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Representative Proposes Joint Study of Alternatives to Heavy Reliance on Property Tax for Education Funding
Summary
HB 491 would create a joint House‑Senate study committee to evaluate how New Hampshire funds public general education and whether the state should rebalance revenues away from local property taxes. Sponsor said the goal is to model options, costs and distributional effects and recommend reforms for the second year of the biennial session.
Representative Peter Spilsbury introduced HB 491, a late‑filed bill to form a joint legislative study committee to analyze alternative state revenue sources and options to reduce New Hampshire’s reliance on local real property taxes for funding public general education.
Spilsbury said the committee would be staffed by legislators from both chambers, including members of Ways and Means, Education Funding, and Finance, and would be charged to assess how the state currently funds education, to model alternatives, and to recommend a rebalancing of revenue sources if appropriate. He framed the study as a preparatory step that could produce proposals for the second year of the biennial session if the Legislature lacks consensus in the current session.
Members on the committee raised governance and scope questions: Representative McGuire asked whether the work would substitute funding for other state services and the sponsor said the objective is to identify and model revenue options and distributional impacts, not to pre‑determine spending reallocations. Representative Ames and others suggested the study should review prior commissions and analyses to learn from earlier work and that the committee should be tightly scoped and cross‑chamber to preserve credibility and avoid partisan deadlock.
Spilsbury said he was open to adjusting membership and scope, and members urged that the committee specify appointing authorities and representation to ensure the group remains balanced and not perceived as partisan. The hearing was short and the sponsor said he would refine the bill language before further consideration.
