HB1807 (2026) Detail

(New Title)  relative to mandatory reports to voters.


HB 1807-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

 

11Mar2026... 1004h

2026 SESSION

26-2747

07/05

 

HOUSE BILL 1807-FN

 

AN ACT relative to mandatory reports to voters.

 

SPONSORS: Rep. Peternel, Carr. 6; Rep. Bernardy, Rock. 36; Rep. Berry, Hills. 44; Rep. Pauer, Hills. 36; Rep. Drago, Rock. 4; Rep. Colcombe, Hills. 30; Rep. DeVito, Rock. 8; Sen. Murphy, Dist 16; Sen. Avard, Dist 12; Sen. Lang, Dist 2; Sen. Sullivan, Dist 18

 

COMMITTEE: Education Funding

 

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AMENDED ANALYSIS

 

This bill makes changes to the form and content of the mandatory report to voters distributed before any meeting at which any school district adopts a school budget.

 

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

11Mar2026... 1004h 26-2747

07/05

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Six

 

AN ACT relative to mandatory reports to voters.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  Education; Students First Act; Mandatory Report to Voters.  Amend RSA 189:76, I-V to read as follows:  

I.  Before any meeting at which any school district adopts a school budget, whether or not the district has adopted the provisions of RSA 194-C:9-b, a mandatory report to voters [must] shall be posted in at least 3 appropriate places, 2 of which [must] shall be places of business or other public locations, and one of which [shall] may be the local newspaper [or, if a local newspaper is not available, the district's website].  The report shall be posted to the school district website, if one exists.  The report [must] shall be posted at least 7 days, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, prior to the [meeting] scheduled date of the first budget hearing held pursuant to RSA 32:5, I.  

II.  The report shall display the name of the school district, be prominently titled "Mandatory Report to Voters on School Expenses," and shall contain [3 line graphs] one graph with 3 financial indicators, and one table.  When posted in public locations, the report shall be displayed on 2 pages which are each at least [18] 8.5 inches wide and [24] 11 inches tall.  The graphs and table shall fill each page, leaving margins no greater than one inch.

III.  The first line [graph] indicator shall be titled "Average Cost Per Pupil" and shall display the district's annual cost-per-pupil over the previous 10 years.  The second line [graph] indicator shall be titled "Average Teacher Salary" and shall display the district's yearly average teacher salary over the previous 10 years.  A good faith effort shall be made to adjust each annual statistic for inflation using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator or [an] equivalent, publicly available resource.  Each yearly statistic shall be clearly labeled, and the base year used for the inflation adjustment shall be explicitly identified.  In each line graph, the upper and lower boundaries of the dual y-axis [must] shall be capped at the nearest thousand dollars.  

IV.  The third line indicator graph shall be titled "Administrator Salaries" and shall display annual totals of all salaries paid to administrators employed or contracted by the district and corresponding school administrative unit over the previous 10 years.  Administrators serving multiple districts may have annotation showing how their salary is apportioned among the multiple districts.  A good faith effort shall be made to adjust each annual statistic for inflation using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator or [an] equivalent, publicly available resource.  Each yearly total shall be clearly labeled, and the base year used for the inflation adjustment shall be explicitly identified.  The upper and lower boundaries of the dual y-axis [must] shall be capped at the nearest hundred thousand dollars.  

IV-a.  If the district has fewer than 10 years of historical data, all available years shall be used for the required graphs in paragraphs III and IV.  

V.  The table shall be titled "Top Administrator Salaries" and shall list the titles and current salaries of the [4] 10 highest-paid administrators employed or contracted by the district or corresponding school administrative unit.  If less than [4] 10 administrators are so employed, all administrators shall be so listed.

2  New Section; Education; School Meetings; Annual Warrant Information.  Amend RSA 197 by inserting after section 1-g the following new section:  

197:1-h  Annual Warrant Information.  In the annual warrant, the information in RSA 671:20, II (a)-(c) shall be printed immediately below the article number and title, and preceding the question of adopting a school budget.  

3  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

 

LBA

26-2747

Revised 12/30/25

 

HB 1807-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

 

AN ACT relative to information on tax rates and tax impact information on warrant articles.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:      

 

Estimated Political Subdivision Impact

 

FY 2026

FY 2027

FY 2028

FY 2029

Local Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

Local Expenditures

$0

Indeterminable

 

METHODOLOGY:

This bill seeks to modify the requirements relative to information posted at public budget hearings, posted warrant articles, and ballot for elected school officials.  The Department of Education states this bill has some technical flaws which may make it difficult for school districts to implement properly. Any impact this bill may have on local school districts budgets is indeterminable.

 

The Department has provided the following:

 

  • Average Daily Membership in Residence (ADM-R) cannot be measured as of October 1st. ADM-R measures entire school year and not a moment in time.
    • For example, ADM-R could be captured for the most current completed school year.

 

  • The definition of ADM-R, for the purpose of adequacy, only describes what the State funds through the adequacy formula and does not describe all of the students the district is responsible for educating through the adoption of their budget and expenditure of appropriations.
    • For example, a district may elect to have a pre-kindergarten program which is not funded by adequacy. Furthermore, districts educate students and raise and appropriate funds to educate students in their Average Daily Membership in Attendance (ADM-A) that are not in their ADM-R.

 

  • The bill suggests an Authorized Regional Enrollment Area (AREA) school as compromising a whole school district. A school district may operate a school and also may be part of an AREA school agreement.

 

  • The bill does not specify when in the apportionment process costs would be allocated, nor does it clarify which methodologies would apply in calculating a per-pupil cost for cooperative school districts.

 

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Department of Education

 

Amendments

Date Amendment
March 4, 2026 2026-1004h
March 10, 2026 2026-1110h

Links


Date Body Type
Feb. 13, 2026 House Hearing
Feb. 18, 2026 House Exec Session
March 3, 2026 House Exec Session
March 3, 2026 House Floor Vote

Bill Text Revisions

HB1807 Revision: 51156 Date: March 12, 2026, 2:23 p.m.
HB1807 Revision: 51068 Date: March 10, 2026, 9:13 a.m.
HB1807 Revision: 50909 Date: March 4, 2026, 1:35 p.m.
HB1807 Revision: 50264 Date: Jan. 2, 2026, 10:01 a.m.

Docket


March 11, 2026: Ought to Pass with Amendment 2026-1004h: MA RC 185-150 03/11/2026 HJ 7


March 11, 2026: FLAM # 2026-1110h(NT) (Rep. Luneau): AF RC 153-181 03/11/2026 HJ 7


March 11, 2026: Amendment # 2026-1004h (NT): AA VV 03/11/2026 HJ 7


March 4, 2026: Minority Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate


March 4, 2026: Majority Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2026-1004h (NT) 03/03/2026 (Vote 10-8; RC)


Feb. 18, 2026: ==CONTINUED== Executive Session: 03/03/2026 01:00 pm GP 232


Feb. 11, 2026: ==RECESSED== Executive Session: 02/18/2026 10:00 am GP 234


Feb. 5, 2026: Public Hearing: 02/13/2026 10:30 am GP 232


Dec. 18, 2025: Introduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Education Funding HJ 1