Governor Discusses Accomplishments and Challenges During State of the State Address

Gov. Sununu said the economic forecast for NH does not look bright. (Photo/Mya Blanchard)

NASHUA, NH – Around 130 people came out to the Nashua Country Club on Tuesday for Governor Chris Sununu’s 2024 State of the State Address hosted by the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce. 

Sununu began his address by mentioning some accolades and accomplishments New Hampshire has made, such as the state being ranked No. 1 for child well-being for the second year in a row. 

He also discussed the decrease in drug overdose deaths – New Hampshire used to be ranked No. 2 in the country and is now at No. 25. While he says this is still “not a great place to be,” he noted that while the country has gone up 65 percent in overdose deaths since 2017, New Hampshire has gone down about 11 or 12 percent. 

Sununu also discussed the challenges the state faces.  

“The big issue for the next 10 years is still going to be mental health, it really is,” he said. 

To Sununu, mental health is a community issue that calls for community-based solutions, which is the foundation of Mission Zero. The goal of the program is to eliminate psychiatric onboarding in emergency rooms through the addition of resources such as crisis emergency and stabilization centers. 

“Not all the services need to be in Manchester and Concord and Nashua. That’s not good for those cities, that’s not good for those individuals, that’s actually a barrier,” Sununu said. “No one from Berlin is going to get in their car and drive 200 miles to get services in Concord or Manchester, and if they are, god bless them, but they shouldn’t have to.” 

On another note, the governor did not have a positive economic forecast due to inflation, saying that he believes New Hampshire is going to have “tough time’s economically coming soon.” 

“It’s already hitting the rest of the country,” he said. “Inflation is real. Inflation is going to hover at around 3 or 4 percent. That’s still tough because it’s being compounded on top of the 25 percent of inflationary increases in cost of living that we’ve all had to deal with over the past three or four years. There’s still a lot of government cash that hasn’t been expended so I do believe inflation is going to remain artificially high for some time.” 

Overall, New Hampshire is in “good shape,” according to Sununu, who says the Granite State is “leading the pack” in New England. 

“They key to all of this, why we’re so different from every other state is this: accessibility,” he said.

With the third-largest parliamentary body and one of the smallest populations in the country, Sununu said that accessibility in New Hampshire is “unlike anywhere else in the world,” as citizens can contact their state representatives and senators directly instead of having to go through “layers of bureaucracy.” 

“You have 400 representatives for only 1.4 million people,” he said. “That is the most representative body of government on the planet, if you do the math.”

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.