Superior Court judge upholds state education funding law

Support public engagement and legislation to maintain the constitutional right of all students to an adequate education" is the Foundation Priority of the 2004 Children's Agenda.

August 13, 2004

By Garry Rayno
The Union Leader

A superior court judge yesterday dismissed an attempt by the cities of Manchester and Rochester to block the new education funding system and to prevent the state from distributing aid.

Manchester Mayor Robert Baines said the decision may be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Kathleen McGuire ruled yesterday legislative leaders were within their rules, and the law when they made changes to Senate Bill 302 after the House and Senate had passed the bill.

She said the changes were made to align the language of the bill with what lawmakers believed they were voting on based on spreadsheets showing how the money would be distributed.

“The inclusion of the spreadsheet demonstrates the legislative intent that this is what the distribution formula would be,” McGuire wrote.

Manchester and Rochester contended the changes were not constitutional, were not consistent with legislative rules and asked the court to invalidate the law and to re-instate the 2003 law and distribute state aid under that formula. The 2003 law would have gone into effect July 1 but was replaced by this year’s law. Under the old plan, Manchester would receive $4.5 million more in aid and Rochester $1 million more.

Baines said he will soon meet with the city’s lawyers and Rochester’s attorney to review their options including an appeal to the Supreme Court.

“We disagree with the court’s decision that the enrolled bill process is now a vehicle to create law in the state of New Hampshire and in theory taxation. That is a strong fundamental issue of law the court ignored and that needs to be addressed,” Baines said.

“This may be a short-term victory for (Senate President Tom) Eaton, (Senate Majority Leader Bob) Clegg and (House) Speaker (Gene) Chandler, but it certainly is a defeat for every citizen of New Hampshire who believes in open government. . . . What we have here is really a power grab by a group of elite legislators and that is wrong,” he said.

In a joint statement, Eaton, R-Keene, and Chandler, R-Bartlett, said, “The decision vindicates the legislative process and reinforces the constitutional authority of the Legislature to determine its own rules. We are happy that this issue has been resolved quickly by the court and that any uncertainty over the distribution of state education grants is over.”

In a hearing last month, representing legislative leaders and state officials, Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards argued the procedures used to make the changes in SB 302 are the same as those followed by lawmakers for decades and said the constitution allows the Legislature to establish its own rules and procedures.

She said to block the September distribution to cities and towns would do greater harm to them than the harm done to Manchester and Rochester.
Arguing for the cities, attorney David Nixon said a small group of Republican leaders, acting as the Enrolled Bills Committee, made substantive changes in the bill the House and Senate had voted on but before it became law. The committee can only approve technical or minor changes, like spelling mistakes or incorrect references, without a House and Senate vote, Nixon said.

At issue for the cities is how $429 million in non-property tax money is distributed to school districts.
Near the end of the legislative session, a letter from then-Attorney General Peter Heed to legislative leaders and Gov. Craig Benson questioned whether the education funding law passed last year and the bill lawmakers were working on to tweak that law were constitutional.

During the conference committee on the bill, a small group of legislative leaders crafted a new plan with different winners and losers.

Under the bill passed last year, 116 communities would have received less money than they received in fiscal 2004 while donor towns that have to send money to the state would have mostly been eliminated.

The new law retains donor communities while the five communities that brought the Claremont lawsuit receive less state aid than they would have under the old law.

Rep. Daniel Hughes, R-New Castle, also is suing in Merrimack County Superior Court to invalidate the new law. He alleges the Legislature violated the state’s right-to-know law in negotiating the bill in secret.

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