28 Days

Adam Schroadter and Josh Davenport both voted in favor of diverting tax payer money to private and religious schools.

This bill would hurt Newmarket schools.

This statement sums up my thoughts about HB 1607:

"The net effect is that the bill will support parents who already send their children to private and religious schools or who home-school their children. In short, legislators who vote for this bill are enhancing the liberty (choice) of a small minority of citizens and residents rather than promoting the greater good, including our nation's commitment to equality of educational opportunity." (You can read the full text here.) 

From Governor Lynch's Veto Message:

"Diverting public funds to private schools and downshifting costs to cities and towns is the wrong policy for our state and taxpayers, and is the main reason I have vetoed this bill and SB 372. But I have other concerns as well.

HB 1607, like SB 372, will also allow private, non-profit corporations to determine where public education dollars are spent. This bill does not identify those organizations beyond requiring that they be non-profits, register with the state's Charitable Trust Division and comply with applicable state and federal anti-discrimination laws. The bill also fails to establish a system of accountability for these private entities. I believe that the executive and legislative branches should determine where public school money is spent, not a private corporation."

"I strongly believe that any tax credit program enacted by the legislature must not weaken our public school system in New Hampshire or downshift additional costs onto local communities or taxpayers. Accordingly, I am vetoing HB 1607, and the nearly identical SB 372, because they do not meet that test."

See the progression of this bill here. 

This bill wouldn't support public education and wouldn't help Newmarket.