The less ceremonial work of building a budget will follow today’s pomp and circumstance of Gov. John Lynch’s an unprecedented fourth inauguration. Lawmakers are scheduled to begin the first of three days of economic briefings this afternoon.
John Lynch will be inaugurated today for his historic fourth consecutive term as New Hampshire's governor. (courtesy photo)
You may recall that in November, Lynch hosted a two-day series of budget briefings from state agencies. As a preview to the budget negotiations ahead, a joint House and Senate committee — comprised of members of the Finance and Ways and Means committees — will hear perspectives on the health of the global, national, regional and state economy.
The first briefing will be on the global economy from Jeff Applegate, the chief investment officer with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. While there is still much economic uncertainty and there will be plenty of budget belt-tightening in Concord, there also have been more optimistic forecasts from Wall Street. Lawmakers could hear some of it from Applegate. During a November press briefing with financial reporters in New York, Applegate said he expected 2011 to be a “year of recovery and expansion.”
In a related matter, the Department of Administrative Services reported that state revenues for December came in $900,000 short, leaving the state $9.3 million below projections for the first five months of the 2011 fiscal year.
That said, one sign reflecting potential economic health is that business tax revenue is up $6.3 million over projections for fiscal 2011 — and collections are up almost $10 compared to the same point a year ago.
On Deck
We’ll take a closer look at the economic briefings scheduled for Jan. 7 and Jan. 10 starting tomorrow.
>> Joint House-Senate Economic Briefing for Ways and Means and Finance Committees, Rooms 210-211 of the Legislative Office Building, today (Jan. 6) at 1:30 p.m.
This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord.