Back to New Hampshire

HB590 • 2026

relative to cooperative school district school board elections.

relative to cooperative school district school board elections.

Education Elections
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Louise Andrus (R), Kristine Perez (R), Clayton Wood (R), Jose Cambrils (R), Alvin See (R), Daniel Innis (R), Riché Colcombe (R), Len Turcotte (R), Howard Pearl (r), Barbara Comtois (R)
Last action
2026-04-10
Official status
SENATE
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

relative to cooperative school district school board elections.

relative to cooperative school district school board elections.

What This Bill Does

  • relative to cooperative school district school board elections.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment #2026-1066h : AA VV 03/11/2026 HJ 7 P. 142

Plain English: Amendment #2026-1066h : AA VV 03/11/2026 HJ 7 P. 142 1

  • The official amendment file could not be read automatically during the last sync, so only the official amendment metadata is shown right now.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-10 S

    Inexpedient to Legislate, MA, VV === BILL KILLED ===; 04/16/2026; SJ 9

  2. 2026-04-06 S

    Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate, 04/16/2026, Vote 4-0, CC; SC 14

  3. 2026-03-25 S

    Hearing: 03/31/2026, Room 122-123, SH, 10:00 am; SC 12

  4. 2026-03-17 S

    Introduced 03/12/2026 and Referred to Election Law and Municipal Affairs; SJ 7

  5. 2026-03-11 H

    Amendment #2026-1066h : AA VV 03/11/2026 HJ 7 P. 142

  6. 2026-03-11 H

    Ought to Pass with Amendment 2026-1066h: MA DV 181-149 03/11/2026 HJ 7 P. 143

  7. 2026-03-04 H

    Majority Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment #2026-1066h 03/03/2026 (Vote 9-8; RC) HC 10 P. 39

  8. 2026-03-04 H

    Minority Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate

  9. 2026-01-08 H

    Recommit (Rep. Berry): MA VV 01/08/2026 HJ 2 P. 71

  10. 2026-01-05 H

    Removed from Consent (Reps. Lane, Telerski, Newsom, Bricchi, Simpson, Muirhead, Ebel, Snodgrass, Damon, Ames) 01/02/2026 HJ 1 P. 43

  11. 2025-11-18 H

    Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment #2025-2934h 09/16/2025 (Vote 15-2; CC) HC 51 P. 8

  12. 2025-09-11 H

    Executive Session: 09/16/2025 10:15 am GP 158

  13. 2025-03-18 H

    Retained in Committee

  14. 2025-03-12 H

    ==CONTINUED== Executive Session: 03/18/2025 10:00 am LOB 306-308

  15. 2025-02-27 H

    ==RECESSED== Executive Session: 03/04/2025 01:00 pm LOB 306-308

  16. 2025-02-20 H

    Public Hearing: 02/25/2025 10:20 am LOB 306-308

  17. 2025-01-16 H

    Introduced (in recess of) 01/09/2025 and referred to Election Law HJ 3 P. 17

Official Summary Text

relative to cooperative school district school board elections.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
HB 590 - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

11Mar2026... 1066h
2025 SESSION
25-0786
11/08

HOUSE BILL
590

AN ACT
relative to cooperative school district school board elections.

SPONSORS: Rep. Andrus, Merr. 5; Rep. Cambrils, Merr. 4; Rep. Colcombe, Hills. 30; Rep. Comtois, Belk. 7; Rep. Perez, Rock. 16; Rep. See, Merr. 26; Rep. Turcotte, Straf. 4; Rep. Wood, Merr. 13; Sen. Innis, Dist 7; Sen. Pearl, Dist 17

COMMITTEE: Election Law

-----------------------------------------------------------------

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill requires cooperative school boards to elect representatives from pre-existing districts only from voters within the district.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in
bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [
in brackets and struckthrough.
]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11Mar2026... 1066h 25-0786
11/08

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five

AN ACT
relative to cooperative school district school board elections.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Composition of Cooperative School Boards. RSA 195:19-a is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
195:19-a Composition of Cooperative School Boards.
The method of selection and terms of members of cooperative school boards shall be as provided in the bylaws or articles of agreement of the cooperative school district, as the case may be; provided, however, that such bylaws and articles of agreement shall be limited to the following requirements:
I. The members of the cooperative school board shall be elected by the voters of their pre-existing district and shall be residents of such pre-existing district. Each pre-existing district shall be entitled to elect at least one board member. Apportionment shall provide flexibility to the cooperative school district in meeting requirements of the one-man one-vote doctrine for a pre-existing district or pre-existing districts to support as nearly as possible the pre-existing board representation based upon population and pursuant to RSA 195.
II. The state board of education may approve other methods of selection of cooperative school board members, so long as such other method is compatible with proportional representation according to the one-man one-vote principle.
III. The terms of the members of the cooperative school board shall be as provided in the bylaws or articles of agreement provided that in no case shall such terms exceed 3 years.
IV. Whenever the bylaws or articles of agreement provide for the election of cooperative school board members pursuant to this chapter, said election shall be with the use of the non-partisan ballot system under RSA 669.
V. The number of members and composition of cooperative school boards shall be in accordance with this section by July 1, 2026. Members whose terms expire prior to this date shall be elected pursuant to this section.

2 Reapportionment; Cooperative School District. Amend RSA 195:19-b to read as follows:
195:19-b Reapportionment. Any cooperative school district organized under any of the provisions of RSA 195 or pursuant to any special act may at any regular or special meeting vote to change the number, composition, method of selection, and terms of office of members on the board of the district, provided that in no event shall the board exceed 15 members nor terms exceed 3 years[
; and may change the apportionment of the board in relation to the pre-existing school districts
].
Apportionment of members of the cooperative school board shall be reviewed and reapportioned, if necessary, based upon the latest federal decennial census and pursuant to RSA 195:19-a.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after passage.