New Hampshire came in 14th in a list of “best run states in the nation,” compiled by the website 24/7 Wall St. The ranking was based on the following: each state’s debt; revenue; expenditure and deficit; taxes; exports; GDP growth; poverty; income; unemployment; high school graduation; violent crime; and foreclosure rates.
Here’s what they say about New Hampshire:
By many measures, New Hampshire is very well run. In 2011, the state had one of the highest median incomes in the nation and one of the country’s lowest unemployment and poverty rates, at 5.4% and 8.8% respectively. The state had one of the nation’s lowest tax burdens in 2010, with residents paying just 8.1% of income in taxes. New Hampshire’s tax structure is rated by the Tax Foundation as one of the nation’s most business friendly. However, the state still has difficulty managing its budget. New Hampshire had over $6,300 in debt per person in fiscal 2010, one of the highest rates in the country. The state’s pension liabilities were just 59% funded that year, also one of the lowest rates in the nation.
Debt per capita: $6,341 (7th highest)
Budget deficit: 27.2% (10th largest)
Unemployment: 5.4% (4th lowest)
Median household income: $62,647 (6th highest)
Pct. below poverty line: 8.8% (the lowest)
North Dakota was ranked as the best run state, and California as the worst. Nearby, Massachusetts came in 19th, and Maine 35th.
The Affordable Care Act will make it easier for eligible patients to sign up for Medicaid, which will swell the ranks of Medicaid recipients whether or not states opt to expand eligibility to more individuals, according to a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. This will increase Medicaid costs even for states that do not accept federal dollars to expand coverage.
According to the report, New Hampshire would spend $315 million more if all states choose to expand Medicaid than if none do.
At the beginning of November, the University of New Hampshire School of Law officially designated its library as the “New Hampshire Patent and Trademark Resource Center.” The hope is for the center to “promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship,” says David Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Incidentally, we just came across a video made by George Mason University professor Alex Tabarrok. In the video, Tabarrok makes the case that patents encourage innovation in some fields, but hinder it in others.
State agencies requested nearly $700 million in new spending at the state’s agency budget hearings, a 26 percent increase over the last state budget.
“It is important for us to understand that we will not be able to reverse course all at once,” Governor-Elect Maggie Hassan warned, after reiterating her promise to reverse the last legislature’s budget cuts. “We must be prepared to continue to make tough, fiscally responsible decisions to ensure that we can invest in our priorities, including protecting the health and safety of our citizens and building an innovative economy that will ensure long-term growth,” Hassan said at the opening session of hearings.
After the first hearing, Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Morse asserted his disappointment in the budget requests, saying “few agencies referenced their reduced spending alternative budgets or proposed areas for efficiencies.” Morse commended Hassan for “noting many of these requests are too high.”
This piece was reported by contributor Brian Wallstin
New research by the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey Institute sheds light on why millions of Americans might view the economic recovery as more illusion than reality.
In the aftermath of the 2007-2009 recession, the number of part-time workers in search of full-time jobs — a category known as the “underemployed” — remains stubbornly high, especially among nonwhites and people younger than 30. Continue Reading →
Note: This story was reported by contributor Brian Wallstin
Few trends are as worrisome to economists than the growing disparity between the rich and everyone else. The incomes of the wealthiest Americans have been rising dramatically since the 1970s, while wage gains among the poor and middle-class have stagnated.
Before the recession, however, low- and middle-income households in New Hampshire managed to gain on their wealthier neighbors compared to other states, according to a new study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute. Continue Reading →
For political junkies, policy wonks and other assorted budget watchers, February 15th is a big day. That’s the deadline for new Governor Maggie Hassan to submit her proposed FY 2014-2015 budget to the legislature. The House and Senate will then have until the end of this fiscal year, June 30th, to hash out an agreement.
But that long timeline hasn’t prevented speculation. Part of the interest, of course, is that Hassan–a Democrat–was a vocal opponent of budget cuts and tax cuts championed by the last, Republican-run, legislature.
She campaigned on reversing many of those cuts.
So it’s a safe bet that this upcoming budget won’t look just like the last one.
Although New Hampshire won’t be hit as hard as other states, the fiscal cliff could shrink state revenue – according to a new report from the Pew Center on the States. Because federal and state finances are closely tied, the study finds, federal tax increases and spending cuts will have consequences for all state budgets. Continue Reading →
Residents of Grafton gathered Tuesday night for a town-hall style meeting hosted by the Spanish renewable energy company Iberdrola. The company is hoping to build a wind farm in Grafton, and has already developed wind farms in Groton and Lempster. One of the selling points for towns is the potential for tax revenue from the wind farm to offset residents’ property taxes. This is a quick look at how property taxes in Groton and Lempster have been affected by Iberdrola’s wind farms. Continue Reading →
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