Watch this short video on how to submit testimony on the State Budget online, or follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Not sure what to write for your testimony? Scroll to the bottom of this page for a sample that you can copy and paste.
Click on this link to go to the General Court’s Website:
https://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/remotetestimony/default.aspx
Fill out Step 1: Personal Information
Step 2: Select Date of Hearing
- The Hearing is MONDAY, MARCH 13TH.
Step 3: Select Bill
- Select Committee → HOUSE FINANCE
- Choose the Bill → 2:00pm HB1
- I am → AN ELECTED OFFICIAL
- I’m Representing → MYSELF
- Indicate your Position on this Bill → I’M NEUTRAL ON THIS BILL
- Since this is the entire state budget, it’s acceptable to select “neutral” and then provide testimony
Do not click the box for “testimony is for non-germane amendment”
Step 4. Upload Remote Testimony (Optional)
*Note, this says “optional” because you can sign-in in support or opposition of a bill without submitting testimony. That is not the goal of this particular exercise for HB1. Please submit testimony if you can. If you aren’t sure what to say, we have an example below that you can copy and paste into the testimony webpage.
Step 5. Final Review
Now you can submit your testimony. Your testimony will be considered part of the public record of the hearing, and also has to be considered by the committee. Click Submit, and you are all done!
Noah and Casey would greatly appreciate it if you would shoot us a quick note to let us know you sent in testimony. It helps us know how many people the committee heard from about this so we can measure impact.
You can copy and paste our emails and just put in the subject line “I submitted testimony”. cneal@fairfundingnh.org, ntelerski@fairfundingnh.org
Sample Testimony
Please feel free to use this example text and copy and paste it into the testimony submission form.
Chairman Weyler and Members of the House Finance Committee,
As a local elected official, I see how low levels of state funding for education impacts my community every day. The taxpayers are being saddled with high rates because of the significant gap between the actual cost of education and what the state pays in adequacy aid. Our reliance on local property taxes to fill that gap results in wildly varying tax rates from town to town while putting the most stress on communities with the highest needs.
That is why I signed a letter along with more than 140 local elected officials from around the state calling on the governor and the legislature to fulfill their constitutional obligations and fix the way we fund education in New Hampshire.
Too many communities, mine included, are locked in a constant balancing act of trying to fund our schools the best we can for our students, while also being mindful of the burden being put on taxpayers. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The study done by the American Institute of Research for the Commission to Study School Funding found that if the State were to take responsibility for the bulk of education funding, as they are constitutionally obligated to do, 70% of towns would see a reduction in their local property tax rates.
For the sake of our taxpayers, and all of the students in New Hampshire, please include in this state budget a solution to school funding that shifts the responsibility back to the state so that every community, and every student, can benefit from well funded schools and public education.
Respectfully,