New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu called statements made recently by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell about pandemic relief for states “ridiculous” and “dangerous.”
McConnell was quoted in media outlets as saying he would favor states going bankrupt instead of giving state federal relief that would be paid back by future generations.
“To anyone listening, if you are in the Senate, I don’t care if you are a Republican or a Democrat, it’s not just about giving us some more money,” Sununu said. “Of course, there has to be accountability in that, there has to be guidelines around that, there have to be goal posts, but absolutely the wrong thing to do is to say in a worldwide pandemic we are going to let all of the states go bankrupt.”
McConnell and Sununu are both Republicans.
New Hampshire received the rest of its $1.25 billion from the CARES Act, but none of that money can be used to ease state budget woes.
“There is hope down the road that there could be another round of federal relief that allows the state to recoup shortfalls or allows us to pass through some of those dollars to cities and towns to recoup their revenue shortfalls, but right now that does not exist,” the governor said. “We have had talks with our federal delegations many times, and we will continue to advocate for changes of the CARES Act that will allow us to do so in the future.”
Sununu said cities and towns should be careful when budgeting.
“The days of spending like it is 2018 are behind us,” Sununu said. “As the state tightens our belt, we encourage municipalities to do so as well.”
Sununu said he will call on state lawmakers to rescind what he called “business tax triggers” passed in 2019 in response to a letter he received from Jim Roche of the Business and Industry Association. Legislators did not increase the Business Profits Tax and Business Enterprise Tax but said future tax payments would be based on the economy.
“Raising business taxes on our small businesses for something out of their control is the wrong approach,” Sununu said.
The governor said the stay-at-home order will likely be extended at least in part past May 4, saying he favors a phased approach like the one proposed by the federal government.
“Not everything is going to open on the same day,” Sununu said. “Certain things can open up maybe in a week or two and other things maybe can’t open up for a month or two.”
State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan reported three more novel coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the total number of deaths to 51. Another 84 cases were reported, and the total number of New Hampshire residents that have contracted the virus since the outbreak is 1,670.
