HB 1818 New Hampshire House · 2026 Regular Session

requiring the department of education to use its 10-year school facilities plans to plan and project out building consolidation projects.

HB 1818 allows school construction grant funds to be used for consolidating school buildings and facilities, creating a new "School Facility Consolidation Incentive Fund." The fund provides grants to public school districts that close underutilized schools (e.g., those with less than 70% facility usage or declining enrollment), covering costs like planning, closure, tuition agreements, and transition expenses. Districts receiving funds must keep closed facilities shut for at least 20 years, with repayment required for violations. Priority is given to districts with high operating costs per student or significant enrollment declines, aiming to improve efficiency and educational access through consolidation.

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2025

Committee Review

May 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

Governor

Introduced Dec 18, 2025 Last action May 7, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → As Amended by the House · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to shift its primary focus from creating a new fund for school consolidation grants to requiring the Department of Education to use existing 10-year planning tools to project consolidation projects. The original text establishing a specific 'School Facility Consolidation Incentive Fund' and detailed grant rules was removed, while new text was added to mandate that the Department of Education and school districts update their long-range capital improvement plans to include consolidation projections.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from establishing a new funding mechanism and specific grant program for school consolidation to mandating a planning and reporting requirement regarding future consolidation projects.

FISCAL

The creation of the 'School Facility Consolidation Incentive Fund' and the specific rules for awarding grants to support facility closures were deleted.

REQUIREMENT

New requirements were added for the Department of Education to develop and maintain a 10-year school facilities plan that explicitly includes potential building consolidation projects.

The requirement for school districts to submit long-range capital improvement plans was changed from an encouragement ('is encouraged to') to a mandatory obligation ('shall review and update').

SCOPE

The Department of Education is now required to use the updated district plans to plan, prioritize, and project new building consolidation expenditures under the state building aid program.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

May 7, 2026

Upper · Passed

Ought to Pass: MA, VV; 05/07/2026; SJ 11

upper

Apr 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee Report: Ought to Pass, 05/07/2026, Vote 7-0; SC 17

upper

Apr 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Ought to Pass: MA, VV; Refer to Finance Rule 4-5; 04/09/2026; SJ 8

upper

Mar 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee Report: Ought to Pass, 04/09/2026; Vote 4-0; CC; SC 13

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Introduced 03/05/2026 and Referred to Education; SJ 6

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

Ought to Pass with Amendment 2026-0794h: MA VV 03/05/2026 HJ 6 P. 11

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Introduced

Amendment # 2026-0794h: AA VV 03/05/2026 HJ 6 P. 11

lower

Feb 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2026-0794h (NT) 02/18/2026 (Vote 17-0; CC) HC 9 P. 10

lower

Dec 18, 2025

Introduced

Introduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Education Funding HJ 1 P. 37

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors