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The budget ball is in Kelly Ayotte’s court. After 50 state agencies presented their budget proposals for the 2026-27 cycle, the governor-elect has about three months to piece together her draft spending plan and present it to the state Legislature. Her top budget priority is helping New Hampshire “live within our means,” but she doesn’t want that to come at the expense of serving the state’s “most vulnerable” populations, she said in an interview Tuesday.
“If we’re looking for ways to make any changes, [how do] we do that in a way that still doesn’t cut programs or services to people that need them the most?” Ayotte said. She said she’ll look to improve recruitment and retention efforts for state employees. During budget hearings, many departments, including large ones like Corrections, Safety and Transportation, said they are experiencing high vacancy rates.
As one commissioner put it, they’re having to “do more with less.” Ayotte said she’ll consider outreach programs to recruit employees, and particularly young people, to work for the state. She also wants to look at “how we’re doing things” in the workplace, noting the importance of competitive pay, using technology to help workers and making those jobs more appealing.
“I think that as you’re recruiting people, you’ve got to let people know that these jobs are available,” Ayotte said. “You also need to let them know that these are rewarding, meaningful, purposeful jobs, and make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to support our state employees.” Ayotte also said she’ll focus on following through on her campaign promises, like boosting New Hampshire’s housing supply.
On the campaign trail, she talked about selling unused state-owned land for affordable housing projects and dismantling regulatory burdens to make it easier for developers to build in New Hampshire. She also supports sustaining InvestNH, an affordable housing fund created with pandemic relief money that’s since run out, under the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority. Article continues after.
.. Cross|Word Flipart Typeshift SpellTower Really Bad Chess She declined to share other priorities for her version of the budget, saying since she was elected two weeks ago, it’s too early in the process.
Despite a $146 million revenue surplus in fiscal year 2024, Ayotte and her predecessor, current Gov. Chris Sununu, are looking to prepare for leaner times ahead. Pandemic relief funding, which was used to help start and expand various programs, will soon be gone.
So will the interest and dividends tax – the Legislature voted to phase it out in 2025, and that revenue stream will eventually diminish. Business profit tax revenues are also underperforming, according to an analysis from the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. State agencies have put forth $16.
9 billion in their “efficiency” budget requests, which are based on past expenses and cover the minimum amount needed to meet all legal requirements. They’re also requesting an additional $653 million in prioritized needs. Ayotte said she’s currently talking with department heads one-on-one to prioritize.
“We can always find ways to do things better, more efficient, lean out systems, if we can, to make sure that we’re directly getting programs and services to the people of New Hampshire,” Ayotte said. “Sometimes there can be added layers of bureaucracy, so we’ll look at that as ways to really serve the people of New Hampshire better.”.
