State Budget Cuts Hurt Health, Higher Education And Essential Services The Most - RACHEL GOTBAUM, State Impact

A look back at this year’s major state budget cuts shows who took the hardest hits in New Hampshire. As the Nashua Telegraph reports, with $1 billion slashed from the budget, more agencies than usual felt the effects. Republican legislators heralded the budget as a victory for smaller government, shaving more than $1 billion, or 11 percent, off the prior spending plan. But many state Democrats decried the budget for digging too deeply into some of the state’s most essential services and programs. Hospitals lost more than $115 million and laid off more than 1,000 staffers. The state university system endured record budget cuts and saw its coffers trimmed by 45 percent. As a result, 200 employees in public higher education lost their jobs. The Department of Transportation faced a 13 percent cut and also cut its workforce.