HB 1670-FN-LOCAL is a bill that aims to ensure that all children with disabilities have access to a free appropriate public education and that the costs of special education services are adequately funded. The bill includes several insertions and deletions to current law.

The bill amends current law to include the full amount of state aid for special education services in the grants made for adequate education. It also assesses the costs of special education services under the statewide education tax. The revenue collected from the additional amount for the cost of special education services will be deposited in the education trust fund.

The bill also amends the purpose of special education to state that the provision of a free appropriate public education under this chapter is considered part of the state's duty to provide every child with a constitutionally adequate education.

Additionally, the bill repeals and reenacts RSA 186-C:18 to clarify that the state shall pay 95 percent of the costs of all services directly provided by a school district to a child with disabilities as identified in an Individual Education Plan (IEP). The state shall also pay the reasonable costs of services provided by persons or entities other than a school district, pursuant to a contract entered into between a school district and one or more providers of those services.

The specific impact of the deletion of RSA 186-C:18, V is unclear. The fiscal impact of the bill is currently unknown, as the Office of Legislative Budget Assistant is awaiting information from the Department of Education.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 76:3, 186-C:1, 193-E:1, 193-E:2, 198:40-a, 198:39, 198:41, 21-N:9