AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin, 2022-14

 Action Requested - Stop HB 1393 (school budget caps)

April 16, 2022 ~ Bow, NH

Some good news.   We get to start this week’s bulletin with some good news! HB1434—the bill that would have required teachers to keep, and share all curriculum lesson plans, and all instructional materials with any person who lives within the school district, was recommended for interim study by the Senate Education Committee. An interim study motion out of the full Senate will mean the bill is defeated. Most districts already have policies and methods for sharing approved curriculum. As professionals we all welcome two-way communication with parents about what students are learning in class and how the work is going. That is how we work together as a team to help students succeed! However, 1434 could have been used as a tool to harass teachers with endless requests by individuals who had no connections to students in the class, taking time away from teaching and learning.  We are glad to see the interim study recommendation.

Still time to take action on HB 1393 (school budget cap bill) This past week the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee heard testimony on HB 1393, the bill on local school district budget caps. There was a good turnout of people explaining why this bill would be harmful to our students, families and schools. Budget caps would not be required to be set at a level that provides the current school programs and services. The per pupil spending formulas in this bill would not allow for unexpected increases in costs and would pit families against each other as school programs and services are cut to try to meet budget caps. It is not too late to contact your Senator and tell them why this is a bad bill.

Action Request    Please help defeat HB 1393. Please click the following link and TELL YOUR SENATOR TO VOTE NO ON HB 1393.

Important NH Retirement Bills   The NH Senate Executive Departments and Administration Committee are expected to vote on two important retirement bills next week when they meet on Wednesday April 20, 2022 at 9:00 am. HB 1535 is the COLA bill for retirees. As of now, it appears the COLA would be a one-time $500 payment for those who have been retired for five years and whose pension is $30,000 or less per year.  HB 1417 is the bill that would require the state to start paying 7.5% of employer contributions to the NHRS. Right  now the entire burden is on cities, towns, counties and school districts. This will help local budgets tremendously. The House has passed this bill and we hope the NH Senate will follow suit.

Action for Retirement Bills   You can go to the ED&A Web Page, email the entire committee and simply ask them to vote Ought to Pass on these bills.

The look ahead.  We have a House schedule for sessions for the rest of the year. The House will meet this week on the 21^st and then again potentially on May 4^th and certainly on May 5^th, then again on the 12^th and 26^th. The Senate will continue to meet weekly. In between the 12^th and the 26^th we will see Committees of Conferences formed for bills with a House or Senate amendment that they cannot agree on. The House and Senate appoint members of the committee of conference, and they see if they can work out their differences. The bill then needs to be passed one more time by both chambers.

We should see the committees finishing their work on our priority bills either this week or next.  We have actions to take on two of them--- (insert actions on 1393 and 1431). If you have not yet taken one moment to complete these actions--- please do so now! Your voice can make a difference with these bills.

We are close to the finish line! Keep it up and thank you as always for all that you do.

Please continue to check our website at  http://nh.aft.org/ for updates on how we can protect public education, public services, the NH Retirement System, and advance initiatives as we work to continually improve it.

For breaking news and other legislative information, please be sure to like us on Facebook at AFT New Hampshire or follow us on Twitter @AFTNewHampshire to receive the latest news.  Please share this with friends so they can sign up for this bulletin at http://nh.aft.org/.

You can also read written testimony submitted to the legislature at STATE HOUSE NEWS.

NH Retirement Security Coalition The NHRSC will be tracking all bills related to the NH Retirement System and continuing advocacy for our members.  You can find the legislation tracker following retirement bills by clicking on the following link  NHRSC UPDATES.  AFT-NH is a member of the NH Retirement Security Coalition (NHRSC).

Hearing Schedule