At Wednesday’s COVID-19 news conference, Gov. Chris Sununu decried what he described as partisan efforts by the state’s Democrats during the coronavirus crisis, telling reporters “we’re not gonna play that.”
In response to a question about the NH Senate Democrats’ Granite Promise Proposal, Sununu said, “I gotta be honest, the state doesn’t want a Democrat plan. The state doesn’t want a Republican plan. The state wants a New Hampshire plan, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
“Every time there’s a report, ‘Democrats this, a lawsuit that,’ nobody wants any of that. Independent, Democrat, Republican — nobody wants politics in any of this. We haven’t done that, and we’re not gonna play that.”
New Hampshire Senate Democrats released their “Granite Promise Proposal” Tuesday outlining how they would prioritize the distribution of the $1.25 billion grant received from the federal government to address the coronavirus crisis.
These are the same funds the legislature’s Democratic leaders asked a judge to give them oversight of through the Fiscal Committee. Judge David Anderson rejected their request, and Democrats haven’t announced any plans to appeal the ruling.
New Hampshire Democrats responded to Sununu’s criticism.Sen. Feltes is focused on the transparency of taxpayer money and relief for working people and working families, not bailing out big corporations or campaign donors,” said Emma Sands, communications director for Feltes’ gubernatorial campaign. “Rejecting funding for first responders, towns and cities, and hospitals because it’s an idea that came from Democrats, shows Sununu is thinking more about politics than real plans.”
Veteran state Sen. Lou D’Allesandro told NHJournal: “The state needs a good plan. No one has a perfect one. We must look at what we need to do and together bring a solution forward.”
Sununu insists that he’s getting plenty of bipartisan input on how to invest federal coronavirus aid through his Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery (GOFERR) and the Governor’s Economic Re-Opening Task Force. Whatever he’s doing appears to be working.
On Wednesday, the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College released a new poll showing Sununu with a 70 percent favorability rating and a 74 percent job approval. And 86 percent of voters approve of the Republican governor’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.
“Sununu’s favorability and job approval have been buoyed by his leadership during the epidemic, and he is in a strong position to win re-election,” said NHIOP Executive Director Neil Levesque.
