New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan is to be confronted with
questions from Republican lawmakers over her $11.5 billion two-year state
budget.
Hassan will speak before the House and Senate finance committees Tuesday fresh
off delivering her budget address.
Republican lawmakers are criticizing the Democratic governor's proposal to
raise the cigarette tax by 21 cents and car registration fees by 35 percent.
They say her regular revenue estimates are too high.
The budget is before the House, which will make modifications before sending it
to the Senate. A final budget must be signed by June 30.
Hassan's budget is 6.4 percent larger than the current two-year state budget.
Most of the new spending covers legal settlements over a hospital tax and mental
health services and $20 million more for higher education.