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Sununu’s Budget Eliminates Funding for New Hampshire’s Small Business Development Center in Favor of Tax Breaks for Corporations
Concord, N.H. -- In a move to contain political fallout, Governor Chris Sununu is caving under pressure from small businesses across the state who were outraged after he proposed a budget that eliminates state funds for New Hampshire’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Sununu is now asking the legislature to fully fund the SBDC. Sununu’s budget eliminates funding for the SBDC which threatens federal funding that helps new small businesses launch and existing small businesses navigate difficult times, such as the COVID pandemic. As it is written, Sununu’s budget would shut down the SBDC, leaving New Hampshire as the only state in the nation without a Small Business Development Center. A cash match is required to receive the federal funds that help operate the center. Now, Sununu is asking the House and Senate Finance Committees to do what his budget did not, and restore funding to the SBDC. However, Sununu is still refusing to fund the Innovation Research Center, reverse cuts to the University and Community College Systems of New Hampshire, or provide property tax relief for Granite Staters. “Chris Sununu is desperately trying to backtrack after his disastrous budget eliminated one of the most critical programs for small businesses — just so he could prioritize tax breaks for out-of-state corporations,” said New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley. “Granite Staters know that this is nothing more than an attempt by Sununu to get the legislature to clean up the mess he made. Sununu already showed us that his priorities are with his out-of-state corporations, and not with New Hampshire small businesses — and no amount of backtracking will change that.”
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