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Legislative Deadlines
This week, the deadline passed (March 21) for the House to report all House bills (except the budget), and next Thursday is the last day to REPORT the budget bill and ACT on all other House bills. Thursday, April 4 is Crossover Day, the last day for the House to act on a budget bill. The busy House schedule required two session days this week, and both Wednesday and Thursday of next week are held for session days. Next Monday, March 25, Division I, II and III of the House Finance Committee are scheduled to make budget presentations to the full Finance Committee. These presentations will be followed by the Finance Committee beginning executive session deliberations on HB 1 and 2. The Committee must adopt its report (recommended budget) by Thursday, March 28.
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HB 160 Passes Senate -District transportation responsibility for pupils of divorced parents
HB 160 passed the Senate with an amendment. The bill makes a technical correction to current law, ensuring that a school district is only responsible to transport students within the schools designated attendance area. This correction will help those school districts that cover a large geographic area. The Senate amendment added to the bill makes a simple grammatical change.
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SB 40 Signed by Governor - Current Year FY 2013 Adequate Education Funding
SB 40 addressed a technical error for current year Adequacy Funding and restores the original level of funding for which school districts received notice and were anticipating as revenue this year. Governor Hassan signed the bill on Monday, making it Chapter 4 of the Laws of 2013, and effective immediately.
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HB 370 - Proposal to Repeal the Education Tax Credit Program: Now in Senate
HB 370 repeals the statutes enacted last year with the passage of the Education Tax Credit Program. The bill passed the House in February had a public hearing before the Senate Health, Education & Human Services Committee this week. NHSBA provided testimony in support of the repeal. The Education Tax Credit law diverts money from the state general and education trust funds, re-directing it to individuals to support their personal choices, violating our state's tradition of never allowing public funds to be utilized for private purposes. This is undeniable; without a tax owed to the state, there would be no 'credit' to offer.
ACTION ITEM
Please contact your local senator and members of the Senate Health, Education & Human Services Committee, expressing your support for this bill. NHSBA Perennial Resolutions I:A and I:B oppose any efforts to subsidize private, religious or home schools with public tax dollars. Tax credits will only result in less revenue for the state despite the lack of resources to meet current obligations. The program "recaptures" state adequacy aid to locals, thus increasing the local property tax and relying on local funds to promote a state policy initiative. The state should not be diverting money from the state and local districts for private school purposes. Local districts will see little or no reduction in their expenses and fixed costs, yet will still be required to forfeit money in lost adequacy funds. The reduction in state revenues will only make it harder for the state to pay the bills it owes, which are currently underfunded. Rather than diverting scarce tax dollars away from our public school classrooms, and arguably for unconstitutional purposes by paying tuition at religious schools, NHSBA urges the legislature to support repeal of this program and focus on supporting improvements in our public schools and meeting current funding obligations, benefitting the vast majority of our children.
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HB 142 - Teacher Evaluation Procedures
HB 142 affirms that the school board shall be responsible for the development and adoption of a teacher evaluation system. However, NHSBA is concerned that the language as amended by the House creates a new requirement for local boards that currently does not exist. The current version of the bill states that boards must adopt a "teacher evaluation and support system to be used in the school district or school for the continual improvement of instruction." Current statutes do not require a "support system", and the term is vague, leaving it open to different interpretation and challenges. Currently, RSA 189:14-a simply states that, "(b) School boards shall have a teacher performance evaluation policy." HB 142 as amended goes beyond that statutory requirement. A public hearing on the bill is scheduled for next Tuesday, March 26, at 9:40 am before the Senate Health, Education and Human Services Committee in room 103 of the LOB.
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Vacancies on Cooperative School District Budget Committees
HB 115 modifies the procedure for filling a vacancy on a cooperative school district budget committee. The bill seeks to make changes similar to the procedure adopted last year in SB 328 for filling vacancies on cooperative school boards. During a hearing this week before the Senate Public & Municipal Affairs Committee, NHSBA continued to express concerns with the specific language to fill a vacancy of the school board's representative on the budget committee. Committee members agreed with NHSBA's comments, and have recommended passage of the bill with an amendment to preserve the appointing authority of the school board for its member on the budget committee.
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House Adopts Amended Version of HB 591 - Abusive Work Environment
This bill prohibits abusive work environments for public employees. NHSBA provided testimony in opposition, noting that districts have policies relating to employee behavior and acceptable conduct in the workplace. Multiple levels of review also exist for complaints. The House adopted an amended version of HB 591, making it applicable to state departments but excluding it from any political subdivisions of the state.
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Bill Status Update
OTP, Ought to Pass - OTP/A Ought to Pass as Amended - ITL Inexpedient to Legislate
HB 269 authorizes a city or town to conduct a special meeting necessitated by changes in adequate education funding. The Finance Committee unanimously recommended OTP; the recommendation will be considered by the full House next week.
HB 344 requires that catastrophic special education aid be funded at a level at least 80 percent of districts entitlements for the fiscal year. Having passed the House as a policy decision, the bill was referred to the House Finance Committee for financial considerations. The Finance Committee unanimously recommended ITL; the recommendation will be considered by the full House next week.
HB 260 addresses issues associated with CHINS, and the "downshifting" of costs when services for these children was nearly eliminated in the FY 2013 budget. This bill as amended expands the definition of a child in need of services under RSA 169-D and creates a voluntary CHINS program, requiring that the appropriate voluntary services have been attempted and proven unsuccessful prior to a petition being filed with the court. The bill also requires school board truancy policies to include information relative to student attendance. The Finance Committee recommended OTP/A by a 16-7 vote. The recommendation will be considered by the full House next week.
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