2024 Legislative Session Ends with the Defeat of Final Voucher Expansion Bill
On the final day of the 2024 legislative session, the New Hampshire House defeated HB 1665 by a vote of 168 -185. This legislation would have expanded the unaccountable private school voucher scheme by lifting the eligibility threshold to enter the program from 350% to 425% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). This was a compromise between the Senate position of expansion to 400% of FPL and the House position of expansion to 500% of FPL. As negotiated, the compromise version of this bill would have more than doubled the spending on the state private school voucher program, siphoning even more public funding away from public education.
Thankfully, after all your calls and e-mails and a major investment in spreading the word about the ills of this program, a bi-partisan coalition of all House Democrats and seven Republicans recognized how detrimental this dramatic expansion would have been for students.
Legislature Passes Establishment of a Rural and Underserved Educator Recruitment Program!
The House and Senate also passed compromise language this past Thursday, establishing a rural and underserved area educator incentive program which was inserted into HB 1079. The bill program will still require funding in the next budget, but if signed by Governor Sununu, it would allow the formation of a program that uses graduated incentive payments to help recruit and retain early career educators during their first four years of working in a designated rural or underserved school district.
Tell Governor Sununu to Veto HB 1312 When it Goes to His Desk!
HB 1312 will be going to Governor Sununu’s desk any day now. This bill would essentially codify a recent NH Department of Education interpretation of the 2-week notice to parents around “objectionable material”. This is an unworkable standard that would leave educators wondering what course material could apply to the notice requirements that traditionally had been focused on sex education and health classes. For example, if there is a book or math worksheet that contains any kind of scenario mentioning someone’s gender or orientation, does it then fall into a 2-week notice requirement? The bill also contains more vague language that is like other so-called parental rights legislation that puts educators in impossible positions in determining which actions or conversations could put them or a student in jeopardy when they are only trying to be a trusted adult at school.
The next step for this bill is the Governor’s desk – once it is delivered to him, he will have 5 days to sign or veto the bill, or it will become law without his signature. You can contact Governor Sununu and urge him to veto HB 1312 by calling 603-271-2121 or clicking here to use our email action form.
Questions?
If you have questions on any of these bills or ones not mentioned here, please feel free to contact Brian Hawkins, NEA-NH Director of Government Relations at bhawkins@nhnea.org. You can also follow all the bills we are watching next week and check on a bill’s status by visiting our NEA-NH bill tracker.