of bipartisan support to thus far unsuccessful expanded background check measures in Congress and is one of the few GOP lawmakers willing to look at President Obama s nominee for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland. In the wake of Newtown, Pat Toomey crossed party lines to lead the fight to reduce gun violence in America by co-sponsoring legislation to close the background check loophole, Bloomberg said in a statement issued by the group earlier this month. Portsmouth Herald August 19, 2016 Drug overdoses up, but fatalities down in NH Officials believe greater access to Narcan and a new good Samaritan law have saved lives By Max Sullivan HAMPTON, N.H. Opioid-related fatalities are down in Hampton this year compared to 2015, and local officials believe public access to Narcan and the good Samaritan law enacted last year could be reasons 3

4 for the decrease in deaths. Opioid use, however, is up in Hampton, according to fire officials. Hampton Fire Chief Jameson Ayotte told selectmen this month that there were 31 calls for overdoses this year through July 31, 18 of which came in June and July. There were only 24 calls for overdoses in 2015 from January through July, he said. Despite that increase, only one person has died of a suspected overdose in Hampton this year Tara Eaton, 44, who died on L Street on April 9. There were five overdose deaths in Hampton by mid-july in 2015, the total for that year eventually reaching seven. Hampton is one of several communities in New Hampshire impacted by what officials have called a statewide opioid epidemic, opioids including narcotics like heroin, oxycodone and fentanyl. Last year, 439 people died of opioid overdoses in the state. Hampton EMS Officer Nate Denio said the availability of Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, may have led to fewer fatalities in town. Narcan became available for members of the general public in late Denio also said more people might be calling 911 sooner because of the good Samaritan law, which shields those reporting overdoses from being charged with drug possession. The law was passed last year and will sunset in three years. It is meant to help New Hampshire recover from the drug epidemic. Hampton firefighter Matt Newton believes 911 calls are being made sooner by those present when an overdose occurs because of the law. I think people are starting to call a little bit sooner, Newton said. The last people they want to see is the cops, so I think they re propensity to call 911 might be a little less than normal people. But now that the law has changed things, I think that might have turned (hesitation to call) around a little bit. One former narcotic user now in recovery, Ryan Brown, 26, of Seabrook, said he stopped using heroin before the law went into effect last year. However, he said he probably would have been hesitant to call 911 if he were present when a friend overdosed while the two were using together. I would be nervous to call and pick up a charge, said Brown, who graduated from Drug Court in Brentwood Monday. I probably still would call but I would have had to think more about it. While Hampton is seeing a downtrend in fatalities, many communities statewide are experiencing the opposite. James Vara, the governor s advisor on addiction and behavioral health and commonly referred to as the drug czar, said officials are projecting fatalities to increase beyond the number from last year. He said he personally has not heard from community leaders in the state who believe the good Samaritan law has led to fewer deaths. In the Tri-City Region, Wentworth-Douglas has had 80 patients brought by ambulance where Narcan was administered by first-responders before the patient arrived at the hospital, according to Dover Assistant Fire Chief Paul Haas. Less than five of those resulted in fatalities, he said. In 2015, there were 4

5 97 of those cases the whole year, and three of those resulted in fatalities. There clearly is an increase this year, said Haas. We re at 80 and we re not even three quarters of the year. Some communities have noticed a downtrend in calls for heroin, though. In Exeter, Fire Chief Brian Comeau said his department has been responding to fewer overdose calls. Last year, he said it felt like the calls came every week, while only a handful a month have come in If Narcan is a major reason for the decline in overdose fatalities in Hampton, Denio said it is still important for Narcan not to be treated as sole solution to the current drug problem. He is one of several officials who have said that addiction is a problem that manifests in an addict s life well before a 911 call is needed. He believes measures like education and treatment need to be viewed as greater solutions than Narcan. The warning we had was not to let Narcan make people complacent, that it wasn t the answer to the drug problem, Denio said. That s how I still feel. 5