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As we all know, public education is under assault here in New Hampshire.  Yesterday, though, we won three important victories, and it is time to take a moment to celebrate and to reflect. Days like today don’t come about too often, especially when opponents of public education control seemingly control every branch of NH government.  But, through the hard work of thousands of people testifying in Concord, protesting outside the State House, writing letters and emails and calling their senators and representative, you won some important victories.  So congratulations, rest up for a day, and get ready for the battles yet to come!

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In terms of public activity, this was a relatively quiet week at the State House, but be assured, wheels are turning.  The House met in session yesterday for only two hours, passing a number of smaller or less important bills, while work continues on the big pieces of legislation.  Probably the most noteworthy moment was the brief set of comments offered by Representative Kat Rogers in commemoration of the Columbine school shooting.  Her remarks were brief, pointed, and applauded by many, but not all (you can imagine what ideological element of the House refused to honor her efforts).  In similar fashion, the Senate also met and rendered decisions on a number of pieces of legislation, each important to certain constituencies but none of major, state-wide importance.  The big issues and the controversial legislation is yet to come forth; likewise, work continues on the Senate’s budget proposal. 


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In the aftermath of the House’s stunning failure to pass a budget (due to Republican intra-party feuding), the Senate becomes the focal point of attention, as it works to develop a budget proposal.  Using Governor Sununu’s budget proposal as a starting point, the Senate will craft a budget and attach it as an amendment to a House bill.  That amended bill will then be sent back to the House, which will of course reject the bill, forcing a committee of conference to hammer out the final details of the State’s 2017-18 biennial budget.  So, much remains to be done, but much of it will occur behind the scenes, in negotiations between the Senate, the Governor, and the House.  Stay tuned-this will not be finished until June 2017.

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House Budget Fails   The deadline for the NH House to pass a state budget was April 6th. Despite having a 53-vote margin majority, the NH House Republicans failed to pass a budget to send to the NH Senate by the deadline for the first time in at least 50 years. The House met over two days and recessed on Thursday, April 6th with no budget. Speaker Shawn Jasper was unable to garner the votes of the republican caucus to approve a budget after the so-called Freedom Caucus in the House balked at the budget citing too much spending. The NH Senate begins the process of dealing with the budget. 

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In a final flurry of action, the NH Senate completed action on its bills this past week, setting the stage for the next round of activity at the State House.  One of the bills passed by the Senate was SB3, which is another in a long line of attempts at voter suppression.  With some newspapers continuing to give front-page coverage to claims of massive voter fraud in NH (even as the stories themselves admit there is no evidence to back such claims), NH Republicans voted to impose new restrictions upon individuals registering to vote.  Under this proposed legislation, the applicant will need to

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AFT-NH CALL TO ACTION-STOP SCHOOL VOUCHERS

Stop the effort to divert money from public schools to private schools, home schoolers and others.  We need to protect public education. SB 193 is a voucher bill under the guise of “Education Freedom Savings Accounts”.  A hearing before the House Education Committee has been scheduled for Tuesday, April 4th at 10:00am at the Legislative Office Building, Room 207, 33 North State Street, Concord, NH. 

Please Support Public Education

Defeat SB 193


Stop School Vouchers

Stop the effort to divert money from public schools to private schools, home schoolers and others.  We need to protect public education. SB 193 is a voucher bill under the guise of “Education Freedom Savings Accounts”.  

Each school district receives $3,560 +/- for each student enrolled in K-12. This bill would divert 90% of that amount to an account for a child who attends any private school, charter school or for home-schooling expenses. Another 5% in administrative expenses can be diverted to the administration of the “scholarship account”.

This bill will cause a significant impact on local property taxpayers as money is diverted away from funding our public schools and into a system with little or no accountability.

A hearing before the House Education Committee has been scheduled for Tuesday, April 4th at 10:00am at the Legislative Office Building, Room 207, 33 North State Street, Concord, NH.

Please attend the hearing and show your opposition. If you do not wish to testify, you can sign a card showing your opposition.

If you are unable to attend, you can email the full House Education Committee directly at HouseEducationCommittee@leg.state.nh.us.

For more resources on this issue, please visit our web site at:

http://nh.aft.org/2017-nh-state-house-news#


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