Search for a solution to education funding gaps concordmonitor.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from concordmonitor.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Governor s office
Gov. Chris Sununu presented his two-year spending plan Thursday, a $13.8 billion package that proposes sweeping tax reductions and a series of what the governor called generational investments in the state.
The budget plan, which would increase state general fund spending by 7% over the current budget, includes a handful of new proposals, like the creation of a state Department of Energy and the merger of New Hampshire’s public higher education systems, as well as cuts to several of the state’s major revenue sources. Sununu, a Republican overwhelmingly re-elected to a third term in November, described the overall proposal as a balanced approach to meeting the state’s financial needs in a time of economic uncertainty.
CONCORD â The House budget writing committee heard no opposition to maintaining current levels of state aid to school districts at a public hearing Tuesday.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, student enrollment and the method the state uses to determine the number of students who live in poverty are significantly lower than a year ago.
The lower enrollments would result in school districts losing about $90 million in state aid.
House Bill 623 would have the state distribute the same amount of education aid in the next two fiscal years, 2022 and 2023, as it distributes this fiscal year, 2021.
Lawmakers increased state aid to education by $178 million in the biennial budget approved in September 2019 by returning stabilization grants to their original level and providing additional aid to property poor districts and those with a greater number of low-income families.