Legislative Update Report

11/16/24: NEA-NH Legislative Update

Contact the Legislative Rules Committee: These Rules Ignore Educator Concerns The Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (JLCAR) will take a second look at the entire overhaul proposal of the Minimum Standards for Public School Approval (also known as the 306 rules) on Thursday, November 21st, after having delayed a vote on the first half the State Board of Education’s proposal back in September. As a reminder, the 306 Rules are the rules and regulations that govern the minimum requirements to be a public school in New Hampshire. The entire set of rules govern everything including class sizes, facility requirements, […]

A white sign held in front of the Legislative Office Building reads: Support Our Public Schools"

11/8/24: NEA-NH Legislative Update – Election Results Edition 

There is no sugar coating it. The election results present challenges for educators and the future of public education. But our values don’t change based on elections. As NEA President Becky Pringle recently said, unions exist for moments like this. Today and every day we are present for our students and ready for the work ahead. Remember, we are stronger together.  Control of Congress: US Senate Flips to Republican Control; House Still to be Determined  The Presidential election results are obviously well known by everyone at this point. In the US Senate the only remaining question is how much of […]

September 14, 2024: NEA-NH Legislative Update

New Laws Taking Effect Now – Make sure you know what changes are coming!  The legislature may not be in session, but things are still happening. To wrap up this past year we have assembled a list of legislation that was signed into law that directly affects public education, educators, and students.   Please look at the list which is organized by category and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out by e-mailing me at bhawkins@nhnea.org.  State Board of Education Minimum Standards Overhaul Headed to Legislative Rules Committee  Next week the Joint Legislative Committee on Rules, will […]

A white sign held in front of the Legislative Office Building reads: Support Our Public Schools"

June 15, 2024: NEA-NH Legislative Update

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 […]

June 8, 2024: NEA-NH Legislative Update

Committees of Conference Conclude   The deadline to sign off on committee of conference reports was this past Thursday, June 6th and many bills saw a compromise product agreed to, but a few did not. In positive news, an effort to allow unlicensed part-time teachers in public schools was rejected and the Rural and Underserved Educator Recruitment Program was revived. Unfortunately, the House and Senate conferees are moving forward with a dramatic expansion of the state’s private school voucher program. More details below!  Voucher Expansion Moves Forward to a Vote June 13th  The most significant education bill moving forward to a […]

May 31, 2024: NEA-NH Legislative Update

House and Senate Head to Committees of Conference Next Week on Major Education Bills  This past week, the House and Senate decided which bills they would agree with the other chamber’s changes (concur), which ones they would go to a committee of conference to work out differences (non-concur and request a committee of conference), and which ones they would simply reject outright without attempting to come to a compromise (non-concur). The aftermath of those decisions is that next week there will be committees of conference meetings on several highly consequential bills for public education and public-school educators.  What are Committees […]