I’m the treasurer of a local area agency here in NH (mental health/development disability) and the issue of pay is a huge deal right now. I think that most state agencies that function with a volunteer board of directors do in fact try everything we can to get more money in our employees hands. However, part of the problem is that funding is usually in the form of contracts and reimbursement rates for Medicaid/Medicare that are not sufficient to pay people market rates for services rendered. Another huge issue from my perspective is that much of the government grant funds are not sustainable and are one-time in nature. We get asked by the state to start programs, build facilities, hire staff, etc. for initiatives that have no clear sustainable source of funding. It’s not efficient or fair to the people we would need to hire to staff the programs (assuming we could hire anyone).

Thank you for your service to the state, please know that it is appreciated.