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In two legislative victories for Gov. Chris Sununu, he saw Republicans unite to pass a state budget and full-day kindergarten. The New Hampshire House and Senate met Thursday for the final session of the legislative year in their respective chambers, and behind-the-scenes negotiations on the budget led to a win for the NH GOP platform. An $11.7 billion biennium budget is on its way to Sununu’s desk for his signature.

The scene was a joyous one for Sununu and Republican lawmakers in the Executive Council chambers at the State House after the budget vote. As Sununu walked into the room, cheering and applause broke out to celebrate their victory.

“Absolutely a big win, a big win for New Hampshire,” Sununu said after the vote. “People sent us to Concord to get a job done and we did it. And we did it the right way, we brought folks in and we listened and we talked, we kept working it the best we could and we came out with what I think is incredible progress for the state of New Hampshire.”

The Senate passed a committee of conference spending plan on a party-line vote of 14-9 in its Thursday morning session. About an hour later, the House passed the same budget on a roll call vote of 198-169. Only 14 Republicans voted in opposition and five Democrats supported the budget.

The margin of passage was wider than many people expected. Just a week ago, the fate of the budget in the House was uncertain, after conservatives tanked an earlier version of the budget in April. After some wheeling and dealing with Sununu and GOP Senate leadership, members of the conservative House Republican Alliance and House Freedom Caucus said while it was an imperfect budget, it was something that had some benefits for Granite Staters.

“Although the caucus as a whole is still concerned about the level of spending, there are definite benefits for the NH taxpayers,” the Freedom Caucus said in a statement. “The majority of our caucus members were able to support the budget in order to bring these benefits to our constituents.”

The business tax cuts added by the Senate were a significant factor in motivating the conservatives to vote in favor of the budget.

“There are many Republican leaders to thank for the passage of this bill — [House] Speaker [Shawn] Jasper, Senate President [Chuck] Morse, and Governor Sununu united the party in Concord and ensured passage of this Republican budget,” said NHGOP Chair Jeanie Forrester. “Republicans of all backgrounds and stripes united to pass this budget and ensure a stable and bright future for the State of New Hampshire. This shows that when Republicans are united, Republicans win and New Hampshire is better off for it.”

A companion bill that made the policy changes reflected in the budget also passed the Senate by a 14-9 margin and in the House by a vote of 212-161.

The companion bill included a phase-in of business tax cuts, elimination of the electricity consumption tax, and authorization of online lottery games. The budget will take effect on July 1, the first day of the new state fiscal year.

While Republicans claimed a win for their legislative agenda, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley sent a fundraising email to supporters, blasting the GOP-backed spending plan.

“Gov. Sununu’s reckless and dangerous budget will take New Hampshire’s progress and turn it into disrepair,” Buckley said. “Republicans assume New Hampshire’s problems will just fix themselves. That’s not leadership, that’s ignorance. Let’s work together to make sure we have the state government we deserve in Concord.”

Later in the day, the House and Senate also passed another of Sununu’s policy priorities: funding for full-day kindergarten. The funding starts with state dollars, but after two years, it would be funded from revenue generated by newly authorized Keno.

Over the legislative session, Sununu stuck by his campaign promise to see full-day kindergarten come to fruition. He called for it in his budget, stood by his pledge after House Republicans stripped its funding from their budget, and then applauded once the Senate revitalized it as a standalone bill. He showed his flexibility when the policy and funding levels changed each time and while the final bill was not what he originally intended, he called it a “first-step.”

The House overwhelmingly passed Senate Bill 191 on a roll call of 251-111. The Senate vote was 15-8, with 12 Republicans and three Democrats in favor, and two Republicans and six Democrats opposed.

It was a difficult bill for some lawmakers to stomach tying online gambling revenue to education. For Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Concord, he’s been a longtime advocate of casino-style gambling in the state, but he voted against the bill since he didn’t believe the two issues should be linked.

On the opposite end, Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley is not a big supporter of Keno, but he voted in favor of the bill to invest more in early education.

Still, the bill made it through the legislature and is headed to Sununu’s desk, who applauded its passage and declared that he is “the first governor” to deliver a full-day kindergarten.

“The investments made today will give New Hampshire’s children a strong foundation for tomorrow’s future,” he said. “I am proud to be the first governor to deliver a real full-day kindergarten program for communities across our state, which will close the opportunity gap and provide students, regardless of their economic status, an extra step up as they enter the first grade. Full-day kindergarten is good for children and families, and a critical tool in retaining our future workforce.”

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After weeks of uncertainty and negotiations, it appears the Republican-controlled legislature could have enough votes to get the state budget passed Thursday, after key conservative groups indicated they intend to vote in favor of the spending plan.

Both the House and Senate are voting on an $11.7 billion, two-year spending plan negotiated by a committee of conference earlier this month. The Senate is expected to approve the compromise, but its fate is less certain in the House.

Gov. Chris Sununu, NHGOP Chair Jeanie Forrester, and House Speaker Shawn Jasper have been quietly making the rounds to appeal to the conservative caucuses in the New Hampshire House. The House Republican Alliance and House Freedom Caucus had concerns about increasing spending over the previous biennium. GOP leadership appears to have quelled those worries after business tax cuts were approved in the final version of the state budget during the conference committee between the House and the Senate.

No members from the two conservative blocs sat on the budget conference committee, which also harbored some bitter sentiments from representatives.

“While the caucus as a whole, finds the level of spending objectionable, we were able, with the cooperation of the Senate, to craft a bill that will have some positive outcomes for New Hampshire taxpayers, and businesses,” said Rep. Anne Copp, R-Danbury. “Many of these points were clear objectives for the [Freedom Caucus] when we went to House leadership in the early stages of the budget process. It is unfortunate that some of House leadership chose to exclude us from the process.”

At first, it was unclear if House GOP leadership would choose to work with the Democrats or conservatives to get a budget passed in the chamber. After anti-abortion language was added to the bill in the conference committee, Democrats said they would oppose the budget.

“What businesses need, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, is a well-qualified workforce, to maintain our quality of life in the Granite State and a sound infrastructure. It isn’t a tax cut,” said House Minority Leader Steve Shurtleff at a Wednesday press conference with more than 30 other Democratic lawmakers.

With their entire caucus planning to vote against the budget, House Republicans cannot afford to lose more than 25 to 30 votes within their own party, depending on how many of the 400 representatives show up to vote.

The conservatives led the defeat of the House’s original budget proposal in April, after 32 Republicans joined Democrats to vote against the plan. It was the first time since at least 1969, when records were first kept, that the House failed to produce a budget to pass on to the Senate.

Despite several conservative endorsements on the final version of the budget, they are not giving the credit to Jasper. The speaker and conservatives have not exactly seen eye-to-eye on many issues this legislative session. Some even blamed him for not getting a budget passed in April because Jasper didn’t give in to their demands. For the budget that came out of the conference committee, some conservatives attributed their change in position due to the governor and Senate leadership.

“The Freedom Caucus cannot thank the Governor and Senate Leadership enough for the work they have done to deliver a budget that is more fiscally responsible, often having to fight House leadership to lower spending and reduce taxes,” said Rep. John Burt, R-Goffstown. “There can be no doubt that it is a bizarre situation when the Senate President and Senate Finance Chair have to work to bring the House Republican caucus together, but that is precisely what happened, and this budget undoubtedly would have collapsed without their efforts.”

Senate Finance Chair Gary Daniels, R-Milford, said he was pleased to hear that members of the House Republican Alliance and House Freedom Caucus would vote for the budget.

“It was important to the process to have input from these legislators regarding elements they felt needed to be included in the proposed budget, and their interaction helped shape the final product,” he said. “What we achieved is a budget that is good for New Hampshire and provides resources for a strong economic future by balancing key priorities, providing personal and business tax relief and growing the state’s rainy day fund, while keeping overall state spending within responsible levels.”

There are still some conservatives that plan to vote against the budget, but whip counts total defections at no more than 25 members. Still, it’s expected to be a close vote and Sununu was optimistic, yet cautious.

“You never get anything by raising your voice and threatening,” he told New Hampshire Public Radio. “No, open positive listening. And when you bringing people in and talking to them and you are opening, and listening, it’s amazing what you can get done.”

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After the New Hampshire Senate passed its version of a state budget last week, it was expected the House would request a Committee of Conference, so it could ultimately have a say in the final budget negotiations. House conservatives, who led the charge to defeat the budget in April, were hopeful that Republican leadership would finally cooperate with their list of demands. Yet, representatives of a conservative caucus were disappointed Tuesday after House Speaker Shawn Jasper appointed none of its members to the conference committee, putting the fate of the state budget in jeopardy.

Acting under a recess rule, the House non-concurred Tuesday with the Senate version of the biennium budget and Jasper, R-Hudson, appointed members to a conference committee.

He named to the committee himself, House Majority Leader Richard Hinch, House Finance Committee Chairman Neal Kurk, Rep. Lynne Ober (R-Hudson), Rep. Karen Umberger (R-Kearsarge), and Rep. Mary Jane Wallner (D-Concord).

The conservative House Freedom Caucus criticized the conference committee because its members are “the same House leadership that led the House budget to fail in April.”

“With less than two weeks to go to the final House session, it is critical that the House leadership find a way to work with all of their members. However, the message that the House is sending in these negotiations when they put forth leaders who were so utterly clueless about the budget in April is they are only interested in more of the same. This is short sighted at best,” said Rep. JR Hoell, R-Dunbarton.

For the first time since at least 1969, the House failed to pass a budget on to the Senate. The Senate Finance Committee used Gov. Chris Sununu’s budget proposal as a starting point, but it also took into consideration some of the House Finance Committee’s spending plan. In last week’s Senate marathon budget debate, a trailer bill accompanied the budget to specifically incorporate the failed House budget “for purposes of committees of conference.”

During a conference committee, a selection of House and Senate members work to compromise on the specifics of a bill. A conference committee report would be sent to the House and Senate for final approvals. That’s where it can get dicey, especially in the House.

The House Freedom Caucus was instrumental in the demise of the budget in April. The group didn’t like that spending increased over former Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan’s budget and that the House GOP leadership’s budget lacked tax cuts. If the Freedom Caucus can convince other conservatives or on-the-fence Republicans to jump ship, the budget could die in the House.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” said Rep. Anne Copp, R-Danbury, and a member of the House Freedom Caucus.

“By putting the same leadership on the committee of conference that led to a budget that failed by over 85 votes, the state is being set up for having no budget that can pass the House later this month,” she added. “We need a fresh start to begin the processing of a truly fiscally responsible budget, not the same group that offered a reckless spending increase.”

Jasper has not publicly responded yet to the criticisms from the House Freedom Caucus. Last week, Jasper sent an email to caucus members asking to sit down and discuss the budget with them on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

“It is important at this point in the process that we hear your concerns and find areas where we share common ground,” he wrote. “Ultimately, we hope to be able to reach agreement on the major issues, which would be extremely helpful prior to the state of the budget committee of conference.”

Jasper told WMUR in an earlier story that a conference committee was needed to make passing a budget easier.

“The reason was simply that if the Senate hadn’t agreed to do that [a conference committee], we would have been amending our positions on the budget and…onto Senate bills everywhere possible in order to be able to preserve those positions,” he said. “The Senate realized that to have done it in that way would have made the committee of conference process very, very difficult.”

Yet, conservatives say its unfair to have the failed House budget included in conference committee discussions.

“How can the Senate or Governor even begin to approach a committee of conference knowing that there isn’t much chance that the House conferees can pull together a majority of the body?,” said Rep. James McConnell, R-North Swanzey. “This is a recipe for disaster and is something that we can all see coming.”

If either chamber fails to approve the budget, a continuing resolution to maintain spending at its current levels would likely occur, at least until a full budget is passed. Republicans only hold a slim majority in the House and even a small number of “nay” votes could spell doom for the budget if Democrats also oppose it.

Only one Democrat has been appointed by the House to sit on the conference committee. Democrats in the House and Senate have been critical of the GOP budget, but when it comes time to vote, some could change positions and vote in favor of a budget out of fear that the chamber would come up short again. They could also band together against the budget and watch the Republicans’ infighting, hoping that helps them in next year’s elections.

Senate President Chuck Morse is expected to announce his budget conference committee members on Wednesday.

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