CONCORD – House Republican leaders are forcefully defending a potentially landmark constitutional amendment on public education funding up for a vote this week.

House Legal Counsel Ed Mosca offered a point-by-point rebuttal to a statement put out Monday by the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, which called the measure, CACR 12, “misconceived” and urged lawmakers to vote against it.

“While some might prefer no judicial review, that is not a practical option. Such an amendment would never pass,” Mosca wrote, adding that the choice is between current Claremont decisions, “where the standard of review is whether the Legislature made the same policy judgment the court would make, and CACR 12, where someone challenging the standards has the burden of showing that no reasonable person could say that the standards maintain a system of public education.”

The primary concern of the Liberty Caucus – a libertarian-minded organization – is language in the amendment stating that the Legislature has “the responsibility” to maintain a system of public education.

“Unfortunately, the current compromise language for CACR 12 would permanently enshrine the Claremont decisions in the Constitution,” Liberty Caucus Chair Carolyn McKinney said, referring to the state Supreme Court decisions that limited the Legislature’s ability to control education funding.

House Republican leaders were able to reach a compromise on the wording of the education funding amendment, which has been one of their highest priorities this session, with Democratic Gov. John Lynch and Senate leaders last week.
The House and Senate are set to vote Wednesday on the amendment, which needs to pass by a three-fifths majority to make it onto the ballot. Two-thirds of voters would have to approve the amendment.

The vote is expected to be close in the House, where Democrats and strict “constitutionalists” will likely vote against the amendment. Only about 50 Republicans will be needed to defeat the measure.

The Republican Liberty Caucus NH counts around 100 supporters in the House, based on the number of representatives it endorsed in the 2010 election. The group continues to have a relationship with most of them, according to McKinney.