Ayotte: Time To Reopen Federal Government; May Support Bill To Return Death Penalty

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH

HOLLIS, NH — Gov. Kelly Ayotte said she has not seen the legislation but would generally support the state return to having a death penalty, and indicated she is looking closely at the impacts of the federal government shutdown on Granite Staters with a focus on protecting the most vulnerable.

When asked if Attorney General John Formella has vetoed any settlements for YDC victims, she said it would be up to him to answer.

Formella wouldn't say last week whether he has vetoed any YDC Settlement Fund monetary awards – as is now allowed – for people who were sexually and physically abused as children incarcerated by the state claiming that information is confidential.

A revised law that went into effect July 1, shifts authority to appoint the fund administrator from the state Supreme Court to Gov. Ayotte. The change also gives Formella veto power over any settlement fund award with no explanation needed.

InDepthNH.org specifically asked in a right-to-know request under RSA 91a recently “how many of the 30 decisions issued in July [2025] as a result of June hearings Diane Nicolosi and John Broderick conducted have now been vetoed by John Formella or his office.” Formella declined to answer. His office said that is confidential. Nicolosi and Broderick are both gone from the settlement fund and Ayotte hasn't appointed a replacement.

In a gathering with reporters after a regular meeting of the state Executive Council Wednesday, which was held at Fulchino Vineyard in Hollis, Ayotte said it is time for elected leaders in Washington to do their job and open up the government. It was shut down on Wednesday after lawmakers failed to come to an agreement.

"I would hope Washington would do its job and that the government would open back up," said the first term governor who formerly served as a U.S. Senator.

"You know here in New Hampshire, we work together to get a balanced budget and they need to do that in Washington," she said.

Ayotte said she has asked every state department head to assess the impact of the closure.

What she found is that it should be "pretty status quo" for the next 30 days but if it goes longer there will be a greater impact and the state might have to take other actions to protect the programs and services for the state's residents.

"We are prepared to keep serving the people of New Hampshire," Ayotte said.

"Our priorities will be making sure that we protect our most vulnerable citizens, and that the benefits and things that they rely on - we talked about SNAP - and those in need," Ayotte said.

"What I really want people of New Hampshire to know right now is that we are in a good position right now to manage this in the short term for at least 30 days if not more," she said. "However if this goes on longer this will have an impact on the people of New Hampshire and I will do everything I can as governor to minimize this impact."

She recalled working through a shutdown as a U.S. Senator.

"It is really the people that matter here," the governor said.

She said while there are issues related to health care the nation still needs to keep the government open.

THE DROUGHT

Ayotte said "we will continue to monitor this situation." She noted that the state had a preparedness meeting earlier this week and a briefing from the National Weather Service.

She said this is a situation we have "eyes on."

In invoking an outdoor fire ban she said "everyone needs to work together to protect people and property."

A RETURN TO THE DEATH PENALTY

Ayotte noted that when the state repealed the death penalty in 2019 it was the only piece of legislation where she came to Concord as a private citizen to oppose that change.

She prosecuted the killer of Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs who is the only person sitting on death row.

"My concern then, I told the legislature, was that by repealing the death penalty that we were going to see a situation. We already see Michael Addison who is challenging the sentence that was issued by the jury, the death sentence. And so I warned the legislature that he could raise that legal claim. Obviously I hope that claim does not prevail. But I also think that in terms of the death penalty especially when it comes to our law enforcement officers and keeping them protected from sometimes very dangerous and career criminals, that is important. That's what we had in the case of Michael Addison and that is why I sought the death penalty as attorney general. So that is one that I would like to see the death penalty restored but I haven't looked at that particular piece of legislation. I will review it carefully," she said.

The full bill has not been issued but is expected to be debated when the legislature returns.

REVENUES DOWN

With a quarter of the year behind, the governor acknowledged that projected state revenues are underperforming and she was asked if she planned to take further budget reductions.

Ayotte said "we are not there yet" and said she is rather bullish on the future and expects that 2026 will be a better financial year. She said she is also looking at enhancing revenues including liquor, meeting businesses who may want to come to grow in the state and looking at other ways to grow revenues.

NEXT BREAKFAST MEETING A DISCUSSION ON THE COUNCIL PROCESS

Ayotte said the governor and council has a very important function to oversee contracts and major appointments and she respects that very much.

At the next breakfast meeting she said there will be a discussion about the process and functions of the council and how contracts come to be approved.

"One of the things that we have been looking at is how can we make the process even better. So you have all seen the reams and piles of paper," on the Executive Council table.

"One of the things I hope to do is make it more of an electronic process. The reason for that is that we can reduce the number of trees we have to use for the piles of paper but also we can make it more transparent. Because the more we can use technology to improve the process the more people who can't come to the meeting - members of the public - can have access to the items, the contracts. So we are looking at how we can streamline this process, working with the Secretary of State, working with members of the Executive Council. Again, I try to do that across state government. How can we make things better and more efficient? So at the next council breakfast meeting what we are going to be doing is I have asked for a presentation made of every step in the process," Ayotte said.

"I'd love to make the process better. I'd love to make it more efficient. We want nonprofits that we do business with to be able to really make sure it is easy to do business. We want to make sure that businesses that contract with the state can do business easily. We want it to be transparent, we want it to be open. We want more people to bid on things," Ayotte said.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.