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Manchester committee flags LSR-26-2399 as potential $12.2M hit to district funding
Summary
The Manchester Education Legislation Committee reviewed new legislative service requests and highlighted LSR-26-2399, which committee members said would remove a targeted-aid cap and, if in effect this year, "would reduce the budget in Manchester by $12,200,000." Members agreed to monitor bill text, prepare talking points and consider sending district representatives to testify.
The Manchester Education Legislation Committee met Sept. 17, 2025, to review legislative service requests (LSRs) appearing on the state website and to plan a response to bills that could affect local school funding. Chair (Speaker 2) opened the discussion by noting about "25, 26 LSRs having to do with education already" and urged the group to watch the filings closely.
Speaker 3 read the LSR identifier that the committee singled out: "LSR-26-2399." Speaker 5, a committee member and board member, described the practical impact of the capped aid language the LSR addresses and said, "if it had come into effect in this current year, it would reduce the budget in Manchester by $12,200,000." He called the original cap "egregious" and contrasted it with a proposed voucher program that he said would spend "$100,000,000" on vouchers while reducing Manchester funding.
Committee members asked whether the corrective filing would repeal the capped language or change the underlying formula; speakers confirmed the LSR is intended to remove the cap language rather than rewrite the formula. Several members recommended waiting for the full bill text before taking formal positions but urged preparation of talking points and district testimony once a committee referral is confirmed.
District staff (Speaker 1) and committee members discussed tactics: preparing experts or district representatives to attend the legislative committee hearing, briefing local legislators and the commissioner, and mobilizing student and parent voices. The committee agreed to invite Manchester representatives to the October meeting and to explore convening PTAs and student groups to develop messaging and rapid-response logistics.
Next steps: staff will monitor the bill text for LSR-26-2399, prepare initial talking points and statistics about local impact (including the $12.2 million figure noted by Speaker 5), and invite Manchester legislators to the committee's October meeting to discuss options for testimony and coalition-building.
