EFA oversight committee to meet this month after year-long lapse

Sen. Ruth Ward (center), shown during a meeting of the Education Freedom Savings Account Oversight Committee on Nov. 12, 2024, The committee will hold a public meeting on Dec. 16, their first since Nov. 25, 2024. She is flanked by Sen. Debra Altschiller (left) and Rep. Rick Ladd. (Photo by Ethan DeWitt/New Hampshire Bulletin)

A legislative committee meant to review the education freedom account program plans to meet next week after not convening for a year.

The Education Freedom Savings Account Oversight Committee will hold a public meeting Dec. 16 at 10 a.m, according to the committee’s official webpage. 

The scheduling move came after the Bulletin reported about the lack of meetings Monday. The committee last met in November 2024. It is required by statute to “monitor the implementation of” education freedom accounts, which allow families to access state education funding to use toward private and home school education expenses.

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According to state law, the committee must produce a report by Nov. 30 of each year detailing its findings and any recommendations for changes to the program, but because it hadn’t met this year, the committee missed that deadline 

Sen. Ruth Ward, a Stoddard Republican and the chairwoman of the committee, said in a statement last week that the committee had not met because of scheduling challenges with House representatives.  The committee consists of two senators and three representatives and requires a quorum of three members to meet; Ward said House travel restrictions over the summer and the resignation of Rep. Glenn Cordelli had prevented that quorum from being met.

Democratic members of the committee, meanwhile, have criticized the lack of meetings, noting that they come as the  education freedom account program has nearly doubled after lawmakers removed the income limits and imposed a 10,000-student cap. That increase makes the role of legislative scrutiny particularly important, they argue. 

Oversight over the accounts has become fraught amid increasingly intractable partisan attitudes around the program. Republicans say the program provides important financial support for families who do not believe public school is the right option for their children; Democrats say state funds should only support public schools. 

Tuesday’s oversight committee meeting will take place in room 100 of the State House.