Mary Hakken-Phillips

Dear Mr. Chair & Members of the Education Funding Committee: I urge you to pass HB295 as OTP because making Building Aid Funds nonlapsing will aid at funding the backlog of projects still in the pipeline as eligible and qualifying programs and allow more funding to chip away at the debt service/tail of the program. Currently, building aid funds do not stay in the Education Trust Fund after annual/biennial expenditures, if any remain. These monies lapse and then can be used for general state uses. It would be useful to keep monies designated for educational spending in the Education Trust Fund - and specifically, in this case, in the Building Aid Program. This will become particularly important once the debt service is paid off and more of the $50 million per year is allocated to new projects instead of paying off the old ones that are still on the books from the period after ~2010 when the state temporarily stopped funding any school building aid due to budgetary restraints. If you are unaware, the general condition of many of NH’s aging, public education buildings are crumbling, unsafe, and in desperate need of major repairs. Building Aid helps pay for a weighted portion of the total costs of eligible projects, which is always approved by a local town or municipal vote for debt service, etc. The current cap of $50 million is not adequately addressing the large problem of building aid need in NH. The NH Department of Education estimates that to adequately fund the pace of demand (given that the useful life of a building is 30-40 years), NH could allocate approximately $150 million per year. So NH is desperately behind the ball in meeting the need. We also know more school districts apply for the program than receive the aid each year. This bill wont solve the full problem of lack of adequate building aid funding, but it will help incrementally - and that is a win. Remember, these buildings are not only facilities for learning, they also serve as town gathering places and voting precincts, so the larger community benefits from the funding mechanism. Thank you for your consideration of supporting HB295. Rep. Mary Hakken-Phillips Grafton 12, Hanover, Lyme