With the deciding vote cast by Speaker of the House Packard, Republicans killed a bill to raise eligibility for free and reduced cost meals for NH children whose families make up to 350% of the federal poverty line. GOP leaders argued the cost of feeding more kids was too high. On April 16 the House Education Committee will take up SB 442, raising eligibility for the Education Freedom Account voucher program from 350% to 400% of the federal poverty line. Legislative researchers say the additional expense is “indeterminable.” Education Commissioner Edelblut says the EFA program can’t be audited because the taxpayer-funded program is managed by a private agency.

After it failed as a Senate bill in 2021, GOP Senators inserted the voucher program into the state budget. Republican representatives approved it in a conference committee, i.e. it never received full scrutiny in the House. The fiscal impact of the bill it was based on was deemed “indeterminable.” The cost of the program is now $24.5 million a year. Reaching Higher NH estimates raising the income cap to 400% would increase the EFA voucher program’s price tag to $53 million. That additional expense was not too high for Senate Republicans, who have approved the measure. If House Republicans believe the state can’t afford to feed more children, let’s suggest we certainly can’t afford to spend millions more on an unaudited voucher program. SB 442 should be defeated. And in the words of the late Art Ellison, “Feed the damn kids!”

Arnie Alpert

Canterbury