The New Hampshire House Education Committee voted 10-8 to recommend against advancing HB 583, a bill that would have directed the state to apply to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Medicaid direct certification pilot so students enrolled in Medicaid could be automatically certified for free and reduced-price school meals.

The committee action came after more than an hour of discussion on the merits of direct certification, a budget-neutral amendment offered by supporters, and competing concerns about the bill’s projected fiscal impact on state education funding. Chairman Ladd presided over the executive session when Representative Popovich moved to recommend the bill “inexpedient to legislate” (ITL); Representative Maguire seconded the motion and a roll-call followed.

Proponents said Medicaid direct certification would immediately enroll roughly 10,000 additional students statewide in the USDA program, reducing paperwork for families and increasing access to meals. A presenter for the amendment described secure data sharing between the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Department of Education and noted DHHS would include an opt-out for families who do not want to be certified through Medicaid enrollment. Supporters also argued that more accurate counts of low-income students would improve state school funding data over time and route additional federal dollars to New Hampshire for programs tied to free and reduced-price lunch counts, including childcare assistance.

Committee proponents further noted district-level effects: the presenter shared a DHHS/DOE-produced town-by-town estimate that identified about 10,000 additional students statewide, including roughly 1,100 in Manchester; that city’s increase was described as about $1.1 million in annual benefit to families. The presenter said the raw per-student adequacy figure used in the earlier estimate was about $2,300, creating an estimated statewide adequacy grant increase of roughly $24 million per year absent any budget-neutral adjustment.

Opponents argued the amendment issued by proponents effectively “kicked the can down the road” by holding schoolfunding calculations steady for two fiscal years while bringing more students into the program immediately, creating a deferred fiscal impact on the adequacy formula. Representative Popovich, the motion maker, said he preferred to move the bill forward to avoid delaying recognition of the program’s fiscal consequences; others echoed concerns that altering free-and-reduced numbers would have broad implications across adequacy and other funding formulas.

Representative Luno, Representative Damon and other supporters countered that enrolling eligible children immediately would address food insecurity and provide federal funding streams more quickly to New Hampshire families and school districts. Representative Spilsbury reiter ated during debate that eligible students can apply now under current procedures, but supporters said automatic certification reduces barriers that prevent full participation.

On the committee vote, the motion to recommend ITL passed by a tally of 10 yeas and 8 nays. The committee record shows a majority report will be filed under Representative Popovich and a minority report was noted by the committee as well.

Votes at a glance

- HB 583 — State participation in Medicaid direct certification pilot for free and reduced-price school meals: Motion made to recommend ITL (mover: Representative Popovich; second: Representative Maguire). Tally: 10 yes, 8 no. Outcome: ITL (committee will not advance the bill). Notes: Supporters argued it would add ~10,000 students and bring federal funds; opponents cited deferred fiscal impact on the adequacy formula.

What happened next

The committee continued to consider several other education bills during the executive session, producing majority and minority reports on multiple measures and scheduling follow-up meetings. Chairman Ladd asked members to submit committee reports by the end of the week in advance of the next scheduled meeting.

Why this matters

Medicaid direct certification is used in many states to reduce paperwork and identify students eligible for school meal programs. Committee members’ debate intersected programmatic goals — increasing meal access and federal funding flow — and technical budget concerns tied to the state’s school funding formula, which uses free-and-reduced counts as a factor in adequacy and other aid calculations.

End notes

The committee’s discussion referenced estimates prepared by Department of Education staff and DHHS and a recent analysis from the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute about childcare costs; the committee did not adopt the underlying bill.