House committee chooses to expand school vouchers over feeding hungry children; Senate committee advances Open Enrollment bill
May 13th, 2025
Although we are only two weeks into the month, significant education legislation has been voted on, with much more to follow.
Committee votes to retain bill that would feed children and moves forward with universal voucher expansion
In a last-minute executive session, on Thursday, May 1, the House Education Funding Committee discussed two bills: Senate Bill (SB) 204, which authorizes school boards to raise eligibility for free meals and requires the department of education to reimburse schools who raise eligibility, and SB 295, which would remove the existing income eligibility limits on vouchers and introduces a limit on the number of students who can receive a voucher annually.
The executive session began with an immediate recommendation to retain or not advance SB 204. Despite the fact that the bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support, House members felt they did not have enough information to make a decision. Rep. Popovici-Muller, (R-Windham), went as far as to say that he felt information had been withheld, and he again questioned whether hungry children were not being fed in public schools.
Tim Ruehr, the Business Administrator of the Keene School District, was invited to share information about the district’s process for managing the school meal program and how it would be impacted by the bill. Ruehr explained that he had worked closely with Senator Fenton (D-Keene), the bill sponsor, to draft the bill as narrowly as possible. He stated that there are students between 185% and 200% of the federal poverty level whose families are “working poor” and are going hungry.
After debate, a vote was called on the recommendation to either retain or advance the bill. That vote resulted in a 9-9 tie at which point, Rep. Hope Damon, (D-Croydon) made a motion to recommend the bill as Ought to Pass. Prior to the roll call vote, however, Rep. Popovici-Muller called for a caucus meeting. Upon returning from the caucus, the roll call vote was taken, and the OTP motion failed, 8-10. Rep. Peter Mehegan (R-Pembroke) had changed his vote. The committee recommended that SB 204 be retained in the House Education Funding Committee.
Immediately after, the committee took up SB 295, the Senate version of the universal school voucher expansion bill, which would remove the existing income eligibility limits on vouchers and would introduce a limit on the number of students who are able to receive a voucher annually. According to our analysis, universal school voucher expansion could cost the state over $100 million per year.
Discussion began with Rep. Rick Ladd (R-Haverhill) introducing an Amendment that would impose a cap of 10,000 students on the program for FY26, allow for a 25% increase if 90% of the cap is reached, and remove the cap entirely if that threshold isn’t met for two consecutive years. The amendment passed along party lines.
Debate over the bill quickly became heated: “It’s not a voucher program, it’s a voucher scam,” stated Rep. Luneau (D-Hopkinton). “We started out with this program in 2022, and it was presented to the legislature as an opportunity for students that come from low-income backgrounds that could not afford alternatives to their public schools to be able to use state funds to seek out alternatives…The data shows hardly anybody’s leaving their public schools.”
Rep. Bricchi (D-Penacook) requested data that shows that the program is successful and that student outcomes are improving, she was denied: “Representative Bricchi, I appreciate your frustration. I think we're going to proceed with the executive session on the record that we have before us today, so use your best judgment, okay,” stated Rep. Spilsbury (R-Charlestown).
The committee recommended that SB 295 be passed with the new amendment. It will be voted on in the full House Session scheduled for Thursday, May 8, 2025.
Senate Education Finance Committee recommends passing Open Enrollment bill
On the same day, the Senate Education Finance Committee concluded its day by voting to recommend House Bill (HB) 771, which changes how funding for open enrollment schools is sent and received and requires school districts to establish a line item in their operating budgets that reflects expenditures for open enrollment tuition costs.
During the meeting, Senator Keith Murphy (R-Manchester) proposed an amendment that clarifies it is the sending school district's responsibility for “the funding and educational decision-making process for children with disabilities attending a chartered public or open enrollment school,” and also specifies that school districts must include a line item in their annual operating budget.
The committee recommended passing HB 771 with the new amendment. The bill will now move to the Senate floor for a vote by the full Senate on May 15th.
Next Steps
SB 295, the Senate version of the universal school voucher expansion bill, passed in the House on Thursday, May 8, 2025. HB 771, relative to funding for open enrollment schools, is scheduled to be voted on in the upcoming Senate session, this Thursday, May 15. Join the New Hampshire Education Network (NHEN) to receive upcoming policy calendars and updates.
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