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“You don’t go on speaking… if everyone does that we’re going to be here until midnight” - Senate Finance Chair Jim Gray

CONCORD, NH — At yesterday’s Senate Finance Committee budget hearing, hundreds of Granite Staters packed the State House to speak out against the House-passed budget—and they kept going until almost midnight.

“The energy in Concord was incredible,” said Senate Democratic Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka. “Health care providers, students, town officials, working parents—all showing up to speak out about the real impacts this budget would have on their communities. They know that investing in housing, in healthcare, and in public education is not optional. Yesterday was one of the most powerful displays of public engagement I’ve seen in my time in the Senate.”

“The fact that this hearing went until almost midnight isn’t the problem—it’s the point,” said Senate Democratic Executive Director Robert Christmann. “Republicans spent a decade handing out hundreds of millions in tax breaks to corporations and the ultra-wealthy, and now that Granite Staters are speaking up about the consequences, they want to cut off the mic. What they’re afraid of isn’t staying until midnight—it’s accountability.”

The House-passed budget currently under review in the Senate includes:

• Over $100 million in Medicaid cuts

• A $50 million cut to affordable housing programs

• New Medicaid Income Tax of up to $283/month

• 150 positions cut from the Department of Corrections, putting public safety at risk

• $15 million cut to child care

• Nearly a third of state funding cut from the University System, which will lead to higher in-state tuition costs for New Hampshire students

• Tens of millions in public money shifted to private school vouchers
  
  

Senate Democrats pledge to keep fighting to improve the budget and provide more opportunities for working people to share their stories. The next stop of the They Cut You Out tour will be in Merrimack on Tuesday, May 13th.

“We’re not afraid to listen, and we’re not leaving early, because the future of our state deserves more than a rushed agenda,” said Perkins Kwoka. “We should be investing in what makes New Hampshire work: in housing, in public education, in health care, and in families. These are the building blocks that will keep my generation here, allow them to raise a family - and allow New Hampshire to flourish for years to come.

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