NH House Testimony

HB1512

House · 2026 sessionDemocraticKilled in House

Local vote to block EFA vouchers

AI

Allows municipalities to hold a vote to prevent their residents from receiving education freedom account vouchers.

allowing municipalities to hold a vote to prevent their residents from receiving education freedom account vouchers.

MunicipalitiesEducation - GeneralElections

Status

Killed in the House — Inexpedient to Legislate · March 5, 2026
  1. Introduced
  2. House
  3. Senate
  4. Governor
  5. Law

Division of testimony

165 submissions
Support 148Oppose 17Neutral 0
Kerri ChoateSupportRollinsford, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

I urge you to support increasing the minimum wage in NH

Catharine FarkasSupportSanbornton, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

Public tax money for education needs to stay in public schools.

Lois CoteSupportManchester, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

This bill, if passed, puts health and lives of people of all ages at risk, but especially children. This bill, if passed, will put funding for our childcare system in deeper jeopardy. It is already barely hanging together. I spent a good part of my life working with children and families. Who would want to activate such unconscionable harm to people, to our entire state? Please ITL this bill.

William ThomasSupportManchester, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

As a NH resident, I see my property taxes going up every year. When I learned that these vouchers (EFAs) in five years went from costing us $8 million to $52 million, I was astonished! Then, I learned that each school district who has a student receiving an EFA, then the school district loses the state aid for that student. That doesn't seem fair to me, not at all. I strongly support HB1512.

Erin PearsonSupportHanover, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

I strongly oppose all vouchers. They damage public schools, are unregulated, and research has shown private schools end up raising their prices and discriminating against students. Public schools do not discriminate against anyone and must be protected. That's why I support this bill, so that, at the very least, school districts can opt-out of this horrible voucher system.

Jeffrey DicklerSupportRindge, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

Allow the towns to protect their public schools!

Timothy SmithSupportAshland, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

Let us vote by town whether we want to allow the state to steal our tax money from our public schools to give away to rich communities! Vouchers are redistributing money from the poor to the rich and are unfair to my community!!!! I support this bill! Let us vote by town!

June GarenSupportGilmanton, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

Gabriele LiebergSupportNewfields, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

I strongly support this bill. Many NH residents are NOT in favor of the education vouchers which, in my opinion do not actually provide school choice and instead drain taxpayers' money, giving it to private citizens who would send their children to private schools anyway. This also drains the local school district of the money needed to provide for children in the public schools. I believe districts should be able to vote against the vouchers.

Donna TullySupportLittleton, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

I support this bill for the sake of NH voters.

Gregory DavisSupportSalem, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

Another unnecessary obstacle to voting. It's voter suppression

Shirley MontgomerySupportHanover, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

I support this bill because I believe in public schools and I think the voucher program can take so much money away from the public school in a district that it might cease to function. I would prefer to see the money used to improve the local public school.

Christine BachrachSupportGrantham, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

It is time to let your constituents speak on the desirability of EFAs. Allowing local control over whether a community participates in the program provides a mechanism for local residents to protect their public schools. It may also help to counter the massive overruns in the budget for EFAs. I strongly support this bill!

Kathleen MalsbendenSupportNewmarket, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

Local control is about a lot of things a. Support this bill HB 1512

Debora HatcherSupportDover, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

The Education Freedom Accounts are destroying our already underfunded public schools by funneling even more public funds away from our public schools and into private and religious organizations. This bill seems to provide citizens and their local elected officials with some defense against the damage that this corrupt scheme does to NH; and until EFAs are abolished this bill might give our schools and property tax payers a little relief.

Emily WrubelSupportHillsborough, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

Municipalities should have the right to determine how their schools are funded and therefore should have the right to dtermine if students should be able to get state =vouchers to leave the district.

Sharon RacusinSupportHanover, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

This is truly a local control issue and belongs in the town. This is a way to regain control of an out of control program and curtailing open enrollment.

Joanna AndrosSupportWalpole, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

This bill addresses the needs of communities to maintain quality schools, and manage budgets. It also may keep state funds in NH rather than other states.

Hannah MeiselmanSupportManchester, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

Local voters should have the right to protect public education funding from privatization schemes.

Nancy JerauldSupportLitchfield, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

Give municipalities the option of opting out of this out-of-control Voucher program. The EFA program is extremely unpopular, except in towns where students were already enrolled in private schools. This bill will allow towns to protect their tax dollars.

Nancy MilesSupportHanover, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

I support this bill. Permitting towns to determine by a town vote whether or not to allow EFA vouchers is a good idea, since the vouchers take funds from the local public schools' budget.

Richard DeMarkSupportMeredith, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

This is a local control Bill and needs to be supported by allowing municipalities to hold a vote to prevent their residents from receiving education freedom account vouchers.

Bonnie BrunoOpposeHollis, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

HB 1512 — Summary of Opposition Even well-intended bills that manage Education Freedom Accounts instead of dismantling them move us further from repairing public education. This bill legitimizes EFAs as a permanent policy rather than confronting the harm they cause. Education policy should not depend on a student’s ZIP code. Shifting decisions to the municipal level fractures statewide public education and undermines equal access. The bill also shifts responsibility away from the legislature and onto local voters, forcing communities to defend their public schools town by town. Finally, it creates openings for targeted manipulation: well-funded interests can flood small-town referenda with money and messaging, exploit low-turnout elections, and push “yes” outcomes that do not reflect broad public will.

John EmeryOpposeAlllenstown, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

This would negatively impact those families seeking better or special education for their child.

Dan WilliamsSupportConcord, NHfor MyselfFeb 3, 2026

I wholeheartedly support this bi-partisan bill! If the “free”-staters are allowed to destroy public schools by stealing hard-earned taxpayer funds to give to their rich friends who are already able to afford to send their kids to non-public schools, then municipalities should have the right to block that from happening if a majority of the voters want that.