New Hampshire

Existing Programs:

School Choice Scholarship Program – 2012
Gives a tax credit to corporations that donate to organizations that give private-school scholarships to children from low-income and middle income families. Total tax credits are capped at $3.4 million in 2013; the cap rises to $5.1 million in 2014. Every year thereafter, the cap rises by 25 percent if enough students continue to utilize the program.

Legislature Status:

In session.

Pending Legislature:

None.

Breakdown:

Anti-privatization politicians and activists are still trying to repeal the School Choice Scholarship Program, enacted in New Hampshire in 2012. The governor at the time of its passage, John Lynch, vetoed the bill, but that was overridden by the legislature.

The new program was challenged by the ACLU soon after its enactment. This June, the Strafford County Court ruled that while the program may continue, none of the scholarship money may go to religious schools. It’s expected that the case will soon head to the state Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, a legislative attempt to end the program was stymied by the state Senate after the House of Representatives voted through a repeal, which the state’s new governor Maggie Hassan said she would support.

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