New Hampshire Senate passes $15.2 billion, 2-year budget back to state's House for further consideration

A $15.2 billion, two-year budget was passed with bipartisan support by New Hampshire's Senate. The budget will be sent back to the House for further consideration.

"We still have issues we need to resolve and we’re still going to work on those tomorrow, but I think we all know that budgets are about priorities, and it really and truly is about compromise," said Sen. Sharon Carson, a Republican from Londonderry. "The people are watching to see what we do, and I think maybe they’re happy we can compromise, we can work together for their benefit, we can disagree but we can be agreeable as well."

The House, where Republicans have an ultra-thin majority, had approved spending roughly $750 million more over the biennium. Though party leaders had bickered over the budget early in the session, they ultimately came together with a proposal jointly sponsored by Republican Majority Leader Jason Osborne and Democratic Minority Leader Matt Wilhelm.