Not all the news coming out of Concord is negative, what with a closely divided legislature. Some of it actually works in the people’s favor. For instance, on April 6, the House passed a $15.9 billion budget, seeing the most bipartisan cooperation since 1989! The budget then went on to the Senate where it was passed, down to $15.2 billion, on June 7.
Today’s focus will be on the issues of child care and affordable housing, two important issues that so many young families continually face. Included was a bill sponsored by Sen. Becky Whitley (D-Hopkinton) that would spend roughly $15 million to expand access to affordable, quality child care. Child care has become such a challenge of late, what with some families having both parents working or even a single parent household. This budget will now increase funding for childcare and Family Resource Centers. A win for young families!
Also according to the Senator, nearly 6,000 children are eligible for free or reduced-cost school lunches. These children are not signed up for the program due to the application form which tends to be complicated. Among nearly twenty other amendments, that one was defeated in the Senate.
Affordable and available housing has been another immediate issue for the state. New Hampshire is experiencing a housing shortage and the fact that the cost of a home has more than doubled in the last ten years has created a challenge to hire and hold onto quality employees. This would include those in the medical and educational fields along with city and town employees. Now with this recently passed budget, $25 million will go into the affordable housing fund with another $15 million geared towards new housing programs. The latter is designed to motivate new, workforce housing in NH. Another win for those looking to purchase their first home or to re-locate to the state.
The budget now awaits the governor’s signature which appears to be he will sign it.