House committee debates bill allowing short-term continuing resolution to keep essential services running during budget impasses
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Summary
A House committee heard testimony on SB 488, which would let the governor declare a 60-day emergency to continue essential state services at prior-year funding if the legislature and governor fail to pass a budget; lawmakers raised questions about triggers, scope and legislative oversight and asked for lists of included and excluded functions.
A House Executive Departments and Administration committee hearing on April 1 heard extensive testimony on Senate Bill 488, which would give the governor authority to declare a 60‑day emergency to keep essential state functions operating at the prior fiscal year’s funding level if a budget or continuing resolution is not in place.
Grant Bossi, deputy chief of staff, introduced the bill for Senate President Sharon Carson. Bossi said the measure would operate as a 100% continuing resolution for an initial 60 days, with the legislature able to extend that authorization for additional 60‑day periods by majority vote in both chambers. "Senator Carson believes we should provide assurance to the people of New Hampshire that even when our government cannot reach agreement on the state budget, the courts will stay open, roads will stay safe, and our hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons will keep operating," Bossi said.
Lawmakers pressed witnesses on several key details. Representative Schmidt asked whether the governor already has authority to act in an emergency; Bossi replied that, under current law, "the legislature has not given the governor any such authority" to spend after the budget authority ends. Representative Slocce and other members expressed concern about the balance of power and whether the bill would give the executive branch excessive influence over budgeting; Bossi said the structure — an initial executive 60‑day declaration followed by legislative votes to extend — was intended to strike a balance and that the legislature could propose alternative trigger mechanisms.
Members also queried what agencies would be included and excluded. Bossi noted the Senate had not included the Department of Education among essential agencies and that members could decide to add education funding (for example, adequacy payments) if they wished. Mark Manganiello of the Department of Education warned the committee that the department performs extensive summer work to prepare school funding grants that are due in August and September and that interruptions could impair school-year grant disbursements.
Representatives asked for legal and operational follow-up. Bossi and state officials agreed to supply more detail about which functions would be covered and whether the compact approach or percentage-based continuing resolution might be preferable. Department witnesses and committee members also discussed historic practice — Bossi recalled a few prior continuing resolutions and near misses — and the policy tradeoffs between granting breathing room and preserving legislative control of the purse.
The committee did not take a vote on SB 488 on April 1. Members requested additional written detail on carve‑outs, the bill’s triggers and potential legal opinions before deciding whether to move the measure.
