Sununu talks Portsmouth housing, inflation, schools, Biden and what Haley is doing now

RYE — New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Portsmouth will not be getting any more money to extend its two-year Community Housing Navigator program, which was awarded in 2022 to hire a staff member to focus on expanding the city's housing supply.

“Oh, come on,” said City Councilor Beth Moreau, who asked the question, in response.

“If there's opportunity to continue to fund, continued opportunity, it'll really be through the more traditional way, not just from me to these housing programs that align, it'll be more traditional through New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority,” said Sununu.

The initial funds for Portsmouth's housing navigator came from InvestNH, a $100 million state initiative funded with federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act. About $5 million was given to municipalities for efforts to increase housing.

This question came after Sununu gave a State of the State 2024 speech at the Atlantic Grill in Rye. He discussed a range of topics, including challenges the state faces with mental health, schools and inflation.

Throughout his speech, Sununu emphasized “simple solutions,” not more money or taxes, makes New Hampshire the “gold standard."

It was the first in-person State of the State to the greater Portsmouth business community in five years, and came after Sununu’s final formal State of the State address to the New Hampshire legislature on Feb. 15.

The event was hosted by the Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth, sponsored by Bank of America.

Sununu talks mental health, schools and inflation

Sununu spent a bulk of his speech on the mental health crisis in New Hampshire and what he has done for it as governor.

Sununu called hospitals in New Hampshire “shameful” for their treatment of people struggling with mental health, saying they “don’t want to help.” He touted his accomplishments, like the state buying Hampstead Hospital to provide mental health care for children, establishing mobile crisis teams, and putting the mental health and suicide hotline on the back of every student ID.

“So you don't need grandiose money and grandiose ideas,” said Sununu. “Sometimes the simplest ideas provide access, but it's got to be backed up by facilities and institutions.”

He also emphasized the power of his simple solutions in education, where he said a formula change for how they allocate funds to school districts allowed them to make it more fair.

Sununu, a Republican who has been active in national politics, discussed inflation as well. He blamed the Federal Reserve board and said Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen “should be fired immediately.” He said New Hampshire’s tax structure helps hold off inflation for residents.

Audience presses Sununu on LGBTQ and school issues

Sununu took several questions from the audience.

Bill Blum, the founder and owner of Pride Toolbox, asked for Sununu to comment on how New Hampshire’s businesses and public spaces can continue to be a safe and welcoming space for marginalized community members.

Sununu said he thinks the state does “really well” with the LGBTQ community.

“I think as a state we do really well not because the government says so. If you're waiting for the government to solve a cultural or community or a societal problem, stop. There's no law that's going to be passed that's going to make everyone in the LGBT community feel welcome,” said Sununu. “I don’t like banning things. It's not about saying 'no' all the time, right? It's about saying, 'Look, you do you. As a business, you do you. As a community, you do you.'”

Rye resident Ryan Kaplan alluded to New Hampshire’s divisive concepts law, which passed in 2021 and prohibits schools from teaching one group of people is inherently racist, superior, or inferior to people of another group. He told Sununu his wife feels afraid as a "progressive teacher" because she feels she can’t talk about certain things.

“What can you not say in a school that you could say before?” asked Sununu. “My big thing is discrimination. Right? Should be a no-brainer. You can't tell a white kid that he should feel guilty about being white, can’t tell a Black kid he has a propensity for crime, can’t tell an Arab kid that he comes from a bunch of terrorists.”

Sununu weighs in on 2024 presidential election

Sununu praised the New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary and everyone who voted, even though, “you didn’t vote the way I wanted you to vote,” he said.

Sununu supported Nikki Haley in the Republican primary, but she lost to former President Donald Trump. Haley has since dropped out of the race. Sununu spent the campaign saying Haley could easily defeat President Joe Biden in the general election while Trump could not. After Haley dropped out, he told CNN he'll support Trump in the election.

Sununu said on Tuesday said he thinks that there’s a 30% chance Biden won't be the nominee, though he appears to have an insurmountable lead in the primary race.

“Six months ago, I said Biden was going to win here easily,” Sununu said. “Definitely not, I mean Biden’s in real trouble, everywhere.”

Sununu said Haley is in a cabin in South Carolina now, binge watching episodes of "The Bear" and "Parks and Rec."

What’s next for Sununu?

Sununu joked about running for another term, something he also did in his State of the State to the legislature, but said he doesn’t know what he’s doing next. He said he'll probably go back to business.

“Big companies have such a hard time with politics,” Sununu said. “I would like to give advice how to get back in line and where the political pitfalls are.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Sununu: No more funds from NH for Portsmouth housing navigator