New Hampshire has constantly been an excellent state to open a enterprise and to boost a household, however as any guardian of younger youngsters is aware of, the issue of accessing reasonably priced and dependable childcare is threatening the precarious stability of trade and household wants. The childcare disaster is placing strain on each employers and workers who’re mother and father, significantly moms of younger youngsters, in a bind.
The childcare disaster appears to be like like this: Youngster care facilities are struggling to rent and retain workers. This limits their authorized capability to make spots obtainable for extra youngsters. If childcare facilities increase worker pay, that value will likely be handed onto households. Thus, mother and father both can’t discover childcare areas obtainable or the charges are unaffordable. Companies then wrestle to rent workers as a result of many potential workers don’t have childcare.
The pandemic and subsequent restoration has introduced into sharp focus simply how a lot a powerful financial system depends on a strong childcare trade, or “the workforce behind the workforce.” We’d like sustainable assist for the childcare trade to construct a basis for our companies, youngsters and younger mother and father, significantly moms, to rebuild from the pandemic.
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Like all New Hampshire companies struggling to bounce again and rebuild in 2022, childcare suppliers additionally wrestle with the best stability to recruit and retain workers with out significantly impacting costs for shoppers and their backside line. When the product is childcare, and the shoppers are mother and father with youngsters, this creates ripple results throughout all industries.
Youngster look after one toddler in New Hampshire prices $13,255 on common. For a married couple making the median state earnings, that’s 12 p.c of their earnings. For a median single earnings earner, that’s 40 p.c of her earnings.
Youngster care for 2 youngsters in New Hampshire prices $24,28 on common. For a married couple making the median earnings, that’s 21 p.c of their earnings. For a median single earnings earner, that’s 73 p.c of her earnings. Many mother and father discover that childcare prices greater than what they earn and should make the financial determination to not return to work to care for their youngsters at house. This has created an unsustainable cycle for childcare facilities, mother and father and employers.
Whereas almost everyone seems to be impacted by the present childcare disaster, important staff and girls are feeling its influence extra acutely. Research have proven that, in response to pandemic-related childcare calls for, moms with younger youngsters have organized reductions of their work hours which are 4 to 5 instances higher than the reductions organized by fathers.
And with out entry to dependable childcare, ladies depart the workforce. Ladies made up 53 p.c of New Hampshire unemployment claims through the pandemic. Between April 2020 and December 2021, 15 p.c of Granite State staff who’re out of the labor drive cite childcare as the first purpose for not working.
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That is exacerbated by regional disparities in what are known as “childcare deserts.” In these places, in principally rural areas, it may be almost not possible to search out childcare. For ladies making an attempt to return to work in rural areas, these challenges might be insurmountable.
Ladies make the financial system work. We’d like an answer that displays the higher burden on working ladies with households.
Some companies have had the power to be versatile or inventive, permitting workers to make money working from home, to shift their hours to accommodate youngsters’s schedules and sick time to offer for youngsters’s wants when they’re uncovered or sick themselves. However not all industries might be accommodating for workers — emergency responders, meals service staff, hospitality and retail staff don’t have the choice of doing their jobs remotely, for instance.
The truth is, all industries are affected by the childcare disaster, and addressing it’ll require a multi-faceted strategy.
In an preliminary effort to deal with the disaster, the NH Legislature is contemplating SB 446, “The Workforce Behind the Workforce Act,” which, as amended by the Senate, directs the Division of Well being and Human Providers, in session with the Youngster Care Advisory Council, to submit a plan to the governor and Legislature outlining proposals to offer financial aid and restoration to foster childcare alternatives within the state.
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The Early Studying Alliance is main a broad coalition of neighborhood, advocacy and enterprise assist for this invoice. The NH Ladies’s Basis and the Enterprise & Trade Affiliation assist this laws. We urge the Legislature to cross this invoice and we urge Governor Sununu to signal it.
We will’t cease there. We’d like mother and father of younger youngsters to talk up about their wrestle. We’d like companies to have interaction with their legislators to clarify the childcare-related challenges they meet in hiring. We’d like all staff and neighborhood members to acknowledge how this impacts their each day lives. We’d like our neighborhood and state leaders to take daring motion to handle the childcare disaster for reasonably priced, accessible, and high-quality care that may assist a wholesome, equitable, and affluent future for New Hampshire.
Tanna Clews is CEO of the NH Ladies’s Basis. Michael Skelton is president and CEO of the Enterprise & Trade Affiliation of New Hampshire.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte used her first speech as New Hampshire’s 83rd chief executive Thursday to call for “common-sense cooperation” as the state tackles issues ranging from housing, to education, to the state budget.
In her roughly 45-minute long inaugural address, Ayotte simultaneously lauded New Hampshire as a model for the rest of the nation, but warned that pressing concerns — financial and otherwise — would require policymakers to make difficult decisions in the coming months.
You can watch Ayotte’s full inauguration speech here.
“I could not be more optimistic about our future, but at the same time we have real challenges that we have to take head on, if we want to keep our state moving in the right direction,” Ayotte told a crowd in the State House’s Representatives Hall that included current lawmakers and state officials, as well as several former governors, congressmen, and other political veterans.
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“Whenever we talk about cuts, just like a family making hard decisions, there are things we can’t skimp on: protecting our most vulnerable and serving those most in need.”
Gov. Kelly Ayotte, forecasting upcoming state budget negotiations
Ayotte said she’s proud the state ranks high in categories including freedom, public safety, and taxpayer return on investment, but said slowing tax collections and the end of billions of dollars of federal aid dictates that the state “recalibrate” its spending.
“Whenever we talk about cuts, just like a family making hard decisions, there are things we can’t skimp on: protecting our most vulnerable and serving those most in need,” Ayotte said.
Ayotte’s speech was light on specifics — she called for few clear policy initiatives or spending cuts — but she did announce one new state initiative: a Commission on Government Efficiency, or COGE, to help identify ways to spend less state money. The committee will be led by former Gov. Craig Benson, who nominated Ayotte to be New Hampshire attorney general in 2004, and businessman Andrew Crews, a longtime political donor to Ayotte.
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Ayotte told the Democratic leaders of the New Hampshire House and Senate that her door would always be open to them. She meanwhile asked GOP legislative leaders to “marshal our Republican majorities over the next two years to deliver on the promises we made to keep our state moving in the right direction.”
Ayotte called public safety her “absolute top priority” and said she expected Republicans to pass a ban this year on so-called sanctuary policies, which aim to protect undocumented immigrants from criminal penalties. She also said the state needs to further tighten its bail policies, and boost police retirement benefits to make it easier to recruit officers and keep them on the job.
She identified housing as another top issue and said the state needs to “get serious” by modeling good behavior to cities and towns, by enforcing a 60-day turnaround on state permits for new housing projects. She also promised to “strengthen new and existing partnerships” between the state, cities and towns and the private sector to get new housing units built.
Ayotte also highlighted education, and said while New Hampshire’s current rate of pupil spending was “wonderful,” lawmakers need to “keep it up” while simultaneously expanding the state’s voucher-like school choice program. Ayotte also promised to ensure students can learn and teachers can teach without distraction by banning cell phones in the classroom.
On other issues, Ayotte promised to expand the state’s ranks of mental health providers, strengthen anti-suicide efforts, oppose a controversial landfill proposal in the town of Dalton, and veto any new abortion restrictions.
More digs at Massachusetts — but also a welcome
After framing her gubernatorial campaign last year as a rebuke of Massachusetts, Ayotte also used her inaugural address as another chance to take digs at the Granite State’s southern neighbor.
Ayotte criticized policymakers there for what she described as out-of-control spending, tax hikes, and lax immigration policies. But she did say New Hampshire welcomes Massachusetts residents as shoppers and visitors.
One of Ayotte’s biggest applause lines was addressed to Bay State business leaders.
“To the businesses of Massachusetts: We’d love to have you bring your talents to the Granite State,” she said. “We’re happy to show you why it’s better here.”
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Ayotte extended a similar invitation to Canadian businesses, saying they would be especially welcome in New Hampshire’s North Country.
Lawmakers say they’re ready to get to work
Lawmakers past and present attended Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s inauguration.
Republicans in both legislative chambers will enjoy sizable majorities this session, and the party’s leaders say they’re ready to use those numbers to advance the policy goals Ayotte laid out Thursday.
House Majority Leader Jason Osborne praised the governor’s speech and said that along with the expansion of Education Freedom Accounts, his caucus will focus on “addressing issues of affordability across all sectors: housing, healthcare, electricity, you name it.”
He expressed optimism about Ayotte’s proposed COGE initiative to make government more efficient, but acknowledged that trimming the state budget could cause tension as lawmakers seek to protect their favorite programs.
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“Everything we do is someone’s favorite pet project, so we’ve got to figure out who is going to get sent to the chopping block,” he said.
Osborne added that while his majorities are larger this session than last term’s near evenly split House makeup, he knows there will be disagreement within his own caucus.
“The more willing that we are to let people do their own thing, for things that are important to them, the more we’re going to be able to band together and get things done together, as well,” he said.
Sen. James Gray, a Republican from Rochester who leads the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters it was too early in the budgeting process to forecast where the state may trim to balance its books. He said he plans to work with Ayotte to advance her campaign promises.
With a 40-seat disadvantage, House Democrats will have little ability to set the legislative agenda this session, but Minority Leader Alexis Simpson of Exeter said she was grateful that Ayotte expressed a willingness to work across the aisle. She said Democrats would focus on ensuring any budget reductions don’t end up harming the state’s neediest residents.
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“We feel these budget cuts at the state level will lead to higher costs at the local level, so we’re really working on making sure the vulnerable populations that Gov. Ayotte spoke about really are protected in this budget,” Simpson said.
Simpson also said she hoped for bipartisan collaboration on housing, mental health services and other issues.
Notable political faces fill the room
Gov. Chris Sununu attends the inauguration of his successor, Gov. Kelly Ayotte.
Thursday’s inauguration ceremony brought out a crowd of high profile political figures in the state, past and present.
Outgoing Gov. Chris Sununu received a sustained round of applause when he entered Representatives Hall, and was again thanked by Ayotte during her speech for his eight years of service to the state.
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Others present included former Congressman Charlie Bass and Scott Brown, a former U.S. Senator representing Massachusetts and ambassador to New Zealand, who was also New Hampshire’s 2014 Republican U.S. Senate nominee. Also in attendance was former Gov. Maggie Hassan, who now serves in the U.S. Senate after unseating Ayotte in 2016.
Former Gov. Craig Benson was seated in the chamber, as was Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais, who entered the room to cheers.
Four of the five justices on the New Hampshire Supreme Court were in attendance, as were federal judges for the District of New Hampshire. New Hampshire Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald swore in Ayotte, while she was flanked by her husband and two children.
Members of the Executive Council were also sworn in during Thursday’s proceedings.
New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte will deliver an inaugural speech Thursday in which she is expected to project a message of post-election unity.
Ayotte, a Republican, is expected to emphasize her desire to get to work for all Granite Staters regardless of party affiliation.
“You have my word that each and every day I will work on your behalf to do what’s best for all of us. For all of New Hampshire,” she’ll say, according to excerpts of her prepared remarks that her team shared with The Boston Globe.
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Ayotte is expected to say New Hampshire needs to “get serious about housing production” in light of the current “crisis” around the constrained supply of homes. She’s expected to voice support for expanding the state’s Education Freedom Account program. And she’s planning to laud the budgetary approach state leaders have taken in recent years, including the elimination of the interest and dividends tax.
“New Hampshire is a wonderful, beautiful state,” she’ll say. “And protecting what makes us unique is so much more important than one person or one party. … I could not be more optimistic about our shared future.”
Inauguration Day ceremonies are slated to begin at 11:30 a.m., with a livestream available.
Do you know Kelly Ayotte’s background? Here are 10 facts, including a few you may have missed.
As she takes office, Ayotte’s allies and foes will be watching closely, including to see how her policy positions play out in these six areas.
The festivities around Ayotte taking office include a first inaugural ball on Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Omni Mt. Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, and a second inaugural ball on Saturday, Jan. 18, at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Manchester. Tickets to both events are sold out, though a waitlist is available.
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Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
Why are the New Hampshire Ice Castles so blue? – CBS Boston
Watch CBS News
The Ice Castles in North Woodstock, New Hampshire are set to open this weekend, inviting visitors to enter a world of frosty enchantment. WBZ-TV’s Jacob Wycoff reports.
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