Latest news with #HouseEducationFundingCommittee
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Competing education grant bills advance
Mar. 13—New Hampshire's House and Senate approved competing bills Thursday to eventually allow parents of any income level to receive state-funded Education Freedom Account grants. Both bills go far beyond what Gov. Kelly Ayotte has requested of lawmakers. The House bill (HB 115) that won initial approval Thursday would raise the income limit next school year to 400% of the federal poverty level before eliminating the income limit entirely in 2026-27. Under the current 350% limit, a family can earn up to $103,600; the 400% limit would raise it to $128,600. The House vote was 198-180 with only 10 House Republicans joining all House Democrats in opposition. A few hours later Thursday, the Senate passed its own bill (SB 295), offered by first-term Sen. Victoria Sullivan, R-Manchester. Her bill, as amended, would eliminate the income limit but cap at 10,000 the number of grants awarded every year. Currently just over 5,200 families make use of the EFA grants, which can be used toward tuition or expenses for private, religious, alternative public or home school. The average EFA is worth about $5,100. The Senate endorsed its bill, 16-8, with all Republicans in support and all eight Democrats against it. "The voters of this state overwhelmingly support the principle of school choice," Sullivan said. Yet Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, said residents who signed up online to comment opposed the measure by nearly a 10-1 margin. "This program is in no way wildly popular," Altschiller said. Both bills went to their respective Finance Committees to be studied further. In her state budget message last month, Ayotte called for more modest legislation that would permit a family of any income to get an EFA grant, but only if their child was currently enrolled in a public school. Studies have confirmed that EFA grants have gone to a very small number of families who used the money to take their child out of a public school. Rep. David Luneau, D-Hopkinton, said House Democrats would oppose any expansion of the program even though the cost of Ayotte's proposal would likely be minimal. Luneau contended the House-passed bill could cost up to $60 million more a year once it's fully implemented. House Education Funding Committee Chairman Rick Ladd, R-Haverhill, the architect of the House plan, insisted it would cost $11 million more in 2027. Rep. Daniel LeClerc, D-Amherst, pointed out that the conservative Granite State Taxpayers Association had opposed the House bill, adding that such a hefty expense "at a time of budget deficit" would be inappropriate. "Let's not risk a good thing by spending money that we don't have," LeClerc argued. Rep. Victoria McDonnell, R-Salem, said all families should have access to the grants. "I look forward to the day when children will not be turned away from their school choice based on their ZIP code or their family's ability to pay," McDonnell said. During Senate debate, Democratic Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka of Portsmouth reminded colleagues that a superior court judge has already ruled that state support of public schools is $540 million less a year than it should be. "Our property taxpayers will have to foot the bill if we pass this," Perkins Kwoka said. "We should be focused on adequately funding our neighborhood public schools." Attorneys for the state have asked the state Supreme Court to overturn that decision; a ruling is expected later this year. +++ What's Next: The House and Senate Finance Committees will continue work and report back to their chambers next month. Prospects: Something is likely to pass but details are unclear. The solution may become part of a final state budget compromise that lawmakers take up at the end of the legislative session. klandrigan@
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Universal EFA bill clears House committee
Mar. 4—An amended bill to offer universal access to a taxpayer-funded Education Freedom Account grants, regardless of family income, cleared its first hurdle Tuesday. House Education Funding Committee Chairman Rick Ladd, R-Haverhill, persuaded his panel to support, along party lines, an incremental expansion of the program allowing families making up to 400% of the federal poverty level to receive them in 2026. The current cap is 350% of the poverty level. For a family of four, this would raise the eligibility income level from $109,200 to $128,600 annually. Under Ladd's amended bill, the income limit would be eliminated in 2027. "Parents are looking at options — what is the best placement for the child," Ladd said. "The education-choice programs are showing they are creating more competition with the public schools." Rep. David Luneau, D-Hopkinton, said it makes no sense to offer a taxpayer subsidy equal to about $5,200 per child to wealthy families. More than 70% of those currently receiving EFA vouchers already had their children in private schools, he said. "Hardly anybody is leaving their public schools to take a voucher," Luneau said. The original bill (HB 115) would have eliminated the income limit for the school year starting this fall. The committee vote was 10-8 with all Republican members joining Ladd in support, all Democrats backing Luneau in opposition. Ladd said he objects to EFA critics who bemoan the use of taxpayer dollars on grants parents can spend as they wish on private, religious or alternative public schools or home schooling. "Whose taxpayer dollars are these? The taxpayers, they are my dollars, your dollars. I feel everybody who is paying into the system ought to have the opportunity to benefit from that contribution," Ladd said. Luneau and Ladd battled over the price tag of the bill, which didn't have an updated fiscal note. Luneau said the current $27 million cost of the program could go over $40 million during the first year and as high as $100 million after that. To back up his estimate, Luneau said there were 16,600 students in private schools and 3,900 in home school programs. But Ladd said 9,000 private-school students are ineligible for an EFA because their parents live outside the state and pay the full tuition at Phillips Exeter or some other boarding program. Another 1,700 are in pre-school private programs and they likewise can't get an EFA, Ladd said. "I am not going to debate you but $100 million is totally off track. The combined cost would be a little more than $17.5 million for two years," Ladd said. Vice Chairman Walter Spilsbury, R-Charlestown, said lawmakers next year should discuss whether to enhance accountability over EFA spending since by then they will receive a performance audit of the program. klandrigan@
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Efforts to expand school lunch assistance facing opposition in House
The free and reduced-price lunch program allows students in families who make at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level — $41,795 for a household of four — to get free breakfasts and lunches at school. (Getty Images) A yearslong effort by Democrats to expand access to free and reduced-price meals at public schools appears to be facing another uphill battle this year, as Republicans have raised concerns about the cost to the state. The House Education Funding Committee voted on party lines last week to retain or recommend killing three separate bills that would address school lunch payments. The committee recommended killing House Bill 583, which would require New Hampshire to sign up for Medicaid Direct Certification, allowing school districts to automatically enroll income-eligible families into the free and reduced-price lunch program using state Medicaid data. Currently, families that qualify — those making up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level — must apply, and not all eligible families do. The committee also voted against a bill that would make that application easier. House Bill 646, which the committee recommended be killed, would require that all school districts make the application for free and reduced-lunch available online. And the committee retained a bill, House Bill 665, that would dramatically expand how many students in the state could qualify for free and reduced-price lunch — by raising the income limit from 185 percent of the federal poverty level to 300 percent. Retaining the bill means it will not proceed to the House floor and will be kept by the committee until 2026 for further tweaks and discussion. One advocate for the bill expressed frustration afterward. 'We were crushed,' said Laura Milliken, executive director of New Hampshire Hunger Solutions, an advocacy organization, in an interview Monday. 'It's clear to us that there's a lot of food insecurity happening in New Hampshire right now, and these bills specifically address child food insecurity. And the committee was not at all interested in any of the bills.' Milliken cited the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey, from September 2024, which suggests 39 percent of children live in households that report having insufficient food. That designation includes 'those who had enough food but not always the kind wanted, those who sometimes did not have enough to eat, and those that often did not have enough to eat,' according to the census. The free and reduced-price lunch program allows students in families who make at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level — $41,795 for a household of four — to get free breakfasts and lunches at school. Those from families making between 130 and 185 percent of the poverty level can receive breakfast and lunch at a reduced price — typically about 40 cents per lunch. The program can make a difference: The full prices for lunches tend to be about $4 to $5 per meal. Democrats and anti-hunger advocates say New Hampshire should ensure that all students who qualify for the free and reduced-price lunch program are getting it. Many students who could receive it do not, sometimes because their parents forget to send in an application and sometimes because the student feels stigma and chooses not to submit it. Requiring the application process to be online, which some school districts do voluntarily, would allow more families to sign up, while entering Medicaid Direct Certification, a federal pilot program, would eliminate the need to apply altogether. But Republicans voiced objections to those approaches. Rep. Rick Ladd, a Haverhill Republican and the chairman of the committee, noted that schools can already choose to provide online applications; forcing them to do so would trample on local control, he said. 'My school district is doing this currently without the need for the legislation,' he said. 'I know others in the state are doing the same.' And joining Medicaid Direct Certification, which Democrats have proposed doing since 2022, could have budget impacts to the state, Republicans said. New Hampshire's school funding formula requires the state to give school districts additional money for each student enrolled in the free and reduced-price lunch program. Adding more students by automatically enrolling them could have immediate budgetary impacts, Republicans say. Democrats countered that signing up the kids would simply give an accurate accounting of how many low-income students are in each school district, which would ensure that those districts are getting the state aid they are supposed to be getting. Analysis by the state Department of Education suggests that around 10,000 additional students might be enrolled in the free or reduced-price lunch program if the state were to adopt the program. 'It provides the state with an accurate number, not a make-believe number, when it comes to identifying the number of kids from low-income backgrounds that attend our public schools,' said Rep. Dave Luneau, a Hopkinton Democrat. Similar bills have been struck down by Republicans over concerns about the impact to the state's Education Trust Fund. Anticipating those objections, Luneau proposed an amendment in which the state would enter Medicaid Direct Certification but would delay the funding by two years. 'So the amendment makes that budget neutral, and why do we want to make it budget neutral? Because we feel that the policy is very important to make sure that we're identifying … students who are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch as 43 other states currently do it.' Rep. Daniel Popovici-Muller, a Windham Republican, disagreed with that approach. 'I don't think that something that's not good policy adopted as is will be good policy because we delay the massive financial impact for two years,' he said. The votes are not final; each recommendation will be taken up by the full House in the coming weeks. But they come as part of a long string of defeats for Democrats on this issue. In 2022, advocates pushed then-Gov. Chris Sununu to apply to join Medicaid Direct Certification as an executive action; Sununu said he wanted buy-in from the Legislature first. Since then, bills to do so or expand student lunch assistance have fallen short. For Rep. Hope Damon, a Croydon Democrat, the benefits of increasing meal availability for children go beyond the lunch hour. 'It is not fiscally responsible to do this,' she said, referring to the recommendation to kill the bill, 'because children with food insecurity are twice as likely to receive special ed services, twice as likely to repeat a grade, have increased hyperactivity and difficulty focusing, and are twice as likely to have behavioral issues that lead to suspension, so they cost more money when they're not fed. It's unconscionable that we can't figure out a way to go forward with this.' Milliken noted two Senate bills also intended to increase meals to children. Senate Bill 204 would raise the free lunch threshold from 130 percent of the federal poverty level to 200 percent, and require the state and school districts to split the additional cost 50/50; the Senate is likely to amend that bill to make it 'opt-in' and allow districts to decide whether to participate. And Senate Bill 205 would require all school districts to offer breakfast in addition to lunch. Currently, districts are mandated only to provide one meal and breakfast is optional. Milliken said school districts have been ramping up their own efforts to encourage applications to the free and reduced-price lunch program, but that state law is necessary to close the gap. 'Families are struggling … because of the increase in housing prices and child care prices and food price prices,' she said. 'So I think there are a lot of people who are feeling the pinch, but that it's particularly hard on low-income working families.'
