GOP lawmakers on Thursday took another step toward making taxpayer-funded Education Freedom Accounts available to all families regardless of income, successfully advancing twin bills in both chambers despite unanimous opposition from Democrats.
In the House, HB 115 passed 198-180. Hours later, the Senate advanced SB 295 on a 16-8 party line vote.
“Thank you for trusting parents and increasing access to Education Freedom Accounts so more of our children get the education and learning experiences they absolutely need to thrive,” said Kate Baker Demers, executive director of the Children’s Scholarship Fund of New Hampshire. “Every time New Hampshire expands the Education Freedom Account program, we improve another child’s life and that child’s future.”
Gov. Kelly Ayotte has previously said she’ll sign legislation increasing access to EFAs if it reaches her desk, but has stopped short of calling for immediate universal access. HB 115, if enacted, would phase-in universal eligibility within the next two school years. SB 295 would eliminate the income eligibility requirement altogether within 60 days of enactment.
Either way, access to EFAs would expand.
The EFA program allows families to use the state portion of their child’s education funding, usually around $5,000, for alternatives to the public school to which the student is assigned. That includes private schools and homeschooling.
Democrats argue allowing students to take the state portion of funding reduces income for public schools, a claim that has been repeatedly debunked. Because the majority of school spending is local — around $15,000 per student — schools increase their per-pupil income when families choose the EFA. They have fewer students to serve and more money with which to serve them.
Having lost this fight, Democrats are calling EFA expansion a “giveaway” to wealth Granite State families.
The EFA program is currently limited to families earning no more than 350 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $112,000 for a family of four. Lifting that cap would “give the most affluent families in the state — people whose kids are already mostly in private schools — an early holiday gift,” said Rep. David Meuse (D-Portsmouth).
Sen. Debra Altschiller (D-Stratham) used the same line of attack.
“Welfare for the wealthy, paid by you,” she said ahead of the Senate vote.
The House bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Valerie McDonnell (R-Salem), charged Democrats like Meuse and Altschiller with “spewing misinformation.”
“Every single EFA dollar is audited and publicly available,” McDonnell said in a statement. “Expanding EFAs means more educational opportunities, greater accountability, and stronger outcomes for students. Competition drives schools to improve, ensuring every child—regardless of background—can thrive.”
Drew Cline with the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy has pushed back on the idea that allowing affluent families to access the EFA program is “welfare,” noting that most of those families are currently getting far more education “welfare” by sending their kids to public schools.
“Currently, 75 percent of New Hampshire households earning more than $200,000 a year send their children to public schools, according to Census data,” Cline reports. “The state doesn’t tell those children that their families make too much money to access public education. Yet the state says exactly that to children who want to use Education Freedom Accounts and Tax Credit Scholarships.”
Democrats proposed legislation to restrict access to EFAs by forcing participants to repeatedly update their income data. Sen. Tim Lang (R-Sanbornton) accused them of trying to “create a miniature IRS.”
“Demanding annual income verification for participating families, limiting funds from rolling over from one year to the next, and implementing a wave of audits on 1,400 New Hampshire families yearly would burden our residents,” he said in a statement. “The fact is that these bills would make it harder for Granite State families to look for the best education for their children.”
The two votes in Concord made national news among education choice supporters.
“New Hampshire Republicans are showing everyone that the GOP is the Parents’ Party,” said Corey DeAngelis, senior fellow with the American Culture Project. “New Hampshire voters made the right choice at the ballot box in November by electing education freedom advocate Kelly Ayotte their governor.
Rep. Michael Granger (R-Milton Mills) reflected on Democrats’ fiscal concerns in a social media post.
“It’s amazing to me how fiscally conservative Democrats become as soon as it’s about kids getting educated OUTSIDE of public education, when they would never act in such a manner toward spending within the government schools,” Granger wrote.
There were 5,321 students enrolled in the EFA program at the start of the current school year. According to the state Department of Education, the average EFA grant per student is $5,204. Families qualifying for the EFA program have the option of enrolling their children in private school, religious school, charters or homeschooling.
GOP backers like McDonnell call the program “wildly successful,” while Democrats claim EFAs siphon state funding from public schools, forcing cities and towns to raise property taxes to cover any shortfalls.
House Democrats have labeled universal EFA access as “private school tuition handouts” and accused Republicans on their X social media account of trying “to raise YOUR property taxes and bankrupt YOUR public school to fund private school tuition for the ultra-wealthy.”
EFA opponents have pointed to a string of local votes occurring throughout New Hampshire this month that have so far seen at least seven towns reject proposals for capping public school spending.
House Majority Leader Jason Osborne (R-Auburn) addressed that talking point in floor remarks that prompted cheers from several fellow GOP lawmakers and groans from Democrats.
Osborne acknowledged concerns over rising property tax rates and claimed the increases are determined by local elections with “voter turnout less than 15 percent.”
“That is not local control. That is a tyranny of fringe special interests,” Osborne said.
Americans for Prosperity – New Hampshire also celebrated the votes.
“Our activists are excited that the House voted on a bill that will make New Hampshire’s popular education freedom accounts universally available over the next two years,” said AFP-NH Deputy State Director Sarah Scott.
If enacted, New Hampshire will become the 16th state in the nation to adopt a universal school choice policy, according to the American Institute for Economic Research.
“Fifteen states have passed universal school choice in the past four years. New Hampshire will go all-in on school choice this year as well,” DeAngelis said.
