Committee advances bill requiring school audit reports online after amendment

The Education Funding Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 586 with amendment 1500H after lengthy debate over audit deadlines, what counts as a "deficiency," and which state funds could be withheld for noncompliance.

Representative Maguire, who presented the amendment, said the measure is a near-complete replacement of the existing RSA 198:4‑d auditing section and extends the filing requirement to school administrative units (SAUs). "This is the whole thing. . . The initial paragraph . . . adds school administrative units," Maguire said, and explained the amendment sets a 9‑month deadline from the fiscal year end for districts to submit an audit, followed by a three‑month Department of Education review and an additional 12‑month correction period.

The amendment also widens required audit contents, adding items such as employee pay, benefits and pension liabilities to the list. Maguire said he adopted the 9‑month schedule based on advice from an accountant who testified, noting March 31 as the practical deadline for audits tied to a June 30 fiscal year end.

Members pressed over enforcement language. Maguire said he added the word "grant" to the withholding clause so that "it's not all state funding, it's grant funding that could be withheld," and later the amendment explicitly excludes adequacy funding (RSA 198:4‑a) from any withholding.

Representatives expressed differing interpretations of the bill's "deficiencies" language. Representative Papovich emphasized that, "all that paragraph A describes is the completion of the audit," and argued the provision requires only that reports be complete for DOE review rather than requiring districts to fix substantive audit findings within the 12‑month correction window. Representative Damon and others asked for clearer statutory language to avoid conflating late or incomplete filings with substantive, adverse audit findings.

Several members warned about implementation burdens. Representative Bricky cited the Department of Education's fiscal note and staffing needs and said he was "concerned that we didn't work with the department and we're putting all of this on to the department." The committee also debated whether reports should be posted only on the DOE website or also on local district and SAU websites; the approved amendment requires publication on both the DOE and the reporting entity websites and calls for a searchable electronic format.

The committee approved amendment 1500H on a roll call announced by the clerk as passing (the clerk stated "170 passes" on the amendment). After further debate, the committee voted to recommend SB586 ought to pass with the amendment in a subsequent roll call the clerk announced as passing (clerk announced "98 passes"). The committee asked for a minority report on an ITL position and set deadlines for report drafting.

The next step for SB586 is continued processing on the committee's regular calendar and eventual referral to subsequent committees required by legislative procedure. The committee said it will address remaining related bills at its next scheduled meeting.

Ending: Committee staff were directed to prepare paperwork and support materials for the bill's next deadlines; members who opposed the measure were asked to file the minority report by the specified deadline.