Demystifying NH’s Budgeting Process

Demystifying NH’s  Budgeting Process

By: DJ Bettencourt –April, 2015 New Hampshire’s budgeting process can fittingly be compared to a nine-inning baseball game. The governor bats lead off by asking their department commissioners for proposed revenue estimates and expenditures for each department in state government. With that information, the governor and their staff will begin putting their final budget together […]

“Revenue Estimates: the Most Important Legislative Battle of 2015”

“Revenue Estimates: the Most Important Legislative Battle of 2015”

  By: DJ Bettencourt – December, 2014 This month, the newly elected members of the New Hampshire Legislature officially took office. Despite most of the attention focusing on legislative leadership battles and a shocking upset in the Speaker of the House race, the most important battle of the 2015-2016 legislative session is likely to be […]

Don’t blame Massachusetts for New Hampshire’s Leftward Drift

Don’t blame Massachusetts for New Hampshire’s Leftward Drift

By: DJ Bettencourt – July, 2014 In New Hampshire politics there is a widely held but grossly inaccurate myth. For Republican believers in the myth, it is a source of significant resentment. For Democrats who believe this myth, it instills confidence. For decades, New Hampshire was a reliably Republican state. From 1960 to 2000, New […]

NH State Senators Should Strengthen NH Domestic Violence Laws and Further Protect our Beloved Four-Legged Friends

By D.J. Bettencourt – April, 2014 State Senators should strengthen New Hampshire’s domestic violence laws and further protect our beloved four-legged friends. This month, the New Hampshire State Senate has the opportunity to strengthen New Hampshire’s domestic violence laws and further protect our beloved four-legged friends. House Bill 1410 provides our judges with flexibility in […]

New Hampshire’s Marijuana Law Betrays Small Government Principles

By: DJ Bettencourt – February, 2014 Granite Staters might assume that New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan’s pledge to veto legislation passed this month to legalize marijuana would end the discussion of the issue for this legislative session. Instead, it has intensified the debate at a time when marijuana policy is making history and emerging as […]