Most money from New Hampshire’s school choice program ends up at small group of Christian-affiliated religious schools and some Democrats are seeking to change that.

Rep. Tim Horrigan, from Durham, said he believes using taxpayer dollars on religious education violates the law. So, he proposed House Bill 549 to prohibit Education Freedom Accounts from being used at religious schools.

“Its main mission is, quite openly, to support religious education,” Horrigan said. “The EFA program gives the government the power to reward some religions which it approves of while punishing others it disapproves of.”

Dan McGuire, an Epsom Republican, said the opposite, arguing that disallowing EFA funds to be used for certain schools would risk discriminating against religion.

No members of the public showed up at the Friday hearing. Online, 91 people indicated support for the bill and 19 opposed it.

Rep. Dick Ames, a Jaffrey Democrat, said he wants to hear from other parties involved – like the Children’s Scholarship Fund, the Legislative Budget Assistant and the Department of Education – to see what role they all play in how applications and scholarships are processed. Tracy Bricchi, a Democrat from Penacook who’s new to the House, said she also wants a chance to question the institutions that govern the program.

In a five-hour public hearing earlier this month on a bill to make school choice vouchers universally available, lawmakers already went through many of the arguments surrounding the program, Ladd said.

He welcomed lawmakers to do their own research but indicated the bill’s outcome will likely be unfavorable. It’d face an uphill battle as Republicans, who widely support school choice, hold solid majorities in both the House and Senate.

“Truthfully, I know where the vote’s going on this, and I think you do, too,” Ladd said. “When I have to prioritize how we’re going to be using our time here, I believe we have some other very critical issues which we’re going to have to devote a lot of time to.”

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.