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End of Legislative Session
This week marked the end of the regular legislative session for bills this year, and the conclusion of 'weekly' NHSBA BULLETINS. Additional BULLETINS will be distributed when needed. Legislators maintain their status until the next legislature is convened in December, and the Speaker has already given notice that the House will be in session on June 27 to consider pending veto messages from the Governor.
Below is a brief description of the action taken this week on Committee of Conference reports on educational bills. NHSBA will be preparing a comprehensive summary of the 2012 legislative session, and this report will be available early next Fall. If you have any questions on specific legislation, please feel free to call the NHSBA office for information.
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Constitutional Amendments
CACR 12, the education funding amendment agreed to by House and Senate conferees as well as the Governor, failed to receive the necessary 3/5 vote in the House required for proposed Constitutional Amendments. The language passed easily in the Senate on a 17-6 vote. The proposed language acknowledged the legislature has a responsibility to maintain a system of public elementary and secondary education, and should "mitigate local disparities in educational opportunity and fiscal capacity." But it also gave the legislature the "full power and authority to make reasonable standards ... and to determine the amount of, and the methods of raising and distributing, state funding for public education." At the risk of oversimplifying, democrats remained united in opposition to language that gave the legislature total latitude over the amount of educational funding, concerned with the potential large downshifting of financial responsibility to local communities. Conservative members opposed the language that acknowledged a state responsibility. Two separate votes were taken on CACR 12: the first was 224-144 and the second vote was 224-141. Lacking the required count of 237 affirmative votes, the compromise language was not adopted. Despite various procedural efforts, including an attempt to consider CACR 8, a more extreme proposal that had been tabled earlier in the year, it appears that there will be no proposed amendment on education funding that will go to the ballot next November.
CACR 6, a proposed constitutional amendment to require a 3/5 vote to pass legislation imposing new or increased taxes or license fees, or to authorize the issuance of state bonds, also failed to achieve the necessary 3/5 approval for constitutional amendments. After barely passing the Senate (14-9), the vote failed 220-132 in the House.
CACR 13 did win approval in both the Senate (19-4) and the House (256-110). This proposal provides that no new tax on personal income shall be levied by the state of New Hampshire. It will now be submitted to the voters at the state general election to be held in November 2012, and adoption requires 2/3 approval of those voting.
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School Building Aid: HB 533
HB 533 was adopted by both the House and Senate on simple voice votes. The agreed to language makes significant changes to the state's school building aid program, and signals a return to some new state aid beginning in Fiscal Year 2014 (the current moratorium remains in effect through June 30, 2013). The proposed language caps the total amount at $50 million annually, with aid initially distributed to the 'tail' (projects currently funded prior to the moratorium). This means beginning in FY 2014, there will only be $6-10 million available for new projects, with that amount increasing as the tail requires less. The most significant change in procedure will be the timeframe for building aid applications, which will require submission to the Dept. Educ. by September 1. This will allow review of proposals as well as determination of a priority ranked queue of projects, with notice to districts of their position in the ranked queue by January. Prioritization will be based on several factors: unsafe conditions; non-compliance with ADA or obsolete, inefficient, or unsuitable facilities or mechanical systems; overcrowding; enrollment projections; history of maintenance activities including scheduled repairs; district fiscal capacity, such as percent students eligible for free/reduced price meals; and "any other criteria that the state board of education may determine are necessary." There is no longer a 3% incentive for high performance buildings, and SAU offices and portable classrooms are no longer eligible for aid. The current formula for aid, starting at 30% and allowing increases for coop/AREA arrangements, is replaced by a formula similar to the current "alternative" formula: it will be based on median family income and equalized valuation per pupil, ranging from 30 to 60% of the eligible cost of construction (charter schools are included and eligible for 30%). An initial payment of 80% is made "up front", with the balance paid upon completion of the project. The bill now goes to the Governor for review.
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Vacancies on Cooperative School Boards
SB 328 was adopted by both the House and Senate on simple voice votes. The agreement modifies the procedure for filling a vacancy on a cooperative school board. For these boards, the remaining school board members representing the same town as the departed member shall fill a vacancy on the board, provided that there are at least 2 such members. If there are less than 2 remaining members on the school board representing the same town or towns as the departed member, or if the remaining members are unable, by majority vote, to agree upon an appointment, the selectmen of the town involved shall fill the vacancy by majority vote in convention. If the selectmen are unable to agree upon an appointment, the school district moderator shall make the appointment. A member so appointed shall serve until the next district election when the voters of the district shall elect a replacement for the unexpired term. The bill now goes to the Governor for review.
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School Attendance for Children of Divorced Parents
HB 1325 was adopted by both the House and Senate on simple voice votes. The agreement makes clear that in a divorce decree or parenting plan, a child's legal residence for school attendance purposes may be the school district in which either parent resides. It further states that a school district is not required to provide transportation for a child to another school in the school district in which the child resides or beyond the geographical limits of the school district in which the child resides. The bill now goes to the Governor for review.
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Taxpayer Standing for Declaratory Judgments
HB 1510 was adopted by both the House and Senate on simple voice votes. The agreement clarifies 'legal standing' for taxpayers that petition a court for relief in a declaratory judgment action and who may challenge actions of state and local governing bodies. The bill now goes to the Governor for review.
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Right to Know Law: Remedies
HB 1223 amends the remedies for violations of the right-to-know law. The new language makes public bodies liable for reasonable attorneys fees and costs incurred in a lawsuit, provided the court finds that such lawsuit was necessary to enforce compliance. Courts may also award attorneys fees to the public body when they find a lawsuit is in bad faith or frivolous. Civil penalties ranging from $250 - $2,000 may be imposed on an official of the public body who acts in bad faith, and such person may also be required to reimburse the public body for any attorney's fees or costs it paid. (At its May 30 session, the House agreed with the Senate version of this bill.) The bill now goes to the Governor for review.
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Retirement: Defined Contribution Plan
House and Senate conferees failed to reach agreement on SB 229, creating a "DC" Plan Study. Differences of opinion on the composition of the committee, timeline, and the specific charge to be accomplished, prompted House conferees, who desired a more aggressive plan of action, to cease negotiations, thereby killing the bill.
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School District Policies on Health and Sex Education
Conferees failed to reach agreement on language in HB 1456, changing the requirement for policies allowing an exception to a particular unit of health or sex education, to not just religious objections but whenever a parent or legal guardian requests the exception, thereby killing the bill. The obstacle to agreement involved the inclusion of language specifically relevant to Concord's school district treasurer. Lack of agreement on this separate issue resulted in no agreement on the bill.
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Immunity for Using Reasonable Force to Protect a Minor
Conferees failed to reach agreement on language in HB 1583, relative to immunity for school personnel using reasonable force to protect a minor, thereby killing the bill. Lack of agreement on language regarding whether or not the pupil's behavior would constitute a danger to himself or other's present, resulted in failure to reach a compromise on the bill.
Please share your legislative concerns with your local legislators.
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