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HB 1610 Allows school districts to retain year-end unassigned funds with new requirements.

Education Dead

Allows school districts to retain year-end unassigned funds with new requirements.

Impact Score — How Does This Bill Affect You?

6

Overall Impact Score

Mixed

Scale: 1 (harmful) to 10 (beneficial)

6
💰

Your Wallet

Would let districts save surplus funds rather than losing them at year-end

6
🏘️

Your Community

Rewards efficient spending and helps districts build financial reserves

5
⚖️

Your Freedom

Good concept but implementation included overly restrictive bureaucratic requirements

Status

Dead. ITL vote 18-0 on Feb 3, 2026.

Sponsor

Unknown

The Short Version

Would have let districts keep leftover funds so schools don't lose money for being efficient. However, the "new funds and voting requirements" and the restriction to "unusual circumstances" added bureaucratic hurdles. Killed unanimously in committee (18-0 ITL). The idea had merit but the implementation was problematic.

Who's Behind This Bill?

Who Benefits

  • ▲ School districts (could save surplus funds)
  • ▲ Taxpayers (rewards efficient spending)

Who Pays the Price

  • ▼ Minimal — concept had merit but implementation was flawed

Roll Call Detail (2 votes)

Every recorded floor vote on this bill, with each legislator's individual vote. Click a name to see that rep's full record.

Who actually supports this bill?

Across the 2 recorded votes on this bill — counting each legislator's net direction and treating kill motions as opposing the bill — Republicans supported it ( 182 for , 7 against ) , and Democrats opposed it ( 160 against ) .

"Supporting" means voting for passage OR voting against a kill motion. "Opposing" is the inverse. Concurs and amendment-only votes don't count.

Concur with other chamber's amendments 2026-05-21
Passed

YES = Accept the other chamber's amendments. NO = Reject the other chamber's amendments.

183R + 3D
Voted to Concur (186)
5R + 157D + 1I
Voted to Not Concur (163)
26
Absent
18
Not voting
Show all 393 individual votes

Voted Yea (186)

Republicans (183)
Democrats (3)

Voted Nay (163)

Republicans (5)
Democrats (157)
Independents (1)
Absent (26)

Brian Sullivan (D) , Catherine Sofikitis (D) , Chris Muns (D) , Dale Swanson (D) , David Lundgren (R) , Gaby Grossman (D) , Jeanine Notter (R) , Jeffrey Tenczar (R) , Jim Fedolfi (R) , John Leavitt (R) , Jonathan Smith (R) , Karen Hegner (D) , Kevin Verville (R) , Liz Barbour (R) , Lorie Ball (R) , Marjorie Smith (D) , Mark McLean (R) , Matthew Coker (R) , Melissa Litchfield (R) , Nicholas Bridle (R) , Paige Beauchemin (D) , Peter Leishman (D) , Raymond Plante (R) , Robley Hall (R) , Stephen Pearson (R) , Thomas Buco (D)

Ought to Pass with Amendment 2026-03-05
Passed

YES = Pass the bill with the attached amendment. NO = Reject the bill (as amended).

182R
Voted to Pass (182)
7R + 160D
Voted Against (167)
26
Absent
17
Not voting
Show all 392 individual votes

Voted Yea (182)

Republicans (182)

Voted Nay (167)

Republicans (7)
Democrats (160)
Absent (26)

Alicia Gregg (D) , Charlie St. Clair (D) , David Nagel (R) , Gaby Grossman (D) , James Tierney (R) , Jeffrey Tenczar (R) , Jodi Nelson (R) , John Suiter (R) , Kathleen Paquette (R) , Katy Peternel (R) , Kevin Verville (R) , Linda Franz (R) , Lorie Ball (R) , Matt Drew (R) , Matthew Coker (R) , Merryl Gibbs (D) , Michael Murphy (R) , Myles England (D) , Peter Lovett (D) , Peter Varney (R) , Sheri Minor (R) , Sherman Packard (R) , Stephanie Payeur (D) , Thomas Buco (D) , Tim Mannion (R) , Travis Toner (R)

Full Analysis

The concept behind HB 1610 — letting school districts keep unspent funds rather than returning them — is actually sound policy. Under the current system, districts that come in under budget lose that money, creating a perverse incentive to spend every dollar rather than save.

But the bill's implementation was overly restrictive, limiting fund retention to "unusual circumstances" and adding new voting requirements that would have made the process bureaucratic enough to be useless. The committee recognized this and killed it 18-0. A cleaner version of this idea could actually help schools.

Read the Actual Bill → See All Bills

Bill statuses as of May 2026. Check LegiScan or NH General Court for the latest.