Committee hears capital budget orientation; treasurer urges conservative bonding target

The Public Works and Highways committee received an orientation on the capital budget process and a debt-affordability briefing during a meeting that began at 10:30 a.m.

Chris Shea of the Legislative Budget Assistance (LBA) office told committee members the governor is recommending about $143,000,000 in general‑fund capital appropriations and reviewed how agency requests are whittled into the governor’s recommended “pink” document. State Treasurer Monica Muscavelli presented the Treasury’s debt‑affordability analysis and said the Treasury views a biennial bonding target near $120,000,000 as prudent.

The presentation outlined the capital budget timeline and documents members will use during hearings. Shea said agencies submit capital requests by May 1, the Department of Administrative Services (public works) compiles cost estimates and the governor issues a recommended capital budget in mid‑February. Shea emphasized that the catalog of agency requests is a broader “wish list” (about $1.1 billion in requests) that is later reduced to roughly $400 million in cataloged general‑fund projects and then further to the governor’s recommended $143 million.

Shea described several items flagged in the materials provided to members: a proposed return of Career and Technical Education (CTE) projects to the capital budget after the prior biennium’s CTE projects were funded from the Education Trust Fund; a request for $20,000,000 for the Cannon Mountain tramway after a prior $18,000,000 cash appropriation; and large Department of Corrections (DOC) requests (roughly $707,000,000 requested previously, with about $600,000,000 linked to a potential new prison).

On prison funding, Shea said $50,000,000 has already been appropriated to DOC for site assessment and design work and that the agency may not need additional capital in the immediate two‑year window because of that preparatory work. He suggested the committee might consider staging any large appropriation over multiple years or a separate special appropriation, rather than bonding the full construction cost in a single bill.

Treasurer Monica Muscavelli reviewed the state’s debt metrics, including a debt‑to‑revenue ratio that improved to about 3.8% in 2024. She said the Treasury runs scenarios assuming a base case of $120,000,000 in general‑fund bonding for the biennium (about $60,000,000 per fiscal year) and noted the authorized but unissued debt the state must account for when computing statutory limits (the presenter cited roughly $374,400,000 of authorized/unissued debt in the RSA 6‑C calculation). Muscavelli said, “we can manage our debt,” while warning that additional authorized bonding increases future debt service that must be paid from operating funds.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about CTE backup projects, the status and timing of DOC design work, the Cannon Mountain tramway appropriation and how previously appropriated cash might be reallocated, and how the $40,000,000 previously authorized for prison planning factors into bonding schedules. Shea and the Treasurer said they would follow up with the Department of Education and DOC as needed and that more detailed agency presentations are scheduled for upcoming hearings.

The chair closed by noting the next meeting schedule and that agencies will be asked to present in sequence to avoid idle waiting. Shea said he would circulate a loose schedule and that lapse‑extension requests (to prevent previously appropriated capital from expiring) will be included in agency presentations.

Details gathered at the meeting are limited to what presenters provided or were asked on the record; no committee motions or final votes on capital items were recorded during this session.