In the New Hampshire House of Representatives there is a process of identifying if any particular bill will affect the state’s general or education trust funds. That process is a “fiscal note” attached to it with those bills usually going automatically to the Finance Committee after passing on the House floor on a first time vote. Members of the Finance Committee review the budgetary impacts of the proposed legislation, then decide whether to recommend the bills on those grounds.
House Bill 1665 was one such bill that had a “fiscal note” attached to it. You see, HB 1665 would raise the income level cap for the school voucher eligibility program from (under current law) $109,500 to $156,000 for a family of four. Instead, Finance Committee Chairman Ken Weyler (Kingston, Liberty Alliance member) waived the fiscal note, stopped the bill from heading to his committee and fast-tracked it to the Senate. At the beginning of this month, the Senate voted on and passed an amended version, SB 442, raising the cap to $125,000 a year for a family of four. Naturally, the vote fell along party lines with the end result increasing the property tax burden while simultaneously taking away taxpayer money from public schools.
Now, moving along to House Bill 1212. This proposed legislation would raise the qualifying income limit for reduced-price school lunch from 185% of the federal poverty level to 350% (very close to what HB 1665 did). That raises the total household income cap from $57,720 to $109,200.
This legislation, if passed, would require the state to pay the costs of reduced-price lunches for families making 185% to 350% of the federal poverty level. The federal government reimburses schools only for students from families making up to 185% of the poverty level.
That cost would come from NH’s Education Trust Fund, which currently spends around $1 billion annually for adequacy funds to school districts and the education freedom accounts program which currently has a (roughly) $200 million surplus.
A vote was taken to “shelve” the bill and ended up in a tie 191-191. House Speaker Sherman Packard broke the tie thus leaving the bill tabled, successfully “killing” it. Their precious “education freedom account program” wouldn’t be raided for something as frivolous as feeding children from low income families.
The pro-life party oozes compassion . . .
According to Rep. Danial Popovici-Muller (Windham, Liberty Alliance and YAL member), “School districts that are unable to collect funds owed for school meals would be best served by legislation that allows them to receive funds from the education trust fund to cover any uncollectible school meals debt. Instead, HB 1212 proposes a budget-breaking expansion of the federal lunch program, asking the New Hampshire taxpayers to pay $50 – $75 million or more a year (including hiring at least three new DOE employees) to address a hunger problem that nobody even showed exists in New Hampshire public schools.”
But in the meantime, forcing NH taxpayers to cough up $22.1 million this school year alone for families to send their children to private, religious or home schools is so much more palatable than say. . . ensuring a child from a low-income household gets a decent lunch at school.
This November, know who your candidate is and do they represent your values?