AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin (February 7, 2025)

Protect Academic Standards and Public Employees

Action Needed - Red Alert

Next week will be an extremely busy week at the State House. There are countless bills with significant implication and we will be engaged in addressing our priorities. As always, please see our bill tracker at the end of the bulletin for a status and schedule for these bills for the week.

The House Labor Committee did not vote last week on the anti-public employee union recertification bill  HB 735-FN . We are waiting on an amendment from the sponsor and the vote will take place this upcoming week. To be very clear—no amendment can make this bill work. You registered your strong opposition to this bill and we appreciate your work on this bill. There is still time to do this quick action to reach out to the House Labor Committee if you have already not done so!   Action Needed.   There’s still time to take action if you did not do so this week. Please contact the House Labor Committee NOW by taking this quick, one-click action: NO TO HB 735-FN.

Right to Work needs to be stopped in the NH House. HB 238. The so-called Right to Work bill will be on the floor for a full house vote on Thursday this week. It will be the first bill that will be voted on after the Governor’s budget address. We know the harm that this bill does. It lowers wages and protections for workers and will do nothing to improve the lives of hard-working Granite Staters. Action Needed: We must show again that so- called Right to Work is wrong for New Hampshire. Contact your state legislator now!

Protect an Adequate Education in NH. HB 283 is being heard Monday, 2/10 at 1:30 pm before the House Education Policy and Administration Committee, HB 283 is a re-hash of a bill that was defeated a few years ago. This bill aims to cut required educational programs at public schools to the bare bones limiting them to the core subjects of math, english, history, and science. No more music, no more art, and no more physical education, among other subjects.  If it sounds like the description is dramatic, it isn’t. For many districts that struggle financially, this will be the reality and it will further the exacerbate the difference in quality of education by zip code problems that New Hampshire currently suffers from. All students deserve a quality, well- rounded education, not just some children. This bill is an attempt to gut the definition of an adequate education which also allows the State of NH to further shirk its responsibility to properly fund NH public schools. Action Needed: Contact the House Education Policy and Administration Committee and register your opposition. To submit your position, click SUBMIT YOUR POSITION TO A HOUSE COMMITTEE HERE. 

SB 295 is a universal school voucher bill being heard in the Senate Education Finance Committee on Wednesday, 2/12 at 3:20 pm. We have talked about this before. Vouchers are an unaccountable, second education system that takes public money and gives it to private schools and companies, all while we continue to starve our local neighborhood public schools of desperately needed resources. Universal school vouchers would go to any family, even millionaires, and will likely cost an additional $100 million each year in State spending on unaccountable private education placements. Let’s be clear, anti-public education extremist politicians are looking to give our tax dollars to the ultra-wealthy instead of supporting public schools. Action Needed: We must stand and up and protect public education. To submit your position, click SUBMIT YOUR POSITION TO A SENATE COMMITTEE HERE.

To submit your position to a House Committee, click SUBMIT YOUR POSITION TO A HOUSE COMMITTEE HERE.

Directions 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).

Thank you for your activism.

Together, we can build a better future.

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Upcoming Legislative Hearings

Week of February 10, 2025