AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin (February 21, 2025)

Victories for Public Sector Unions and Public Education

BIG VICTORY! The House Labor Committee this week voted to defeat HB 735—the bill that would require public sector unions to vote to recertify. As we have said before, we are not worried about us—we were worried about time and energy this would have taken and how it would have affected our ability to represent you. This was an attack on unions and collective bargaining plain and simple. Your voices matter and you were heard. The next step will be a full vote by the House during the first week in March.

Another big victory this week was that the full House voted to defeat HB 283, the bill that would have stripped public education down to just teaching English, Math, History and Science. 30,000 Granite Staters stood up and said that they want students to get a robust public education and the committee had no choice but to listen!

In not so good news, the House Education Funding Committee voted on party lines to reject a bill that would ensure students in schools are not hungry. The priorities are clear—they want to fund vouchers for the wealthiest New Hampshire families but won’t commit funds to make sure kids are fed.

Next week is school vacation week and so it will be a quieter week. However, there are bills being heard next week and you can follow those by reviewing our tracker below.

Please do register your position by using the links below. Easy instructions on how to submit your testimony or position is provided below.

For all of our educators, school staff, and those enjoying the February break, please enjoy your well-deserved vacation.

We appreciate your participation in this very important legislative session.  Please do share our bulletin with others.

Submitting Your Position and Testimony

Here is easy access to submit your position on bills before House and Senate Committees.

Remember, if a bill is already scheduled for an Executive Session, you will not be able to submit your position.

To submit your position, click SUBMIT YOUR POSITION TO A HOUSE COMMITTEE HERE.

To submit your position, click SUBMIT YOUR POSITION TO A SENATE COMMITTEE HERE.

Instructions for registering your position on a bill.

• Fill in your Personal Information
• Select the relevant date and committee for the hearing by clicking on it in the Meeting Schedule Calendar (make sure you are on the right week!). [Select Bill # and select the date].
• In the dropbox below "Select the Committee," select committee.
• In the dropbox below "Choose the Bill," select the appropriate time and bill number.
• Select the appropriate option for the "I am" dropbox (likely "Member of the Public").
• Fill in the content box under "I'm Representing" with the business, organization, or group you are representing. If you are representing yourself only, write "myself."
• Under the “Indicate Your Position on this Bill,” check the circle stating your position on the bill. “I Oppose this Bill” or “I Support this Bill”
• After filling in all of the appropriate dropboxes, click “Submit.”
• After clicking submit, you will be brought to the next page, where you will fill in the content boxes with your first and last name, as well as your town, state, and email address.
• Press “Continue.”
• If you wish to speak during the hearing to present your testimony, you will need to attend in person at the State House, but you upload your testimony if you cannot attend.
• If you wish to submit testimony on the bill, email the relevant committee and upload the testimony file from your computer (if you need assistance in this, we are happy to help).

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

Upcoming Legislative Hearings

Week of February 24, 2025