In the past week, Governor Maggie Hassan has proven that she is out of touch with New Hampshire and will stoop to playing partisan politics to get what she wants.
Governor Hassan embarrassingly had to pressure her own party to overturn her budget veto, and it took her nearly three months to realize her major lapse in judgment.
As the Concord Monitor reports:
From rank-and-file lawmakers, state agencies and social service advocates, reactions to the deal amount to little more than, “Finally.”
Almost three months after Hassan vetoed the Legislature’s $11.3 billion budget, she signed a state spending plan Wednesday that makes only two major changes.
Governor Hassan delayed important funding all to make a total of two changes to the budget. The Portsmouth Herald shared concerns with most Granite Staters, worrying about the vital funding Governor Hassan was blocking:
Given the state’s dangerous opiate abuse epidemic we were particularly concerned about delaying a major increase in funding for prevention, treatment and rehabilitation programs. Also hanging in the balance were road and highway projects along with raises for home health care workers, who had not seen an increase in more than a decade.
They were right in questioning Governor Hassan’s judgment. The Concord Monitor explained the intense consequences of Governor Hassan’s veto:
Because of the stalemate, home health care providers waited three months for a 5 percent rate increase, New Hampshire Hospital couldn’t open a 10-bed mental health crisis unit and the Department of Transportation almost had to delay repaving projects on the turnpike system.
Governor Hassan was willing to block critical funding all because she didn’t get exactly what she wanted. After the outcry from New Hampshire, she realized how dangerous her veto was and asked the legislature to bail her out.
Not only is she out of touch with New Hampshire’s budget needs, but she also went against New Hampshire’s choice in the Democratic presidential primary. According to Real Clear Politics, Bernie Sanders leads Hillary Clinton in all the most recent polls, yet Governor Hassan endorsed Hillary instead.
Governor Hassan was forced to lobby against her own budget veto, and then she proceeded to endorse a candidate her own state doesn’t support. She could not be more out of touch with New Hampshire.