Deal or no deal?
New Hampshire House and Senate budget writers adopted a compromise amendment Wednesday to increase pensions for the 1,550 “Group II” active first responders who were hired before the legislature made cost-cutting reforms to the New Hampshire Retirement System in 2011.
The $120 million package would boost their eventual benefits, but put a cap on the practice of “spiking” pensions in the last few years on the job.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte backs a more generous $330 million proposal, and she promptly released a statement denouncing the changes to the pension proposal she’s been pushing.
“We have a responsibility to take care of the men and women who have helped make New Hampshire the safest state in the nation,” Ayotte said. “The changes made to the budget today shirk that responsibility and continue the past mistake of not providing police officers, firefighters, and corrections officers the benefits they have earned. We need a budget that serves all of New Hampshire, and this budget falls short of that promise.”
Some Senate Republicans say the revenue simply isn’t available to increase these pensions, particularly after the legislature agreed to new revenue numbers $33 million below the Senate’s original projections. (Those projections were lower than Ayotte’s original numbers.)
“If money is no object, then it’s easy to say yes to everyone. However, that’s not the case this biennium,” said state Sen. Tim Lang (R-Sanbornton). “Coming off last summer’s disastrous Biden inflation levels, New Hampshire businesses are just now recovering, and it’s going to take another six months before they have confidence in the economy to reinvest in growing business and growing our New Hampshire economy. That means saying no sometimes in this budget. This budget acknowledges that.”
Drew Cline at the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy told WFEA radio’s Jeff Chidester Wednesday that the problem in Concord is math.
“To paraphrase Reacher, ‘the math always wins,” Cline said, a reference to the character Jack Reacher on the hit Prime TV show.
“This is no disrespect to police and firefighters. They got a $26 million pension boost in the last budget. If they were to get what they want now, that would be more than $300 million. That’s money we just don’t have.”
Cline also pushed back on the argument that New Hampshire needs to spend more on pensions to address the recruitment shortage for law enforcement and first responders.
“That is not accurate based on all the data we can find,” Cline said. “The International Association of Police Chiefs did a survey on the recruitment crisis a few years ago. They found all sorts of reasons why it’s hard to recruit people for law enforcement. The pension issue didn’t even show up. How many people keep the same job for 20 years anymore?”
Public sector unions are already criticizing the new deal.
“We are extremely disappointed by the decision made today by the House and Senate Committee of Conference,” the Professional Firefighters of New Hampshire said in a statement. “It is particularly surprising given that both the full House and Senate had previously given overwhelming support to the retirement reform package, only for the committee to now reverse course and override that bipartisan consensus. This is not a package we can support.”
The question is whether Gov. Ayotte will support it, or will she carry out her threat to kill new video state lottery terminals (VLTs) and the hundreds of millions of revenue that could come with them?
Senate Majority Leader Regina Birdsell (R-Hampstead) says a deal must be reached.
“This compromise provides $120 million for 1,550 Group II members for their retirement while protecting the New Hampshire Retirement System against the practices of the past, which brought it to the brink of bankruptcy. This budget serves all 1.3 million Granite Staters, as well as 1,550 of our first responders.”
