The New Hampshire House has strongly rejected a constitutional amendment designed to make it easier to direct state school aid to needier school districts.
The vote is a major setback to Governor John Lynch who had called an amendment a necessity. New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers reports.
The amendment would have given lawmakers the authority to define school standards, set funding levels and distribute aid to mitigate what the proposal calls local disparities in education opportunity and fiscal capacity.
The proposal also calls for accountability standards, and would have lowered the degree of judicial oversight.
While proponents from the governor on down hailed the proposal as what the governor termed "the right policy for our children," opponents argued precisely the opposite.
Kim Shaw is a Nashua Democrat and a local school board member.
"It is wrong for the students of this state. It is wrong for the children. It is wrong for the parents to put this forward in this manner."
Shaw and other critics, mainly Democrats, assailed the amendment as a device to allow the state to shirk what they say is its clear responsibility to pay for schools for all children.
GOP leaders, meanwhile, many of whom have backed amendments for years, would not support this one because it did not mandate that some school aid would flow to each student.
With Democrats split and Republicans voting as a bloc, the amendment was defeated 253 to 108.
While that margin surprised most in the hall, the next development caught nearly all off guard.
"Madame Speaker, I move indefinite postponement on CACR 18."
That's Peterborough Republican Andy Peterson, invoking a rarely-used parliamentary move to foreclose debate. Manchester Republican Steve Vallaincourt put things a bit more vividly:
"In the simplest form, we describe indefinite postponement as a dagger through the heart... what it does it say, we so much hate this idea that we're gonna never bring it up again for the next two years. The public deserves at least a full debate today on everything to come before it."
In all, there were six additional amendments that Republicans wanted to debate, but the House voted 187 to 176 to postpone consideration. Efforts to reconsider that vote fell well short, and afterwards leaders from both parties wasted little time in pointing fingers. A frustrated Marjorie Smith, chair of the House Finance Committee, accused GOP leaders of engaging in brinksmanship.
"I did not spend the time and energy that I have spent to try and build consensus for this to want it to fail. And I don't see this as something to do political posturing on."
"I don't care what Representative Smith says."
That's House Republican leader Mike Whalley.
"You look at the votes, look at the instructions, look at the whipping, talk to the governor... this governor and the Republicans in this legislature came here today intending to pass a constitutional amendment with 239 votes. And the Democrats voted no."
But if Whalley was eager to cast the situation as one of Democratic recalcitrance, not even everybody in his own caucus was buying it. Exeter Representative Lee Quandt said House Republicans handled the amendment debate clumsily, adding that nobody at the State House is going to come out of the situation looking good."
"And it's... you know, I'm glad I'm not the governor, because he's the one who campaign on this was going to be his issue, and he couldn't control his own Democrats, and he's the titular head of their party. We still have room in the Republican ranks any time he wants to come over, we're looking for leadership."
In a statement, the governor said he was disappointed, and said politics trumped progress. For now, under the terms of indefinite postponement, no constitutional amendment or school funding package can be considered by the legislature until the next election, unless legislative rules are suspended.
For NHPR News, I'm Josh Rogers.
