nhsba

Legislative Bulletin

March 19, 2010

A Brief Summary of Education Issues at the State House

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House and Senate Have Busy Schedules
With next Thursday's Crossover deadline, (the last day to act on House bills in the House, or Senate bills in the Senate), House and Senate activity has been lengthy. Many bills must clear committee and be scheduled for votes on the House/Senate floor, and both chambers are expected to have lengthy sessions next week.
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House Action This Week
The House met on Wednesday and Thursday, taking action on many bills, including the following:
[OTP means Ought to Pass - OTP/A means Ought to Pass as Amended - ITL means Inexpedient to Legislate]
HB 1453, requiring schools to give notice to legal guardians of certain school programs addressing sexual orientation or political activism: KILLED on an ITL vote.
HB 1479, requiring that body mass index be assessed in all pupils in grades one, 4, 7, and 10: KILLED on an ITL vote.
HB 1580, establishing that parents have a natural, fundamental right to determine and direct the education of their children and exempting children who are receiving educational instruction from a parent from the compulsory attendance requirements: KILLED on an ITL vote.
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Senate Action This Week
CACR 34, providing that the general court shall define an adequate education and distribute state funds for public education in a manner that alleviates local disparities: TABLED on a 14-9 vote.
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House Finance Committee Adopts Budget Reduction Recommendations
 HB 1664, making appropriations reductions in the operating budget for fiscal year 2011 and relative to state revenues and expenditures, received unanimous Finance Committee support on an amendment that includes several areas impacting education. The bill decreases again the state share of local employer retirement contributions, reducing the state share next year from the scheduled 25% down to 20%. The recommended reduction is for one year only (FY 2011), and the local impact of such reduction is offset by recommending, again for one year only, an increase in the percentage that employees, teachers, police and firefighters contribute. Employees and teachers would increase their contribution from 5% to 7%; police and firefighters would increase from 9.3% to 11%.
The bill also proposes to make cuts in two state education aid programs in FY 2011. Dropout Prevention funding would be cut $1 million, reducing the appropriation from $1,750,000 down to $750,000; Local Ed Improvement would be cut in half, reducing the appropriation from $500,000 to $250,000. The bill is scheduled for House consideration next week.
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Senate Finance Committee Recommendations on Adequacy and Building Aid
 SB 465, extending the transition period for implementing the adequacy aid formula, has been amended to include a study committee charged with studying the sustainability of the existing state programs for funding K-12 education, including adequate education grants, fiscal capacity disparity aid, and catastrophic special education aid. The committee is to report its findings and any recommendations for proposed legislation by December 1, 2010. The bill keeps the original proposal that extends the transition period (hold harmless/collar) through FY 2012. The language states that the Dept Education shall not distribute education grants to municipalities that neither exceed the FY 2009 grant by more than 15%, nor distribute any grant less that what was received in FY 2009. The bill is scheduled for Senate consideration next week.
SB 486, suspending state building aid for new projects approved next year, was amended to include a legislative statement of purpose and incorporate changes to the Committee to Study the School Building Aid Grant Program. The recommendation continues to suspend building aid grants for next year (June 30, 2010 - June 30, 2011), provides for a waiver if the condition of the building, or portion thereof, constitutes a clear and imminent danger to the life or safety of occupants, and adds two more members to the Building Aid Study Committee: one senator and one representative. The Study Committee is charged to solicit and consider testimony and hold a public hearing before making a final report by December 1, 2010. The final report should include any findings or recommendations for proposed legislation to be considered next year. The bill is scheduled for Senate consideration next week.
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 Financial liability for special education and related services provided to a child attending a school in a district in which the child does not reside
 SB 520, relative to school district liability for special education costs, had a public hearing before the Senate Finance Committee this week and was supported by NHSBA. Introduced by Senator Bragdon, the bill is in response to continuing concerns over the financial liability for special education services when a child has been "parentally placed" in a school outside the child's district of residence. As you recall, this issue became important following a Dept. Education Hearing Officer decision that assigned financial responsibility to the district of the school that accepted and enrolled the student. NHSBA has a resolution addressing this issue, calling for financial liability to remain with the district of residence, as is customary with most special education issues. Last year, the House passed HB 143 attempting to address these concerns, but various problems led to the bill being killed in the Senate. Similar in scope and intent, SB 520 attempts to clarify that a child's district of residence remains the legally liable and financially responsible district. An amended version of the bill will be considered in the Senate next week.
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For the complete text of any bill, go to the general court web site and enter the bill number, e.g. HB1523, SB405 or CACR27, and make sure the Session Year is 2010.

For more information on specific legislation, please call Dean Michener, NHSBA Director of Governmental Affairs at 603-228-2061, or email: deanm@nhsba.org.

Dean Michener
NHSBA Director of Governmental Affairs