Legislative Update Report

3/28/25: NEA-NH Legislative Update

This Week’s Re-Cap  This week was another tough week; the House and Senate cast floor votes, largely on party line, to approve the following bills:   Each of these bills will now “crossover” to the other body and start the process again. This begins with a new round of public hearings, most likely sometime in April. You can look up the bill language on each of these bills and their status using theNEA-NH bill tracker.  HB 2 – State Budget: Voucher Expansion and Mandatory School Budget Caps  This week, the House wrapped up much of its work on the state budget […]

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 […]

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 […]

3/7/25: NEA-NH Legislative Update

IMPORTANT: Town and School Meetings!  Many New Hampshire communities will be convening in March, and specifically the next week, for town and school elections and annual meetings. Don’t miss your opportunity to vote for local leaders who will protect public education, support budgets that support our students, and approve educator contracts. To find out information about your community, contact your town clerk – and then make a plan to vote!  House and Senate Floor Votes on Vouchers, Forced Spending Cap and Parental Rights Next Week!  SB 295 & HB 115 – Act Now to Stop Universal Vouchers!  ACTION REQUESTED: Contact […]

2/28/25: NEA-NH Legislative Update

Back from Break, House and Senate Have Major Committee Votes and Hearings  House and Senate Committees are up against deadlines to report out on bills this week that would require going to a second committee should they pass on the floor of their respective body. Here are some of the major votes you can still take action on this weekend.  Committee Votes Coming Up:  Both Universal Voucher Bills To be Voted on This Week in Policy Committees!  Urge your lawmakers to reject universal vouchers! Two universal voucher bills are being considered in the New Hampshire House and Senate – HB […]

02/22/25: NEA-NH Legislative Update

Re-Cap of the Week  What a rollercoaster of a week yet again, ahead of what will be a school vacation week for most. Here is the rundown of major developments:  HB 283 – Bill to Eliminate Content Areas Officially Defeated!  This week the full New Hampshire House of Representatives rejected HB 283, which would have gutted crucial areas of content as part of the definition of an adequate education by removing Art, Music, World Languages, Personal Finance Literacy, and more. Thanks to the 30,000+ Granite Staters – including many of our members – who took action to #ProtectPublicSchools!  HB 735 […]