NH Budget Advocacy Toolkit Update!

April 25, 2025

Are you interested in advocating for developmental disability services in the New Hampshire Budget?  Here is everything you need to know!

For more information on how the proposed budget cuts would affect the developmental disability community use these resources: Editorial Articles by our CEO Rebecca Tolman: https://newhampshirebulletin.com/author/rebeccaltolman/

New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute – non-partisan budget review: https://nhfpi.org/

We are asking our families, individuals, and community supporters to consider advocating in the following ways:

1. Please send an email to your senator and to the entire Senate Finance Committee sharing your opposition to HB1 and HB2. To contact your Senator directly, please use this link: https://gc.nh.gov/senate/members/wml.aspx
2. Use this link to email the entire Senate Finance Committee: https://gc.nh.gov/Senate/committees/senate_committees.aspx – scroll down to Finance Committee you will notice “email the entire committee”.  Click on that link and it will auto populate an email for you to the entire Senate Finance committee.
3. We would love to have you attend the Senate Finance Hearing in person and testify if you are comfortable.  I will be at the State House to support our families and individuals by 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6^th.  If you would like to attend in person, please let me know.  We are asking all attendees to wear something PINK in support of DD services.   Even if you are just submitting testimony and not speaking, we would still appreciate your presence!
4. If you are not able to attend in person but would like to submit your testimony online, please use this link: https://gc.nh.gov/remotecommittee/senate.aspx and follow the steps.  We are recommending signing in opposed to HB1 and HB2.  You can either write your testimony into the box provided or add it as an attachment.

 

Testimony Template:

[Date]

NH Senate Finance Committee
New Hampshire State House, Room 103
107 N. Main Street
Concord, NH 03301

 

RE: Please FULLY FUND THE GOVERNOR’S BUDGET for FY2026-2027 and FUND THE BDS PRIORITIZED NEEDS LIST.

Dear Chairman Gray and Members of the NH Senate Finance Committee;

Opening: My name is ______________ and I live in _________________, NH with my ______________. I/my child receives services through Lakes Region Community Services. I urge you to fully fund Governor Ayotte’s proposed state budget for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 and fund the Bureau of Developmental Services (BDS) prioritized needs list. This includes eliminating both the 3% Medicaid rates cut and the $62.8 million defunding of the developmental disabilities waitlists as proposed in the NH House budget. Furthermore, the $10m prioritized needs request from BDS for room and board support will help stabilize residential housing for people with developmental disabilities and acquired brain disorders.

I would also like to request support for specific funding [Family Centered Early Supports and Services, Recreational Funding]. [I, My family member, My friend] would be negatively affected without funding these services.

Your Story: Here’s where you tell your story in two or three paragraphs. How have these services benefited [you, your family, your friend]? How would losing these services negatively affect [you, your family, your friend]?

Closing: Thank you, Chairman Gray and members of the NH Senate Finance Committee, for this opportunity to testify in support of fully funding Governor Ayotte’s proposed state budget for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 and the BDS prioritized needs list. I would like to state again special consideration for funding [Family Centered Early Supports and Services, Recreational Funding]. If you have any questions or require more information, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,
Name

Town

[optional: Email Address]
[optional: Phone Number]

 

You can find more information about our advocacy efforts here:

Legislative Updates: www.lrcs.org/about-lrcs/legislative-updates/

Join our Newsletter: www.lrcs.org/sign-up-for-newsletter/

If you have any questions or need additional assistance, please reach out to our Legislative Liaison, Carrie Duran at carrie.duran@lrcs.org.

Thank you for your advocacy!