Ways and Means recommends three school-funding interim bills for future legislation amid pending Supreme Court rulings

The House Ways and Means Committee voted unanimously to recommend three school-related interim study bills for future legislation as members said the state may need to act once the New Hampshire Supreme Court rules in related cases.

Representative Spilsbury, who moved the motions, said the committee should "preserve" alternative approaches to the SWEPT issue so the legislature will have options when the court decides. "We've put these in interim study, and we're still waiting 2 decisions from the New Hampshire Supreme Court in the Rand case and the Conveil case," Spilsbury said, urging the committee to develop workable bills ahead of the LSR filing window.

The three bills include HB 1514, which Spilsbury described as a reinstatement of language repealed in 2011 to remit excess swept revenue to the Education Trust Fund; HB 1563, which he and other members said would repeal SWEPT and replace it with a new approach aligned with a larger Education Committee package; and HB 569, an alternative proposal the committee also endorsed.

Representative Fellows, who spoke to HB 1563, said he worked with the Division of Revenue Administration to add technical transition provisions addressing how municipalities would calculate and send tax bills if SWEPT were repealed: "If you were to get rid of Swept, how do you go from having it to getting rid of it in terms of how the municipalities will send out their tax bills and calculate their anticipated semiannual or quarterly bills," Fellows said, describing the bill as covering practical implementation details.

After executive session roll calls, the committee recorded 20-0 votes to recommend HB 569, HB 1514 and HB 1563 for future legislation. The chair said the recommendations will be noted in the committee's report so the ideas are preserved for the next legislature, but recognized that final policy depends on future legislative action and any later court directives.

The action preserves multiple approaches for lawmakers to consider if and when the Supreme Court issues a ruling that alters the current legal landscape for school funding.

The committee closed its session following other business and noted HB 1429 would go without recommendation given overlapping Senate action.

What happens next: the committee's recommendations will be included in its report to the House; any formal bills will be taken up by the next legislature or when the LSR window opens, and members said they will adjust language to conform to any court decisions once those arrive.