Without Naming Shaheen And Hassan, Ayotte Glad NH At Forefront Of Ending Shutdown

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org, InDepth NH

CONCORD, NH — Without naming Democratic New Hampshire U.S. Senators, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte said she was glad that New Hampshire was at the forefront of working to end the government shutdown.

Ayotte said it never should have happened, never should happen again and noted if resolved it could be "short term until January" when it can happen again when another vote to keep the government running returns.

"I would ask Washington to please not shut the government down again because that has created uncertainty for people in New Hampshire," Ayotte said.

Ayotte said she has worked a lot on cleaning up the mess left by the shutdown, including giving people the support they need, such as food stamps.

"The lesson from this is it is not the way to go," Ayotte said.

Asked what she thought about the actions of Shaheen and Hassan who were key leaders in a measure that is being supported by President Trump, despite the blowback the two are receiving from some Democrats, Ayotte said she served in Washington once as a Senator.

And "I really appreciate what you need to do in Washington is to stand up for the people of New Hampshire, not your party and I think that is the right thing to do and I certainly did it many times when I was in Washington. It's why I had one of the most bipartisan records. So I am glad that New Hampshire is at the forefront to get this resolved," Ayotte said.

A vote is expected in the House Wednesday night which is expected to end the shutdown at 43 days, the longest in government history.

"This has been way too long. The fact that over the weekend and last week, I have been in so many discussions with health and human services, others, on issues like SNAP and other important benefits that serve New Hampshire. Again, we just can't do this again."

Democrats said they did not support a continuation of the government operations without a deal on extending the popular Affordable Care Act, which is due to expire in January. They accused Hassan and Shaheen of not doing enough. They and their counterparts who voted in the Senate, maintain the agreement calls for an up or down vote on extending those premium benefits.

Ayotte said the state will do everything it can at this level to help, noted Lori Weaver, commissioner of Health and Human Services, is monitoring the potential impacts from a lack of funding for the ACA and how that might increase uncompensated care and further difficulty for the state's fragile health care system.

"Washington is going to have to address this issue," Ayotte said.

FORENSIC HOSPITAL UPDATE

New Hampshire began to construct a forensic hospital in Concord, as currently some patients are being housed at the NH State Prison if they are considered a threat to themselves or others but haven't been convicted of a crime.

Using post COVID-19 federal funds the state broke ground on the new hospital but it was mysteriously halted due to some contractual and work concerns.

Ayotte said there has been a review of this matter by the Department of Administrative Services, Health and Human Services and the Attorney General with the contractor to make sure that performance is being done properly "so that has been an ongoing group working on this issue to get it back on track to build the forensic hospital." She said she was not sure when construction would resume and suggested further answers could be handled by DHHS.

ON YDC CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR

Ayotte said due to a legal dispute in Superior Court over the YDC Claims Administrator's role which moved to a political process, is still pending, although there is no prohibition against her doing so. Because the governor defunded the settlement fund there is no money to pay an administrator and staff salaries.

"But with the pendency of that litigation, then this is really, until that is resolved there really isn't an appropriate time to appoint a new administrator until the courts say what the appropriate avenue is going forward," Ayotte said.

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