Garry Rayno

The oncoming food crisis caused by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) pausing benefits, spotlights what many fail to perceive: tens of thousands of the state’s residents are not just poor, they live in poverty.

State advocates fear the current food pantry system is stressed now and may be overrun if food stamp benefits end due to the government shutdown.

In surveys done by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center released Monday, former Democratic Presidential candidate and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is the early favorite in New Hampshire for Democrats, while New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the favorite in Vermont and California Gov. Gavin Newsom leads in Maine.

Just how fragile became very clear with the continuing government shutdown and the needed fast footwork of the Department of Health and Human Services to cobble together a plan to continue providing services to those on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP program.

Since lawmakers went home in June after passing a constrained two-year budget that already projects to be about $100 million short of revenue, two court decisions were released that would have the state pay more of the cost of public education. 

A study done by the NH Fiscal Policy Institute indicates a typical family of four disposable income over the last decade has dropped by $17,349 due to earnings not keeping up with the increased costs associated with housing, child care, health care, food and energy.

The state Supreme Court Friday sided with the State Board of Education in ruling a student’s resident school district is liable for tuition payments to an out-of-district “open enrollment school” he or she attends.

At a public hearing last week on a proposal to help the Claremont School District weather the storm of an unanticipated $5.1 million deficit, it was obvious House Republicans want no part of it.

Lawmakers will revisit a proposed statewide cap on local school budgets after a Finance Committee subcommittee voted down party lines 4-3 to resurrect House Bill 675.

While some lawmakers urged quick action to help Claremont schools stay open as the district struggles with a $5 million deficit, others were cautious not wanting to create a precedent as other school districts face similar calamities.