Committee reviews House-passed capital budget; members debate CTE placeholder, rail subsidies and agency projects

The Public Works and Highways Committee opened a public hearing on House Bill 25, the state capital budget, at about 9 a.m., where legislators described cuts and repurposings that brought the House plan below the governor's recommendation and discussed several contested line items.

Representative David Mills, chairman of the committee, said the House received the governor's capital budget recommendation of about $143.4 million but revised it downward, setting an internal target of $135 million and ultimately bringing the House figure to $132,500,000, "an $11,000,000 reduction." He told the committee the House repurposed a $20,000,000 governor proposal for career and technical education (CTE) after two town votes did not advance local projects, and used other adjustments to leverage roughly $64.9 million in federal funds for aviation projects and military matches.

The changes included added or altered projects across agencies: a dollar placeholder for the Milford Applied Technology Center to signal continued priority for CTE; additional money for the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway; funding adjustments for the University System's deferred-maintenance pool and for community college critical maintenance and IT infrastructure; $450,000 in matching funds tied to a private freight rail owner; a $450,000 appropriation for Glencliff Home elevator work; and several Pease Development Authority and Department of Safety items, among others. Legislative Budget Assistant Chris Shea walked members through a side-by-side compare document the House used to show those additions, deletions and repurposings.

Why it matters: decisions in HB 25 set bonding and capital priorities for infrastructure, higher education, public safety and veterans' facilities for the coming biennium, and several line items depend on federal matching dollars or future local votes.

Key debate and testimony

Representative Mills said the committee aimed to be cautious about the overall size of bonded capital and to leave flexibility where local approvals had not yet occurred. "We put the dollar placeholder in," Mills said of the Milford CTE line, adding that if Milford later votes to proceed, the project would be a top priority for future funding.

John Graham, a member of the Veterans Home board of managers, testified in support of the House additions for the Veterans Home and asked that the House's added project for ADA compliance remain. "We are in total support of what the house did with the Veterans Home," Graham said, noting an upcoming VA inspection and that improvements to bathrooms, bedrooms and flooring would be helpful.

Representative Kaczynski urged deletion of certain freight-rail appropriations for private rail owners and criticized subsidies to private companies. Speaking about a $450,000 appropriation tied to the New Hampshire Northcoast Railroad (owned by Boston Sand & Gravel), he asked, "why are we subsidizing these rich companies?" He called rail a profitable private industry and questioned bonding public funds for private railroad infrastructure.

On technical and programmatic items, Shea summarized changes: the House removed a new $18.5 million Jaffrey Wrench project and instead put a dollar placeholder for Milford CTE; it funded cybersecurity work at the Department of Information Technology while reducing a cloud-services ask; it added elevator work at Glencliff; it increased funding for the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway by $6 million on top of the governor's recommendation; it combined several University System projects into an $8 million flexible appropriation for certain campus work; and it added state matches to secure roughly $64.9 million in federal FAA or military funds for airport and military projects.

Process and fiscal risks

Committee members asked about matching requirements and whether private entities must provide matching funds for rail-related appropriations; Shea confirmed the House language requires a dollar-for-dollar match. Shea also noted that federal funds are always subject to risk and that, if a federal match did not materialize, agencies ordinarily would need legislative action or a special bill to appropriate alternate state funds.

No committee votes were recorded at the hearing; the session consisted of testimony, member questions and a presentation by the Legislative Budget Assistant. Chairman Mills closed the public hearing after members heard testimony and asked staff to continue compiling documentation and answers on specific items such as vehicle procurement for Fish and Game and the potential movement of plate-production machinery from the Department of Corrections to the Department of Safety.

Looking ahead

Committee members said they would follow up with agencies for documentation on vehicle ages and replacement options, clarify the scope of some repurposed projects to maximize federal matches, and monitor any future lapses or repurposings before final legislative action on HB 25.