NHSFFP issued the following statement on the March 26 House Finance Committee public hearing on an amendment to HB 1583.

Public testimony in the House Finance Committee today showed strong support for the legislature to act and address the lack of meaningful State education funding. While specific aspects of the amendment to HB 1583 drew criticism from different speakers, its general goal, and that of the underlying bill, of increasing state funding for education was clearly supported by members of the public and elected officials who testified.  

“Today, and through this whole legislative process, it has been really clear that there is a broad consensus around the State that the legislature needs to do something about how little it contributes to our schools,” said Zack Sheehan, NHSFFP Executive Director. “The public has been clear, and the courts have been clear that what’s being done isn’t enough. I think the legislature has also been aware of this reality for some time, and I hope they continue down this path of doing something to fix this problem.” 

As it was originally passed by the full House in February, HB 1583 would increase base adequacy from $4,100 to $4,404 per pupil and add over $60 million in targeted aid for communities with lower property values and districts with higher proportions of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch. 

The amendment, 1005h, seeks to increase base adequacy to $7,356.01, the amount set in last year’s ConVal ruling, and requires municipalities that raise Statewide Education Property Tax (SWEPT) revenues in excess of the State’s defined cost of an adequate education must remit that excess revenue to the State, which would bring the State in line with last year’s ruling on SWEPT in the Rand lawsuit. 

NHSFFP supports these changes and this attempt to bring the State in line with these court rulings, but it strongly opposes the other major component of the amendment, which would impose a spending cap on all school districts in the state. The Project believes that this both infringes on the ability of communities to make their own budget decisions, and will realistically only serve to lock in the existing funding disparities between communities in the State 

“Of course I’d like to see parts of this amendment become law, but I have real concerns about the spending cap provision,” Sheehan said. “But, the pieces of the amendment that address the lawsuits show at least the start of a commitment by the legislature to begin taking some responsibility for its role in fixing our school funding system. They are ultimately responsible for finding a solution to this problem, and I think today’s testimony made it clear that this is a problem the people of New Hampshire want something done about.”

Read our full written testimony, as well as other notable testimony, including a letter submitted and signed by a group of 11 NH Mayors, and a letter submitted by NH Businesses for Social Responsibility.