AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin (May 9, 2025)

Universal Vouchers Advance

Universal Vouchers Advance

Universal Vouchers  Anti-public education politicians continue their march towards a universal school voucher program this week. The House passed an amended version of SB 295 which starts a universal voucher program next year. As we have talked about many times expanding school vouchers to the wealthy Granite State families is not only fiscally irresponsible in a time where revenues are tight and programs that provide health care for working families and needed supports for Granite Staters with disabilities are being cut, but it also irresponsible use of tax money because there has never been any public data showing students benefit from those vouchers.

School vouchers in New Hampshire purposefully have never had to publicly show that the few students using vouchers are getting a complete education and making appropriate age or grade level academic progress each year in exchange for the taxpayer money they are getting. We have seen some lists of approved expenses released by the vendor that runs the voucher program, who keeps 10 percent of each voucher. Approved expenses include ski passes to Killington and competitive travel soccer teams.  Meanwhile, the almost 90% of Granite State students that are in our neighborhood public schools are seeing a meager increase in funding in the budget proposal that does not even keep up with inflation unlike the voucher program that is getting an infinite increase. The fight continues with this bill moving next to House Finance.

Subpoena power for Education Commissioner   Next week the Senate Judiciary Committee is hearing  HB 520. HB 520 enables the Commissioner of Education to have subpoena power. We have talked about this bill before and we remained concerned that the bill is open to abuse by the Commissioner, whether that is Frank Edelblut or someone else. A subpoena process that is ripe for abuse presents a myriad of problems and leaves educators vulnerable to witch hunts. This would seem conspiratorial if not for the evidence of such witch hunts over the last six years.

Action Needed – Register Your Opposition to HB 520

Please submit your opposition to HB 520 by clicking here. Select Senate Judiciary Committee for Thursday May 15^th at 1:30pm and choose HB 520. You can click Oppose.

The session is starting to wind down but we still have a huge budget battle ahead.  Please keep an eye on this space for important updates and actions as the legislature moves to make its final decisions on bills and the budget. We must continue to have our voices heard.

If you wish to submit your position on any other bills, you can use the links below.

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.

• 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 May 12, 2025