By: Phil Sletten, Research Director, NHFPI

 As part of the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute’s 10 County State Budget tour, my colleagues and I travelled across the state to discuss what the State Budget is, how it is structured, what it funds, how State revenue and spending decisions interact with local property taxes, what the budget means for affordability and household costs across New Hampshire, and more.

There are four chances left to join the conversation. Learn the details for our upcoming events in Laconia, Newport, Portsmouth, and Gorham at www.nhfpi.org/tour.

Reflecting the spirit of New Hampshire’s residents, we found Granite Staters to be deeply engaged, invested, and passionate about how the State Budget, and decisions made by our lawmakers in Concord, impact our everyday lives and communities. Below are some of the questions that kept coming up about how the budget works, and a few answers, too.

Where does the money actually come from, and is it enough

Many attendees were focused not just on what New Hampshire spends money on, but on how the State and local governments raise revenue, and whether that money is sufficient to meet the state’s needs. 

The State relies heavily on federal funding, like all states do, as well as business taxes, taxes on restaurant meals and hotel rooms, State-level property taxes for education, taxes on cigarettes, sales of liquor and lottery tickets, taxes on buying and selling property, and a bunch of smaller taxes and fees. Recent reductions to business tax rates, the repeal of a tax on interest and dividends, and adjustments to other revenue sources all shape how much funding is available. 

State lawmakers must write a balanced budget each year, so when revenues fall from one source, they must be raised through another, or policymakers have to decide which services to reduce. These decisions can raise questions about long-term sustainability and well-being, especially as health care, education, and infrastructure costs grow.

How is the State Budget structured

Another common thread of questions was curiosity about how the State Budget is organized and why it works that way. 

The State Budget is written as two separate pieces of legislation. The Operating Budget Bill (House Bill 1 or HB 1) directs where most of the money goes, and lists line items as one might image in a budget. The Trailer Bill (HB 2) includes the policy language that supports HB 1. State government agencies kick off the budget process with funding request proposals, which estimate their needed funding levels to carry out their designated responsibilities and services. The governor uses those requests to build a proposal, and then the Legislature makes the changes it wants before the budget returns to the Governor for consideration and, in most cases, approval. 

All State Budget expenditures are divided into six main categories: Health and Social Services, Education, Justice and Public Protection, Transportation, General Government, and Resource Protection and Development. Two-third of all expenditures are in Health and Social Services and Education. Services within these categories can shift, but usually only do during State agency reorganizations. Categorization can feel a bit vague. For example, the Lottery Commission is under “Education” because it raises money for education.

Attendees were also interested in what happens when things don’t go as planned, or changes need to occur after the budget is finalized. The State can draw from its Rainy Day Fund or reopen the State Budget in response to economic downturns or emergencies, such as the 2007-2009 Great Recession. More regularly, the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee and the Executive Council work with State agencies to manage smaller-scale changes needed in the budget.

Where does the money go and who benefits

Finally, many of the most detailed questions focused on how funds are distributed and who ultimately benefits from State spending.

Participants wanted to connect the dots between State-level decisions and local impacts. For example, a significant portion of State spending, about 44% of the State Budget, goes to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. Federal programs, particularly Medicaid, also play a major role in funding services by providing federal matching dollars for eligible expenditures. Meanwhile, education funding continues to be one of the most discussed topics, particularly as shifting demographics lead to lower enrollment and can change the distribution of dollars from one community to another.

The NHFPI State Budget tour presented a great opportunity for Grantie Staters to connect with each other and have their fiscal policy questions answered directly. The number of people at these events demonstrated how much Granite Staters are involved and care about what happens in New Hampshire. When Granite Staters are informed and engaged, we can all benefit. 

There are four chances left to join the conversation. Learn the details for our upcoming events in Laconia, Newport, Portsmouth, and Gorham at www.nhfpi.org/tour.

In a speech last month criticizing a state bill that would permit local governments to impose lower speed limits, New Hampshire state Rep. Thomas Walsh joked about how it was “very tempting” to “run bicycles off the road.” Bob Manley, a resident of the Granite State, sent a version of the following letter to Walsh in protest, and we are printing it to draw larger attention to the blithe way that many Americans demean cyclisxts. The letter has been lightly edited for clarity.

Dear Rep. Walsh,

I am writing to you as a resident of New Hampshire and a frequent cyclist on our state’s roads. I was disturbed and outraged by your statement on the House floor on April 23, 2026. “It is against the law to run over pedestrians,” you said. “It’s against the law to run bicycles off the road, even though it’s sometimes very tempting.”

This is not a harmless remark. It is dangerous, irresponsible and completely inappropriate — particularly coming from the chair of the House Transportation Committee, a position responsible for promoting and protecting the safety for all road users.

As highlighted in a recent piece by Paul Susca and Amanda Gourgue of the Bike-Walk Alliance, New Hampshire faces a troubling and worsening pattern of fatalities that involve pedestrians and cyclists. These are not abstract statistics. These are human beings: neighbors, friends and family members whose lives are permanently altered or cut short altogether.

It is unacceptable for a public official to suggest — even in jest — that harming cyclists is “very tempting.” Doing so sends several dangerous messages: that the safety and wellbeing of cyclists and pedestrians are negotiable; that reckless and aggressive driving is acceptable; and that vulnerable road users do not deserve protection. 

Those of us who ride on New Hampshire’s roads already understand the risks. We experience close passes, endure hostility, and witness moments where a split second determines whether we make it home. We rely on our elected representatives to take these risks seriously, not diminish and normalize them.

Your role demands leadership, accountability, and a commitment to safety. Your comment suggests the opposite.

I urge you to publicly retract your statement, issue a sincere apology and reaffirm your commitment to the safety of all road users — especially those who walk and bike.

More importantly, I urge you to take meaningful action to improve safety on our roads, rather than dismissing or undermining efforts to do so.

We all share these roads. Every person on them deserves to get home safely.

Respectfully,
Bob Manley

EXETER, N.H. — Twenty-nine people from 18 countries became naturalized US citizens during a ceremony Friday at Exeter High School, where a federal judge shared an inspiring message wrapped in a piece of lesser-known local history from the American Revolution.

Judge Landya B. McCafferty, who presided over the ceremony, noted that New Hampshire enacted the first state constitution in January 1776 to establish a new democratic form of government, with its capital in Exeter, six months before the nation’s Declaration of Independence.

The royal governor had fled New Hampshire in 1775 as tensions rose and civil government collapsed, so a group of revolutionaries met in Exeter and drafted a constitution that sought to protect “the honest people of this colony” from being subjected to “the machinations and evil designs of wicked men.”

This temporary document — which remained in effect for eight years — accomplished “two radical things,” McCafferty said. First, it asserted New Hampshire’s independence. Second, it laid out a vision of democratic governance.

“Power in a monarchy flows downward, theoretically from God down to the king, down to the people,” McCafferty said. “This temporary constitution proposed a government that flowed up from the people to their representatives. And there was no king. The power came from the people.”

While many colonists who remained loyal to the monarchy regarded New Hampshire’s first constitution as treasonous at the time, McCafferty said, the document survived the Revolutionary War and came to inspire other state constitutions and the US Constitution that took effect in 1789.

“New Hampshire’s example of self-government persuaded other Americans that self-government, government by the people, could work,” she said.

With that history lesson in mind, McCafferty encouraged the 29 new citizens to commit themselves to productive civic engagement, by making informed decisions at the ballot box, serving as jurors with pride, and supporting their neighbors, whether by volunteering in the local community, raising children to be good citizens themselves, running for public office, or working in law enforcement or for the US military.

“We will be a better country because of you,” she said.

The milestone also delivered a sense of relief to those who began pursuing citizenship years ago, before the current Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

“I was a little bit worried in the beginning,” said Maria Caroline Bertocchi of Milford, N.H., a native of Brazil who embarked on the naturalization process in 2021. “But now I’m totally relaxed.”

Bertocchi, 28, attended the ceremony with her husband, two children, and an entourage of in-laws celebrating the occasion.

“I feel like, ‘Oh my God, finally this process is over, and I can stay here with them,’” she said. “For me it means a lot.”

Randerson Michel Caracas Soares, who is also from Brazil and living in Milford, attended the ceremony with his husband and said he is grateful to reach the conclusion of a journey they began about four years ago.

“I feel like I have more freedom right now,” he said. “I can find better jobs here, opportunities. … We picked the United States because it’s the best country in the world.”

This story appears in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free email newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. Sign up here.

Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.