Next week HB 1665 will be voted on again. But now it has been amended and is still a slap in the face to taxpayers and students who attend public schools! A quick refresher about this bill. . .
HB 1665 is proposed legislation originally seeking to increase the family eligibility for school vouchers up to 500% of the federal poverty level from $109,500 to $156,000 for a family of four. The prime sponsors were Republican Reps. Glenn Cordelli, Rick Ladd, Joseph Pitre, Kristin Noble, Julius Soti, Kevin Verville, Jacob Brouillard and Alicia Lekas. (Cordelli, Noble, Soti and Lekas are members of "Young Americans for Liberty". Pitre, Noble, Verville and Lekas are members of "Liberty Alliance".)
On June 6th, a Committee of Conference report was issued with the recommendation “That the House recede from its position of nonconcurrence with the Senate amendment, and concur with the Senate amendment, and That the Senate and House adopt the following new amendment to the bill as amended by the Senate, and pass the bill as so amended”
The amendment would now read as follows: “VI. "Eligible student" means a resident of this state who is eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school and whose annual household income at the time the student applies for the program is less than or equal to [350] 425 percent of the federal poverty guidelines as updated annually in the Federal Register by the United States Department of Health and Human Services under 42 U.S.C. section 9902(2). No income threshold need be met in subsequent years, provided the student otherwise qualifies. Students in the special school district within the department of corrections established in RSA 194:60 shall not be eligible students.”
In other words, rather than 500% of the federal poverty level the amendment dropped it down to 425%.
Nearly 90% of NH students attend public schools. This latest increase redirects upwards of $53 million taxpayer dollars to home, private and religious schools. This continues to take away from the public schools. This latest increase has the potential to more than double the cost of this school choice program, a program “Education” Commissioner Edleblut does not want the state to audit. Why not? What is he hiding?
Let’s all do our part in stopping this attack on public schools. Takes only a moment. Let your legislator know that this is our tax money at stake and that it should be spent on our public schools.
Thank you.