CONCORD — New Hampshire Democratic senators unveiled bills Wednesday aimed at spending public money in efforts to bring down the cost of housing, property taxes, health care, child care and energy.

They also have bills intended to help small businesses and better fund public education. 

What they didn’t have in their news conference Wednesday was a dedicated source of funding to cover all these priorities, which they are calling the “More Money in Your Pocket Agenda.”

There was also no indication that Republicans, who hold a majority in the N.H. House and Senate, would be on board.

In fact, before the news conference in the state’s building at 1 Granite Place in Concord, the state Republican Party put out a news release characterizing the Democratic plans as an agenda to raise taxes.

One of the Democratic bills would provide $5 million in additional funding to the Housing Champions Program, which provides grants to support water and sewer upgrades necessary to develop new housing.

It would also provide $10 million to a fund intended to boost the development of affordable housing.

Another bill would seek to lower local property taxes by having the state contribute more to municipal pensions, reducing the financial burden on municipalities.

Other measures seek to lower Medicaid costs, cap utility rate increases, expand eligibility for a child care scholarship program, provide a business tax credit to small companies and greatly expand the state’s per-pupil funding for public education.

All the bills together would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Meanwhile, the state’s budget picture has been tight, with corporate profits down and state revenues sapped by years of Republican tax cutting.

But Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, D-Portsmouth, said at the news conference that the resources exist to pay for the Democratic-backed legislation.

“We just need to make different choices with the funds we already have here at the state level,” she said.

As for whether she could expect support on this legislation from Republicans, she said her hope “is that these are all well-crafted solutions that our colleagues are willing to work together on.”

State legislative Republicans have a different approach to many of New Hampshire’s problems.

Rather than increase the state’s per-pupil spending, for example, they are backing a bill that would require a super-majority of voters for a school district to increase its budget beyond the inflation rate, with some exceptions.

School district spending, which has been increasing, is a big driver of property tax hikes.

Democrats have largely opposed Republican tax-cutting initiatives and in some cases have recommended revenue enhancements, such as re-creating the state’s Dividend and Interest Tax, which was repealed this year.

Although none of the bills in the agenda Senate Democrats released Wednesday called for new taxes, N.H. GOP Chairman Jim MacEachern said in a news release that Democrats remain focused on raising taxes.

“Democrats talk a big game on affordability, but every policy they put forward would make New Hampshire look more like Massachusetts,” MacEachern said. “The Democrats’ tax agenda would make life less affordable for Granite Staters.”

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