After dozens of failed attempts in 10 years, the New Hampshire House kept its record intact on Wednesday, rejecting a proposed constitutional amendment to let the state give the most school aid to needier communities.
The House handed Governor John Lynch his second defeat on the issue in two years. Lynch has lobbied hard for a constitutional change to let the state selectively distribute school aid.
The state Senate has voted five times to put amendments on the ballot since 1998, but the House has consistently rejected them. Today’s vote wasn’t even close. The proposal was rejected 222-140, 97 votes short of the three-fifths margin it needed to pass.
House Speaker Terie Norelli took the unusual step of leaving the rostrum to plead for support for the amendment. Afterward, she said the House would not take up a new school funding amendment this session.
The amendment had bipartisan House support, but differed substantially from an amendment the Senate approved.