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2003 SESSION

03-0265

04/10

HOUSE BILL 621-FN-A-LOCAL

COMMITTEE: Education

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill extends the Parents as Teachers Program through the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005 and makes an appropriation for the program.

The bill also transfers responsibility for the Parents as Teachers Program from the department of health and human services to the department of education.

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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

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03-0265

04/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

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

317:1 Appropriation. There is hereby appropriated the sum of $65,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004, and the sum of $65,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005, to the department of health and human services to continue the Parents as Teachers program in Sullivan county pursuant to RSA 193:35. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sums out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

317:2 Parents As Teachers Program; Reference to Department of Health and Human Services Replaced with Department of Education. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 193:35, I to read as follows:

I. The department of [health and human services] education shall establish the school district based Parents as Teachers Program for a rural community in Sullivan county in cooperation with School Administrative Unit 6 and the Parent Information Center. Sullivan county will be the rural site for the program because of its unique demographic profile, including the high number of risk factors affecting its children, the demonstrated interest of its public officials in the program, and the capacity to link the program to existing programs within the county including Good Beginnings, the Parent Information Center, and department of [health and human services] education programs in Sullivan county. The department shall use the following criteria to measure the effectiveness of the program:

317:3 Parents As Teachers Program; Rulemaking; Reference to Department of Health and Human Services Replaced with Department of Education. Amend RSA 193:36 to read as follows:

193:36 Rulemaking. The commissioner of [health and human services] the department of education shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, necessary to carry out the provisions of this subdivision.

317:4 Parents as Teachers; Report and Recommendation; Information from Department of Education. Amend RSA 193:37 to read as follows:

193:37 Report and Recommendation. On or before October 1, 2004, the department of health and human services shall prepare and submit to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, and the chairpersons of the house and senate education committees an evaluation and report of the school district based Parents as Teachers Programs established pursuant to this subdivision, and recommendations for the expansion of the program statewide. The evaluation and report shall incorporate the criteria set forth in RSA 193:35, I and shall include an assessment of the program's effectiveness based on those criteria. The department of education shall provide the department of health and human services with information on the Parents as Teachers Program from the date of transfer of the program through September 30, 2004, for the purposes of preparing the report.

317:5 Federal Funds. The commissioner of the department of education shall expend federal funds received for the biennium ending June 30, 2005 for the Parents as Teachers program. If such federal funds are not available, then the commissioner is authorized to expend general funds appropriated under section 1 of this act for the Parents as Teachers program.

317:6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.

(Approved: Enacted in accordance with Article 44, Part II, N.H. Constitution, without signature of Governor, July 22, 2003)

(Effective Date: July 1, 2003)