NH Politics

Unofficial results show Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier was re-elected on Tuesday, beating challenger Mark Evans 971 to 272.

Evans is a member of the city’s Planning Board and former member of the city council.

This will be Grenier’s third term. He is also one of three Coos County Commissioners and is unusual in the North Country as an elected official who favors the Northern Pass project, which does not pass through his city.

New Hampshire's tax receipts are $25 million ahead of estimates so far this fiscal year despite a weak showing in October.

Administrative Services Commissioner Linda Hodgdon said receipts were $2 million below estimates, but October is a relatively small tax month. The state collected $105 million and had forecast receiving $107 million. Hodgdon said business taxes were down over $4 million, but such a small tax collection month makes it difficult to know if that signals a trend.

Since July 1, the state has collected $541 million.

A legislative stalemate over raising the gas tax and legalizing a casino could drive highway contractors out of New Hampshire to look for work in nearby states willing to fund infrastructure improvements.

The New Hampshire House passed a gas tax this year that the Senate killed. At the same time, the Senate passed a casino bill that the House rejected.

Transportation Commissioner Chris Clement said this past week that he worries funding won't be available to finish the state's top priority — expanding Interstate 93.

The special commission that debated New Hampshire options all summer has made its report.  Two members of that commission talk with us about what happened, why, and where we go from here.

GUESTS:

• Cindy Rosenwald – five-term Democratic representative from Nashua and a member of the finance committee
• Charlie Arlinghaus -  president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank based in Concord.

On the Political Front this morning, NHPR's Josh Rogers talks with Morning Edition host Rick Ganley about the state of Medicaid expansion in New Hampshire and how the race is shaping up in the 1st Congressional District.

A Merrimack company that makes engineered plastics for the aerospace, automotive and other industries is the latest stop on New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan's "Innovate NH" tour.

Hassan is visiting Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics on Thursday. Her office says the company has committed to reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions to bring each new building's thermal performance into compliance with the most stringent national standard.

It was six months of battles, bargains and balancing. Debates on medical marijuana, voter ID, and taxes all took center stage. A proposed casino was nixed, and after months of number crunching, a biennial budget was built, and all of this done under the watchful eye of a new governor. We’ll look back at some of the biggest political debates of 2013.

Guests

A Thursday deadline is looming for House and Senate lawmakers to come to an agreement on the next two-year state budget. NHPR's Josh Rogers gets us caught up on the state of the negotiations, and what chance there is of Medicaid expansion being wrapped into the final deal.

It's committee season at the State House, as the legislative year nears its end. In the next couple of weeks, the budget will be getting the most attention, with some contention over Medicaid expansion, school building aid, charter schools, and personnel cuts. Other bills to watch for include medical marijuana and voter ID. US Senator Kelly Ayotte announces she supports a bipartisan immigration bill.

The Republican-led State Senate gets closer to a final budget, while carving out a deeper divide with House Democrats.   Also, new challenges for President Obama’s Affordable Care Act in the Granite State.  And a makeover for the Hooksett I-93 rest areas as a well-known New Hampshire restaurateur gets the bid.

Guests:

Norma Love, Statehouse reporter for The Associated Press.
 

Josh Rogers, NHPR’s statehouse reporter, and senior political reporter and editor.

Gambling has been front and center in New Hampshire politics since January.  Governor Hassan made a major political push for it, interest groups weighed in on both sides, and public policy groups came out with data on the possible effects of a Granite State casino. That's why today's vote in the House has been considered by many as maybe the biggest vote of the year. In the end, the House voted 199-164 to kill the casino bill. Today we'll have some of the major players of this debate and ask gaming advocate what's next for them.

Guests

Today on The Exchange, it's our Friday New Hampshire News Roundup. We're looking at some of the top stories of the week, from the one public hearing held on the state Senate's budget, to the House's hard look at the Senate casino bill, and the removal of "grow your own" policy from the medical marijuana bill.

Guests:

Kevin Landrigan - Longtime political reporter for the Telegraph of Nashua.

With April being a big month for state revenue, New Hampshire could end the biennium in the black; things are looking tougher for the casino proposal, as the legislature continues to work on the budget; Senator Ayotte held a handful of town halls meetings last week, getting questions and a bit of backlash on her gun control positions.