New Hampshire Public Radio reports that following Hassan’s veto, the state’s Division of Parks and Recreation must turn to a legislative panel for emergency funding to avoid closing parks:
- In a letter to the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee, head of Parks and Recreation Philip Bryce says the projected shortfall is due to the state operating under a six-month continuing resolution. Bryce says if the money isn’t approved, the department will have to curtail operations and close parks due to lack of staffing and supplies. He notes the parks would close at a time when tourists typically head to the state to take in the fall foliage. Gov. Maggie Hassan vetoed the $11.3 billion, two-year state budget approved by Republican lawmakers in June…Hassan rejected a counterproposal earlier this month…
This follows the deeply troubling Concord Monitor report explaining that a new ten-bed crisis unit at New Hampshire Hospital will not be opening this fall due to a lack of the very resources included in the budget that Hassan vetoed:
- …a new ten-bed crisis unit at New Hampshire Hospital won’t open to patients this summer, as previously planned. While construction on the mental health unit is now set to complete in October, the unit can’t be staffed until a state spending plan in place. And even then, officials said, the hiring process to fill the unit’s 32 positions will take anywhere from three to nine months…Gov. Maggie Hassan vetoed a Republican-crafted budget in June that included money to get the crisis unit staffed and operational.
When Governor Hassan vetoed the budget, she put politics ahead of Granite Staters – and New Hampshire continues to suffer the consequences.