A rock group from the late 1970s went by Cheap Trick, a label that might suit House Bill 1300 signed into law last week by Gov. Kelly Ayotte.

The measure ranked among top goals for Libertarian and Republican lawmakers in the recent session. It grew from a strong rejection at the Kearsarge Regional School District 2025 annual meeting of a proposed budget cap warrant article, itself a key aim from the prior year.

Following the Kearsarge outcome, House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, a leading voice for statewide school budget caps like those long available to towns, remarked that if local voters would not limit themselves then the state might impose caps on local taxes instead.

Osborne backed House Bill 675, a plan to cap school budgets across the state that did not pass the House in the same year as the Kearsarge decision.

This year HB 1300 called for every school district to put a budget limit linked to inflation plus a spending cap on School Administrative Units before voters on the general election ballot every two years starting now.

Supporters claimed only narrow groups attend annual school meetings, such as educators, staff and local parents, while others seeking lower property taxes stay away and thus do not count as special interests in the view of bill backers.

Advocates said voters must speak up to curb excessive local school board proposals, though nothing prevents attendance at annual meetings or deliberative sessions in Senate Bill 2 towns, an early step toward letting less informed residents shape budgets.

Cheap Trick scored a hit with the song I Want You to Want Me, which better captures what HB 1300 supporters truly sought during an election cycle.

They hoped voters would believe the measure serves their interests and would trim property taxes that have climbed sharply in the past ten years. Republicans held the governor office along with both legislative chambers throughout that period.

They preferred voters overlook how hundreds of millions in budget surpluses, boosted by billions in federal COVID aid to the state, produced no increase in education funding even matching inflation, and how recent steps now cut state aid for roughly half the districts, often those most reliant on help.

Yet Libertarian and Republican lawmakers readily added 130 million dollars in state funds for the Education Freedom Account program that mainly aids higher income families choosing religious, private or home schooling for children never enrolled in public schools.

The voucher effort grew after income limits were dropped, turning it into support for families already outside public education.

While 52 million dollars reached the voucher program this year, the same lawmakers reduced state support for university and community college systems, raising tuition for residents, increased Medicaid co pays and imposed insurance premiums on low income parents in the state Children Health Insurance Program.

What they most wish to hide is that school property taxes stay high because the state contributes far less than any other state toward public education costs.

New Hampshire ranks last nationally in its share of education funding and also trails in support for higher education. It contributes a smaller percentage than Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas or West Virginia, with Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas and Florida also near the bottom.

While New Hampshire covers 19 to 29 percent of public education expenses, the national average stands near 47 to 48 percent.

Including the Statewide Education Property Tax that raises 363 million dollars yearly brings the state share to 29 percent, but counting that tax with local levies because both are collected locally drops the state portion to 19 percent.

Property taxes, local or statewide, cover 70 percent of public education costs in New Hampshire, one of the wealthier states by per capita income.

Still the state places in the top ten nationally for spending per student.

Enough revenue exists for public education; the issue lies in who supplies most of it, namely property taxpayers both residential and commercial.

That explains why school property taxes remain elevated: state government refuses to shoulder a share comparable to other states.

The same pattern holds for both Libertarian Republicans and Democrats whenever either group held power since the state Supreme Court ruled the state must furnish an adequate education and fund it.

More than thirty years after the Claremont I and Claremont II rulings, the state has not fully met those decisions or later ones, including two recent cases now on appeal to the Supreme Court.

Current Libertarian Republicans often criticize local officials for education costs, promote a constitutional ban on income taxes though none has advanced seriously in two decades, celebrate cuts to business taxes and the end of interest and dividends taxes, yet offer no fix for education funding beyond spending more on students outside public schools, reducing state revenue by over one billion dollars and enacting a statewide school budget cap while taxes keep rising.

This approach is no cheap trick but rather a costly one for homeowners and property owners who shoulder most government expenses.

If three fifths of voters in school districts approve the provisions of House Bill 1300 at the next general election, property taxes could rise no faster than inflation and SAU funding would stay at six percent of district budgets, yet taxes would still increase.

Believing taxes are already too high changes nothing, since real relief requires the political will to shift far more state dollars into education.

Passage of such a plan would likely leave voters eager to support those in the legislature or governor office.

That step would avoid any cheap trick.

Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.

Distant Dome by veteran journalist Garry Rayno offers wider views on the State House and state events for InDepthNH.org. Across three decades Rayno covered the NH State House for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Foster Daily Democrat. His reporting ranged from local boards to national topics such as electric deregulation and presidential primaries. Rayno lives with his wife Carolyn and their two rescue dogs.