Boyce brief

Senator Robert Boyce (R-Alton), whose district includes Laconia and eight towns in Belknap and Strafford counties, has no taste for pork.

On Thursday, the N.H. Senate debated the merits of two school-funding plans, a bipartisan plan backed by Governor John Lynch and a plan designed by Senator Ted Gatsas of Manchester, supported by the Republican Senate leadership. After Boyce proclaimed his support for the Gatsas plan, Senator Sylvia Larsen (D-Concord) asked him on the floor of the Senate if he had compared how the two plans treated Laconia, the largest community in his district.

Boyce reportedly replied that he had not reviewed the spread sheets accompanying the plans, which detailed the amount of state aid allocated to each municipality, explaining that he was opposed to "pork barrel spending."

Larsen said she had reviewed the spread sheets and pointed out to the Alton Republican that Laconia would receive $6,812,193 under the bipartisan plan compared to $5,348,000 under the Gatsas plan — a difference of almost $1.5 million.

Boyce reaffirmed his distaste for pork, even, he said, when it was served in his district.