Republicans Reject Financial Transparency for School Voucher Program
Contact Name: Marina Altschiller
Phone: (603) 568-9357
CONCORD – Today, in a 3-2 party-line vote, Republican members of the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee voted Inexpedient to Legislate on SB 252, Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy’s (D-Manchester) bill to require property tax bills to include information regarding the amount disbursed from the education trust fund in the prior fiscal year and the amount the municipality's education grant aid will be reduced as a result of the school voucher program. During the executive session, comments made by Republican committee members suggested that the school voucher program does not impact property taxes, despite clear evidence to the contrary. The bill will next go before the full Senate for a vote.
After the vote, Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy (D-Manchester) issued the following statement:
“The motivation behind SB 252 was very simple: transparency. When the state asks local property taxpayers to foot the bill for a multimillion-dollar school voucher program, those taxpayers deserve to know how much of their money is being diverted out of their public schools–and in turn, how much of a gap will need to be made up in future years, possibly through increased property taxes.
I am disappointed that my Republican colleagues would suggest the voucher program will not impact taxpayers. There is no way to avoid the fact that the Republican voucher program creates a downshift in education costs that will very likely raise property taxes.”
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