nhsba

New Hampshire School Boards Association

Legislative Bulletin

February 24, 2012 

  

A Brief Summary of Education Issues at the State House    

 

Both the House and Senate are on break next week, with no scheduled hearings. The next session day, when the House and Senate meet, will be on Wednesday, March 7.

 

Legislative Schedule Notes:

In the House, Thursday, February 23, was the last day to report House bills not in a second committee. Thursday, March 22, is the last day to report all remaining House bills, and Thursday, March 29, is the last day to act on House bills, also known as CROSSOVER.

In the Senate, Thursday, March 15, is the deadline for Policy Committees to act on all Senate bills with a fiscal impact (except those exempted by rule) and Thursday, March 29, is the last day to act on all Senate bills (CROSSOVER). 

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NH House Action    

The House met on Wednesday, killing several bills that were closely followed by school board members:

HB 1177, lowering the percentage by which the total amount appropriated at an annual meeting may exceed the amount recommended by the budget committee: ITL (Inexpedient to Legislate).

HB 1279, requiring members of budget committees who are members of the governing bodies or school boards, to serve as non-voting members of such budget committees: ITL.

HB 1323, requiring employers who offer benefits to full-time employees to offer benefits on a pro-rated basis to part-time employees: ITL.

HB 1497, prohibiting proselytizing in warrant articles: ITL.

HB 1513, changing the membership of the public employee labor relations board: ITL.

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Senate Education Committee Considers "Real Time Data" for Adequacy Grants

SB 401 requires the use of current fiscal year data for average daily membership in attendance and average daily membership in residence for the calculation of adequate education grants. Introduced by Senator Forsythe, the bill had a public hearing before the Senate Education Committee. The bill seeks to base per pupil adequacy grants on the actual current year Average Daily Membership counts. NHSBA opposed this bill because it presents unique problems for school districts. Not all districts have the capacity and technology to provide "real time" current year attendance reports as the basis for the Dept. Education to make Adequacy payments. But the primary problem with the proposal is that it creates uncertainty and volatility in the revenue stream to school districts. This is highlighted by a section of the bill that states, "During the course of the school year, the commissioner may make adjustments in grant payments necessitated by variations in the ADMA data for a school district." Senate Education Committee members seem reluctant to switch to 'current year' data for technical and capacity reasons, but are considering a possible conversion to one-year old data, i.e. data from the previous fiscal year. While allowing more time for data review and submission, that change would still leave districts in the uncertain position of not being able to rely on the prior year's 'notice' of the amount of adequacy aid.   

 

ACTION ITEM

Please contact your senator and express your opposition to this bill. In general, school districts have requested, and received, advance notice of state revenue dating back to the Foundation Aid formula. By law, the Dept. Educ. must notify school districts of the amount of adequacy grants by November 15 PRECEDING the fiscal year for which the aid is given. This allows districts to have the information for budgeting and to inform the legislative body for the March vote on a budget. Following budget adoption, contractual obligations can be determined, such as the April 15 deadline for teacher notices. Allowing state revenue to vary during the course of the following school year, especially AFTER tax rates are set in October, puts school boards in a very difficult position in terms of managing the budget. An NHSBA continuing resolution was adopted in response to such uncertainty, stating our opposition to unpredictable changes in funding that result in information coming to the school district after budgets are adopted.

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Education Tax Credits for Private School Vouchers

HB 1607 establishes an education credit against the business profits tax for contributions to scholarship organizations that award scholarships to be used by students to defray the educational expenses of attending a private school. In the Senate, SB 372 does the same thing. Both bills remain under review in committee, working out various details such as how DRA will manage the tax credit, how families will be means-tested for eligibility, how school districts will 'pay back' the state any adequacy funds received that were based on a student now leaving the school with a voucher to attend a private school. HB 1607 is under review by a subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, with the next work session scheduled for March 6. The Committee has until March 22 to make a recommendation and send the bill to the full House for consideration. SB 372 is in the Senate Education Committee. It is anticipated that the committee will not take final action on a recommendation until March 15.

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Part-time Employees and Retirement Costs

HB 1306 as introduced required retirement system employers to make contributions for part-time employment of retired members of NHRS. Specifically, there is legislative interest in requiring retirement system employers to make contributions based on the unfunded accrued liability and medical benefits employer share for any NHRS employees hired on a part-time basis. In response to many concerns expressed at hearings, including the potential for age-discrimination lawsuits, the Committee decided to determine the extent to which NHRS retirees are being employed on a part-time basis. The intent was to learn if a significant portion of the unfunded liability could be paid off earlier by charging this additional employer cost. An amendment to the bill was unanimously adopted, requiring public employers to compile a report of 1) the names of all NHRS retirees employed part-time, 2) the amount paid in wages last year, and 3) the group and classification from which the employee is retired. This information is to be reported to Rev. Admin. by Sept. 1, 2012, so DRA can report to the legislature on or before November 1, 2012. Details of the reporting requirements were not specified, leaving many unanswered questions associated with the bill.

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House Labor Bills Impacting School Districts

Several bills in the House Labor Committee needed to be completed this week with Committee recommendations, but all amendments were not available for inclusion in this Bulletin. Next week's Bulletin will summarize the status and current language of those bills, including:

HB 1206, as introduced, prohibited employers from withholding union dues from employees' wages. An amendment was proposed that addresses insurance cost increases when at impasse and operating under "status quo". The amendment requires any cost increase necessary to fulfill continuing obligations for employee insurance benefits to be shared equally by the public employer and the employee. However, this causes financial harm to districts that have negotiated a dollar value for an insurance benefit. NHSBA proposed that when at impasse and operating under status quo, the financial obligation of a school district be tied to the prior year's budget. Any monetary increase necessary to fulfill continuing obligations under the expired agreement should be borne by the public employee.

HB 1645, as introduced, repealed provisions giving public employees the right to bargain collectively. An amendment was offered requiring the PELRB to offer training, changing the timeframe for bargaining, requiring employee votes on their representation whenever voting on a contract, and requiring mediation meetings to be open to the public. NHSBA has proposed clarification and expansion of management rights by incorporating language into the statute that reserves to management the right to determine standards for evaluation, compensation, selection, layoff and retention, discipline, assignment and transfer, and other traditionally accepted managerial rights, so as to continue public control of governmental functions.

HB 1427 provides that contracting or transferring governmental operations to a private entity shall not be deemed an unfair labor practice under the public employee labor relations act, RSA 273-A.

HB 1570 provides that no public employee labor organization shall be required to represent employees who elect not to join or to pay dues or fees to the employee organization. This issue is directly related to the possible prohibition on agency fees.

HB 1663 prohibits collective bargaining agreements from requiring public employees who are not members of the union to pay union fees or dues.

HB 1677 prohibits collective bargaining agreements that require employees to join a labor union. This bill also provides that no public employee labor organization shall be required to represent employees who elect not to join or to pay dues or fees to the employee organization.

HB 1685 provides a definition of "supervisor" and excludes their membership in any bargaining unit, making them employees who are not covered by collective bargaining.

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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. SB1, HB34 or CACR3 (no spaces!), and make sure the Session Year is 2011.

For more information on specific legislation, please call Dean Michener, NHSBA Director of Governmental Affairs at 603-228-2061, or email: [email protected] 

Dean Michener
NHSBA Dir. of Governmental Affairs