"FIRST-IN, first-out" sounds like a fair practice. That's the order Environmental Services Commissioner Thomas Burack gave his staff in February after it became apparent that applications for terrain alteration and wetlands work permits were being taken out of order.

A Legislative Budget Assistant's audit of 2004-06 at DES found that hospitals, schools and other public benefit projects jumped the line, and so did 17 other projects that former Commissioner Michael Nolin ordered expedited.

Burack told the audit team and lawmakers he's working on new rules that will formalize the "first-in" rule, but they won't be ready until next year.

Nolin says you can't make a rule like that stick.

"It doesn't work that way. If something is first in and it needs lots of work, then something comes up on an emergency basis, like the terrible flooding in Alstead, it needs rapid action and you have to be able to deal with that," he said. "First-in, first-out isn't the answer."

Burack agreed that any rule needs exceptions, but those have to be clear processes that give everyone equal treatment, he said.

"You need to have a set of standard, objective criteria to apply when those situations occur," he said. "There is no perfect system. All we can do is our best to have a system that is open and transparent." He said his first priority is to have a system that moves things quickly for everyone.

Nolin said he moved projects up only on rare occasions.

"Only time it gets to me is when I've been contacted personally because of some perceived problem and I'd say I'd look into it," he said.

"No one ever came to me said here are the plans, please see they are expedited.

"I never said once to staff, 'You shall approve this now without due diligence.' I wouldn't do that. They wouldn't do that. These guys are professionals," he said.

"I wasn't micromanaging but I was hands-on. My goal was to have a system where the little guy on the street would have the same access anyone in Senate or House would. I think we made great strides."

Six of the 17 permits Nolin ordered to be expedited were engineered by T.F. Moran Inc., where Nolin now works. He said he had no way of knowing where he'd end up working after he was done at DES.

Once Gov. John Lynch made it clear he would not reappoint Nolin to the commissioner's post, Nolin said he took a job at Moran among several offers he got because he likes the firm's emphasis on environmental work.

The single largest project he moved ahead was expansion of the Laconia Airport.

Nolin said that's an example of why the system needs flexibility.

The airport was locked in a dispute over how much mitigation land should be set aside to compensate for filling wetlands for a runway extention. A $10 million Federal Aviation Administration grant was about to expire with no guarantee it would be offered again. So Nolin, at the urging of Executive Councilor Ray Burton, pushed the project ahead. He signed the permit himself, the only project on which he took such action.

The LBA audit faulted him for making changes to the permit himself and signing off on it.

"It had everything to do with public safety and the $10 million grant and I had everyone involved on that one," Nolin said.

Gary Abbott of the Associated General Contractors said last week the first-in rule is not going to fix anything. DES was late in finishing 47 percent of permits, the audit found, even after a fee increase in 2003 meant to fund enough workers to keep things on schedule.

"Our concern is about the overall processing of permits and how they are not meeting the current statutory timeframes with adequate funding. They had money left over and now they collect double," he said.

The Legislative Fiscal Committee voted to give 40 LBA workers raises that match other legislative workers. The package costs $700,000. That's for starters. Every worker will get a step increase in each of the next two years, plus a 3.5 percent raise in January and a 5.5 percent raise in January 2009.

That amounts to five raises in the course of 16 months. Not bad for government work.

Republicans voted against the increases both times they came up, saying the state can't afford them. In the most extreme cases, some workers got immediate increases of 45 percent.

Top legislative staff will now make more after a few years of service than commissioners who head major departments such as Safety and Health and Human Services. A consultant report last year recommended 10 percent increases for commissioners and other so-called unclassified employees. There are about 270 of them. The report was shelved, but that doesn't mean the dust can't be blown off it.

The McCain bus is back. When the John McCain presidential campaign looked like it was running out of gas, rife with money problems and staff upheaval, the Straight Talk Express was put up on blocks.

Things are looking up for McCain and the bus is back. He's launching the "No Surrender" bus tour this weekend through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

"The theme is the importance of our mission in Iraq, the importance of not letting Democrats force a surrender," McCain's national political director, Mike Dennehy, said Friday. Almost all the stops are at Veterans of Foreign War halls in all three states, and they follow a direct mail campaign to veteran homes.

One could infer the "no surrender" line refers to McCain's attitude toward his candidacy, especially as Fred Thompson comes over the hill.

That wasn't part of the thinking at all, Dennehy said, laughing. His man is coming off a strong debate performance in Durham and donations are running at a healthy pace.

"He feels strongly about our position in the campaign right now. He's been a fighter all his life and there's nothing that could get him down, especially after the wonderful week we had in New Hampshire," Dennehy said. "It's just plain silly to write him off."

McCain rolls in for Thursday appearances in Rochester, Franklin, Concord, Hudson and a Friday stop in Londonderry.

Thompson arrived yesterday for a GOP chili fest at the farm of former House Speaker Doug Scamman. Today he makes several stops on a tour of Manchester with Mayor Frank Guinta, starting at Chez Vachon restaurant at 11:30 a.m.

Then he heads to Nashua for a "Meet Fred Thompson" event at City Hall at 4:30 p.m.

Among those who say they're not worried about a Thompson candidacy is Mike Huckabee, who also turned in a solid debate performance Wednesday. If Thompson jumped in last June, it would be one thing, Huckabee said. Now, he told Reuters, "he's coming in when my stock is rising. It's almost like he opened a Kmart next to Wal-Mart."

Close to 300 people turned out last week for a goodbye party thrown for John Stephen, former Health and Human Services commissioner, who's now running for Congress.

"It was not political. It was not political," said Greg Moore, Stephen's former HHS spokesman and now his campaign aide.

Moore said the invitation list was compiled by Stephen's father, former state Sen. Bobby Stephen, and calls went out from there.

Big names at the event, held at the Executive Court in Manchester, included former Gov. Craig Benson, who appointed Stephen to the HHS job, former Safety commissioner Richard Flynn, executive councilors Ray Burton and John Shea, former councilor Ruth Griffin, and former HHS commissioners Nick Vailas and Sylvio Dupuis, Moore said. Several current and former state senators were there, too, including Stephen's current campaign finance chair, Chuck Mores of Salem, Moore said.

"There were no political signs and there were no political speeches," Moore said. "Several people said they were glad about that."

Restaurant and bar owners get a preview tomorrow of life without cigarettes.

HHS plans an information session at its Hazen Drive offices on the new smoking ban, which takes effect Sept. 17. According to HHS, the ban will make all bars in the state effectively smoke-free.

How about bingo halls? And, do bars have to order butts extinguished at midnight on the 16th or wait until the next morning? Stay tuned for the answers to these and what is likely to be a long list of other questions.

Tom Fahey is State House bureau chief for the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News.