Legislative Update

PRESS RELEASE: NH Senate Republicans Vote to Take Public Dollars Away from Public Schools

Under SB 295, Property Taxpayers Will Subsidize Private Education for Wealthy Families CONCORD, NH – Today, the New Hampshire Senate voted on party lines in support of SB 295, which would eliminate eligibility requirements for the state’s unaccountable private school voucher program and institute a universal voucher scheme that would divert millions of public dollars from public schools to subsidize private education for wealthy families. SB 295 will next go to the House of Representatives for further consideration.  Today’s vote is the Chamber’s second to divert taxpayer dollars away from public schools to subsidize private education for wealthy families. It […]

3/22/25: NEA-NH Legislative Update

This Week: “Parental Rights” and Forced School Spending Caps  This past week the House approved its own version of a so-called “parental rights” bill (HB 10) that will now go over to the Senate. On a largely party line vote, each Chamber has now approved its own version of the bill. After Crossover, the process will start again.   In addition, the House Finance Committee Division II, a subcommittee of the full Finance Committee, elected to put the forced school spending cap bill (HB 675) and their universal voucher bill (HB 115) into HB 2, which is the trailer bill to […]

ACT NOW: Protect NH Students; Stop the Destruction of the Department of Education

President Trump recently signed an Executive Order pushing to end the U.S. Department of Education, his latest extreme action that hurts public schools, which are attended by nearly 90% of New Hampshire students and 95% of students with a disability. Unions are built for moments like this. Join NEA-New Hampshire to speak out against this executive overreach:

3/14/25: NEA-NH Legislative Update

This Week: Universal Vouchers and Mandatory School Spending Caps Move Forward  HB 115 & SB 295 – Universal Vouchers  This week, the House and Senate passed their respective universal voucher expansion bills.   HB 115 passed the House, 198 – 180, with every House Democrat and 10 Republicans dissenting.  SB 295 passed the Senate,16-8, with all 16 Republicans supporting the universal voucher bill and all 8 Democrats voting in opposition.   We are grateful for the lawmakers who recognized any expansion of this program will gobble up public tax dollars to subsidize private school tuition for wealthy families. Make no mistake, if […]

PRESS RELEASE: NH House and Senate Vote to Take More Public Money Away from Public Schools

HB 115 and SB 295 Subsidize Private Education for Wealthy Families While NH Property Taxpayers Struggle to Fill in Gaps for Inadequate Public Education Funding CONCORD, NH – Today, the New Hampshire House and Senate voted in support of HB 115 and SB 295, respectively. Both bills eliminate eligibility requirements for the state’s unaccountable private school voucher program and institute a universal voucher scheme that would divert millions of public dollars from public schools to subsidize private education for wealthy families. During the public hearing process on this bill, 3,165 Granite Staters signed in to oppose universal vouchers and just […]

PRESS RELEASE: NH House Passes Bill to Force School Spending Caps Against Local Voters’ Will

CONCORD, NH – Today, the New Hampshire House voted 190-185 in support of HB 675. As amended, this bill would place an arbitrary cap on school district budgets based on inflation and enrollment trends—regardless of real costs like teacher salaries, special education services, or rising utility bills. The vote on HB 675 comes just after School District Election and Meeting Day in which communities overwhelmingly rejected petition warrant articles to institute local per pupil spending caps. After Kearsarge Regional voters defeated the first spending cap initiative in January, House Majority Leader Jason Osborne stated: “Perhaps, if they are unwilling to […]