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By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD — The Legislature has not yet decided how to respond to two Superior Court rulings late last year regarding school funding, but the House budget chief wants to transfer surplus money from the Education Trust Fund to the state’s general fund. ing.
During Monday’s hearing of the House Finance Committee, the committee’s chairman, Rep. Ken Weiler (R-Kingston), said that while Education Trust Fund money can only be used for education, as budget writers he wanted more flexibility. He said there was.
House Bill 1690 would transfer any surplus on the June 30 end of the two-year contract to the general fund, which would automatically transfer the surplus to the state’s rainy day fund, which is currently at record levels.
“As a treasurer, I don’t want the funds in this fund to be used solely for education,” Weiler said. ). ”
He noted that the $100 million fund for the Sununu Center settlement with abused former residents is not enough and that more funds need to be allocated, including the Highway Fund and the Fish and Game Fund. indicated that additional funding may be required.
He noted that when the fund was established, it was intended to fund only education programs, but other uses have since been added to fund special education, construction assistance and transportation. said.
Having nearly $200 million in surplus available for only one purpose “is not good financial management,” Weiler said.
Committee member Rep. Mary Heath (D-Manchester) asked Weiler whether he intended to remove other uses for the funds, as he proposed last year. Weiler said that is not included in the bill and could be considered in next year’s biennial budget proposal.
Heath said he doesn’t want things like special education costs to be put back into the general fund to compete with all of the state’s other funding needs.
When those costs were taken out of the general fund, they were never fully covered and the district only received a portion of the amount owed, she said.
Heath said it makes more sense to leave the money in the education trust fund.
Weiler said that in the past, general fund money has been used where needed to cover education costs, but he doesn’t see why that would be a problem when the money is transferred at the end of the two-year period. .
Rep. Mary Jane Wallner (D-Concord) said if the money is transferred at the end of the two-year period, it will be placed in a rainy day fund and not used for any other purpose.
Weiler said that could happen.
But Rep. Dan McGuire (R-Epsom) said the fiscal year 2023 surplus is used to pay for certain items during the current budget, and a similar situation could affect the amount put into the Rainy Day Fund. He pointed out that it could have a negative impact.
He said the Legislature used $100 million to offset statewide property taxes for towns and cities and $26 million to offset municipal retirement costs.
“This is a one-time $126 million in 2023 property taxes that we haven’t had before,” Weiler said. “But my tax bill has increased. Schools will eat up every penny. Eighty-five percent of my tax money goes there.”
Because of the drop in students, the school has hired 18 new students, Weiler said. “Some people don’t understand trying to be efficient.”
Rep. Mary Hacken Phillips (D-Hanover) raised the issue of two superior court rulings against the state. One ruling ruled that the state was not paying adequate education costs, and the other ruled against control of school boards across the state. Property taxes are unconstitutional because tax rates vary by region.
Weiler worked with the Legislative Budget Assistant’s office to examine all state funding for public education and found that the per-pupil cost was far below the $7,400 the judge found the state owed. He said it was close.
However, several members said that the number of judges per student only covers the basic costs of receiving a proper education, not everything the state pays for, such as transportation and building grants.
Several other commissioners said funds raised through the Lottery Commission must constitutionally go to public education and could include some of that money if surplus funds are transferred. he pointed out.
But Weiler said the money from the Lottery Commission is far less than what the state spends on adjustment grants to school districts, so fiscally that money goes toward public education and is not used in other state revenue. He insisted that it should not be confused with.
The bill was opposed by NEA-NH’s Brian Hawkins, who said the state has many needs in the health and human services and public safety areas that would prevent Education Trust Fund money from being put into the general fund, where it could be put immediately. He said that was a sufficient reason. It is also used for purposes other than education.
He said labor shortages are impacting education and additional funding for poor school districts could help them compete with districts that can easily raise money for teachers.
Not only are schools competing with other states, but schools are competing with each other within the state, he noted.
Hawkins said there are many unknown costs in education, citing the Education Free Account program, which has been over budget since its inception, four bills this Congress to expand eligibility, and additional costs for charter schools. Stated.
He said the Department of Education received $46 million in grants to increase the number of charter schools and expand existing schools.
Heath said public charter schools have a certain percentage of students with disabilities, but the costs are covered by local school districts. She asked Mr. Hawkins if she knew what those costs were.
Hawkins said he has heard numbers but does not have specific numbers at this time.
These costs associated with charter school expansion are currently unknown, making it premature to make changes to the Education Trust Fund, Hawkins said.
“These funds belong to public education and should remain there,” Hawkins said.
The bill was referred to the second division of the House Finance Committee, which examines education finance.
Garry Rayno can be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com. Rayno is InDepthNH.org’s state legislative bureau chief and has 40 years of reporting experience.
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