The State of the State

Last week, Governor Chris Sununu gave his State of the State Address. What he didn’t say was far more interesting than the predictable blather about no taxes and business, business, business.  

Governor Sununu didn’t mention his number one legislative priority and the very first bill he signed. It was the bill to eliminate the licensing requirement for a concealed pistol or revolver. He campaigned on that bill, which, by the way, was sponsored by Senator Jeb Bradley. Sununu signed the bill in a “private” ceremony, where he was surrounded by some of the leading gundamentalists in the NH House.

After the signing ceremony, the governor posed for photos with the two NRA representatives who were on hand for the private signing ceremony. John Hohenwarter is in charge of government relations at the NRA. His focus is working to eliminate local gun control laws. NRA director of state and local affairs, Lacey Biles was also on hand. His focus is hunting laws. The NRA is known for their generosity to their allies at campaign time, which means this will be a money trail worth following. 

Perhaps, given the slaughter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the governor decided it might be in poor taste to remind us all of his first legislative priority and triumph. Or perhaps, given the slaughter, he’d just as soon not remind us that of all the things he could have prioritized, he chose to make our gun laws weaker.

Instead, Sununu spoke mostly of economics. Old people were mentioned only as “contributing immensely to the economy.” That’s certainly an artful way of saying that a lot of old people can’t afford to retire because their property taxes are so high.

There was no mention of the arts or culture. No mention of tourism. No mention of our parks or mountains. No mention of the impact of climate change on our state, or the need to plan for the future of rising sea levels.

The most glaring omission in his speech was any mention of the North Country. What has Sununu done for the north? He pardoned some nuisance bears – and he’s been outspoken in his opposition to the decision made by the SEC regarding Northern Pass. Just as he knew better than Fish and Game about those bears, he knows better than the SEC about an issue he’s had no involvement in.

Whenever you ask someone where their favorite part of the state to visit is, they always say either the lakes region or the mountains. No one ever says they’re eager to vacation in Epping, yet everyone’s favorite part of the state is ignored by our state government. How many times has Sununu been to Coos since he was elected by busloads of people from Massachusetts? Don’t worry, Coos. He’ll be coming around looking for your votes and your money for his reelection soon enough. Just don’t expect any return on your investment.

Speaking of those busloads, Sununu made no mention of fauxter fraud or the ongoing attempt by the majority party to enact voter suppression legislation. 

The governor did give himself a big pat on the back for sending $30 million back to cities and towns for infrastructure projects. Surely that $1800 made a big dent in Hart’s Location’s infrastructure needs.   

Sununu made a big point of telling us that he’s a product of the public school system – a system he’s working hard to dismantle. Putting Frank Edelblut, a man with zero qualifications for the job in charge of the Dept. of Education was the first step. The majority party is working on a voucher program that would funnel tax dollars for public schools to private schools, religious schools, and home schools. In addition to taking money out of the schools, the accountability piece of the voucher bill is murky at best. Whenever taxpayer funds are spent, there must be accountability.

It was a disappointing speech. When we elect people who believe government is essentially a business, we get a government that is only interested in representing business interests – and only some business interests at that.  The businesses of the North Country would benefit from investment in our state parks, but that isn’t ever a consideration. If our state really were a business, no one would look twice at the peeling, unlit outside sign, never mind walk up the broken steps to knock on the unpainted front door.

The northern part of the state exists as a sort of Brigadoon, a place where Republicans can wax nostalgic about the Old Man, and Mel Thomson – and ignore the rest.

The lack of content wasn’t met with dismay. Governor Sununu is affable and always willing to jump in front of a camera. His informal style plays well with the media, who have little interest in holding him accountable. Hopefully voters will.  

Published as an op-ed in the February 23, 2018 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper

Hey Big Spender

Photo: Fred McNeill/NHPR

The American Society of Civil Engineers released their annual report on infrastructure in the spring. The report covers the nation’s infrastructure (it gets a grade of D+) and provides a report on each state. New Hampshire received a grade of C-.

NH spent $43,062,914 on bridge projects in 2013. Despite that infusion of cash, thirteen percent of NH’s bridges are structurally deficient. That’s 492, to be exact. In 2016, 20 bridges were removed from the red list…..and 17 were added. We aren’t putting a dent in the red list; we’re just breaking even.

According to the ASCE report, NH has 146 high hazard dams, and has 20 sites on the national priorities for hazardous waste sites list. The report calls for an investment of $835 million in drinking water infrastructure over the next 20 years. The park system has $104 million in unmet needs, and we need to invest $198 million in wastewater infrastructure over the next 20 years. Due to the less than stellar condition of our roads, motorists average $363 annually in repair costs.

In 2016, the latest version of the perennial 10-year highway plan was passed. It calls for spending $3.8 billion on some highway and turnpike projects. The seemingly endless project of widening of 1-93, widening 101 in Bedford, expanding part of the Spalding Turnpike, and part of the Everett Turnpike. The plan “increases” spending for red listed bridges, assuming there’s any money left over from the highway projects. 

                                Photo: Concord Monitor 

The ASCE estimates that to fix the US infrastructure would cost $4.6 trillion. The Trump administration won’t be making that kind of investment in making America great again. Instead, Trump intends to add $54 billion to the already bloated defense budget. Trump has been talking about his $1 trillion infrastructure plan, but it’s all talk. There is no trillion, and there is no plan. Our crumbling national infrastructure is a threat to our security, but that doesn’t capture the fancy of the global imperialist crowd, who prefer to invest in weapons contractors and endless war. Infrastructure isn’t a sexy issue like legislating women’s reproductive tracts. Oppression – now that’s sexy.

There are 3,848 bridges in the NH DOT inventory. Some 80% of the state owned bridges were built before 1980. According to the ASCE, the “typical” design life of a bridge is 50 years. There are 650 state owned bridges that are 75 years old. The legislatures of the past 30 years have kicked the infrastructure can down the increasingly bumpy road, and as a result, the cost of doing the work will never be cheaper than it is at this moment. 

Governor Chris Sununu has just announced that $30 million will be sent back to cities and towns for infrastructure projects. An additional $6.8 million will be dispersed to towns for red list bridge repairs. It’s a start, but given the need, $30 million won’t go very far. The legislature chose to use the same formula they use for distributing gas tax monies, a formula based on miles of roadways and population. This is a one-time block grant, and the details and restrictions around how these funds will be used have not yet been made clear.

Ossipee has two of the top 15 red listed bridges. Number 8 on the priority list is the bridge over the Bearcamp River on Routes 16/25. It’s been on the red list since 2004, and according to the list, it will be repaired in 2018. Number 10 on the list is the relief bridge over the Bearcamp River on Rte. 16/25. It’s been on the list since 2004, slated for repair in 2018.

Osspiee’s share of the $30 million is $153,081.10. The town maintains approximately 83 miles of paved roads. They won’t have trouble spending the money.

Number 12 on the priority red list is the Conway Lake outlet bridge on Rt. 302/113. It’s been on the red list since 2010. It’s scheduled for repair in 2018. The covered bridge is also on the red list, but covered bridges aren’t included in the 10-year transportation plan.

Conway’s share of the $30 million is $217,101.73. According to the Conway Master Plan, there are 161 local roads, totaling 82 miles.

                                        Photo: Will Brown/ NH Coastal Adaptation Work Group 

Number 59 on the priority list is the Ellis River Bridge in Jackson, on Rt. 16. It’s been on the red list since 2011, and is scheduled for repair in 2023.

Jackson’s share of the $30 million block grant is $35,018.26. Again, they won’t have trouble spending the money; it just won’t go very far. It certainly won’t help that red listed bridge.

Albany is slated to receive $32,933.31; Bartlett comes in at $89,588.71, and Chatham $11,847.45.

It will be interesting to find out what restrictions will apply, and how the cities and towns will use the funds. I’m especially eager to hear what Hart’s Location is going to do with the $1,792.47 they’ve been allotted.

Published as an op-ed in the August 4, 2017 edition of the Conway Daily Sun Newspaper 

List of towns and grants:

https://www.governor.nh.gov/news-media/press-2017/documents/20170724-state-leaders.pdf

MOAR GUNZ!

The annual state-by-state health rankings are in from the United Health Foundation. NH is in 5^th place nationally when it comes to the overall health of its residents. This places NH in the middle of the top ten, which is surely nothing to sneer at. That’s the message in every NH mainstream media story about the health rankings thus far. What the NH media isn’t pointing out is that in 2012, NH was in third place. In 2011 we were in second place. Fifth place isn’t terrible, but to get there we had to drop two places, something that one might think is worthy of media mention.

That kind of slippage is the new normal in NH. Our health isn’t as good; our child poverty rate has risen at what should be considered an alarming pace. Our roads and bridges are in terrible condition, our state parks are in increasing disrepair, some of our highway rest stops are still closed, and our telecommunications infrastructure is an embarrassment. Poverty, hunger, and homelessness are on the rise. But hey, NH has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the nation and THAT, my friends, is what is really important. So important that at least a dozen gun bills have been filed for the 2014 legislative session.  Perhaps if we all go out and wave our guns at one of the hundreds of red listed bridges in our state, they will magically repair themselves.

NH has never been a forward thinking state, and now we’re sliding backward. Today’s NH GOP has been taken over by Tea Partiers and libertarians, who think MOAR GUNZ is the answer to everything. They hate planning of any sort, and are actively trying to prevent it on county and regional levels. The libertarians don’t believe in public anything, or that the state should be in charge of roads and bridges. The private sector would do a better job. The Free Staters have yet to volunteer to fix a bridge or repair a highway to show us how well this will work in the future, when they succeed in transforming us into Aynrandshire. Surely a network of differently maintained toll roads will be a real asset when one is attempting to attract business to the state.

Tourism is the #2 business in New Hampshire. Our Fish and Game Dept. is in trouble financially because of our regressive tax structure. Rather than address that, Republican Senator Bob Odell has filed a bill that would require canoe and kayak owners to pay an annual $10 fee for using their non-polluting vessels on our rivers and lakes. The best part of this (from a GOP standpoint) is that the bill (sponsored by a Republican) is being blamed on Democrats. This is right up there with last session’s bill sponsored by GOP Senator Nancy Stiles that would have forced senior citizens to buy a season’s pass each year to use our state parks. Currently, NH residents over the age of 65 are granted free access to state parks. This bill would have initiated a $20 fee for a senior citizen pass. Unfortunately, the NH GOP is far from being ashamed of the lengths that they will go to (gouging old people and canoe owners) to prevent NH’s 27,000 millionaires from paying their fair share of taxes.

NH Republicans made sure that there would be no state exchange system set up to handle the ACA. Now they complain about how things are working (or not working) without state exchanges. The states that created their own exchange networks early on are doing quite well with the ACA. NH Republicans also torpedoed the expansion of Medicaid that would have provided basic insurance coverage to some 50,000 low-wage workers in our state.  This is the kind of thinking that caused NH to drop to 5^th place nationally in terms of overall health. NH’s health ranking has always been a matter of pride for our state, and one that is used as an enticement for companies and families to move here. The Free Staters use it in their advertisements to entice more anarchists to move here to take over the state. Given how many states have embraced expanded Medicaid, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that NH’s numbers will continue to be on a downward spiral while other states will see improved health numbers.

We don’t care about the health of our residents. (Though to be fair, Representatives Neal Kurk and Laurie Sanborn do worry about subsidizing health care for NH’s substantial population of low-income yacht dwellers.) We don’t care about the health of our highways, roads, dams, and bridges. We don’t care about the health of our telecommunications infrastructure. We have a long history of not caring about education. NH ranks a firm 50^th in the nation in state spending on our university system. What do we care about? Spending no money, and MOAR GUNZ!

Recent studies have also shown that NH is not bouncing back from the Great Recession as well or as quickly as our fellow New England states. We have no one but ourselves to blame. NH has failed to invest in the future for decades, and it’s begun to marginalize us and hurt our economy. Nothing short of a disaster is likely to turn that around. If one ever doubts the accuracy of the nickname “granite state” one has only to spend a Wednesday at the NH House of Representatives listening to floor speeches.

© sbruce 2013. Published as a bi-weekly column in the Conway Daily Sun newspaper.