A Tale of Two EFAs

It was the best of lies; it was the worst of lies. 

Richburg and Poortown both have K-12 schools with 100 students, and school budgets of $2 million.  

Pat lives in Richburg. He decides to leave the local school to accept an Education Freedom Account (EFA) with $5,255 in it. 

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Markets, Not Judges, Set Prices, Even for Education

There is one and only one way to determine the “true cost” of an adequate education. That is to create a competitive education marketplace. Alas, that is not the approach New Hampshire has taken.

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While Freedom Flourishes in New Hampshire, the Rest of New England Is a Different Story

Most of New England has some work to do to keep up with New Hampshire’s status as the nation’s freest state. In the latest edition of the Cato Institute’s Freedom in the 50 States report, while New Hampshire finishes first in overall freedom (an index of personal and economic freedom), the other five New England states each finish in the bottom half among all 50 states.

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Bans and High Taxes Fuel Black Markets for Tobacco & Vape Products

As the Biden administration gets closer to finalizing its proposed rule banning the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars nationwide, a well-known aphorism comes to mind: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

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NH Families Are Choosing To Spend Their EFA Funds in a Variety of Ways, Including at Public Schools

As New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs) gain popularity, confusion about how the money is spent continues to cloud public discussion. Contrary to some of the rhetoric used to describe the program, EFA funds are not exclusively reserved for covering tuition costs at private schools. A breakdown of authorized EFA spending in the last fiscal … Read more

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The Amazon Lawsuit New Hampshire Joined Is a Mess of Bad Economics

New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella has joined 16 other state attorneys general in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) lawsuit alleging that “Amazon is a monopolist” that engages in illegal anti-competitive behavior.

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Bans and High Taxes Fuel Black Markets for Tobacco & Vape Products

As the Biden administration gets closer to finalizing its proposed rule banning the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars nationwide, a well-known aphorism comes to mind: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

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Republican Primary Voters in NH Want To Restrain the Federal Government, Not American Businesses …

The Competitiveness Coalition, in coordination with The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, found in a poll of 800 likely Republican primary voters, released Sept. 5,  that these voters want the federal government to focus on inflation, the cost of living, and the economy, and not get distracted by attacking American tech companies.

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Affordable Housing Is NH’s Top Economic Problem, Leaders & Voters Agree

New Hampshire voters rank affordable housing as the state’s No. 1 problem, according to a UNH Survey Center poll released on August 28. State business and political leaders agree, saying housing affordability is the top problem holding back the state’s economy.

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Four Non-Communist Concord Capitalists Who Merit Historical Markers

The saga of the Elizabeth Gurley Flynn state historical marker drags on. Flynn—a labor leader, feminist, founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union, and an avowed member and chairperson of the Communist Party USA—was recognized this spring with a historical highway marker in her hometown of Concord.

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NH Budget Posts $538.9 Million Surplus

Lost amid all the political and economic news this month was an important bit of data that’s particularly noteworthy as the 2024 governor’s race gets underway. (Yes, already.)

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NH Becomes First New England State To Grant Universal Occupational License Recognition

Two weeks after New Hampshire posted a record-low unemployment rate of 1.9%, Gov. Chris Sununu signed two bills to make it easier for licensed professionals from other states to work here.

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A NH Commuter Rail Question: Should Paul Revere have taken the T to Lexington (or Nashua)?

When considering commuter rail in New Hampshire, here’s a thought experiment that offers a great place to start. Should the Massachusetts Bay Colony have built commuter rail in Revolutionary-era Boston?

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“Local Control” vs. “Local Overregulation”

You may recall that the reason given by Sun-King Sununu (a/k/a Governor Groomer) for his veto of a bill prohibiting school mask-mandates was “local control”:

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Some Thoughts on Constitution Day

[Yesterday was] Constitution Day, the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution by 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

Not a federal holiday, Constitution Day goes largely ignored because the government created on this date has opted over the centuries not to celebrate the anniversary of its own birth.

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Capping Education Freedom Accounts Would Cap Opportunities for Students

More than 1,000 New Hampshire families have applied for one of the state’s new Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs), showing strong demand for a program that offers many lower-income families their first real alternative to their assigned public school. Sadly, opponents of the program have cited this strong interest as a reason to prevent the program from growing.

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Why New Hampshire’s Smallest Population Growth in a Century Is Bad News

In the last decade, New Hampshire’s population grew at the slowest rate in a century, signaling that generations’ worth of astounding economic and cultural gains could be put at risk.

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On Evictions, the Answer Is More Property Rights, Not Fewer

The Center for Disease Control’s plainly unconstitutional eviction moratorium, begun in the Trump administration and continued by President Biden, is much more than a presidential abandonment of the rule of law.

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Government Won’t Let the Market Fix the Housing Shortage

There are two sides of the affordable housing equation: incomes and housing prices. While the market pushes New Hampshire incomes higher, the government prevents it from lowering home prices.

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What to Know About the State Budget’s Education Freedom Accounts

This year’s state budget, up for a vote on Thursday, contains an Education Freedom Account (EFA) program to give families more options for educating their children. Here is a quick summary of who has similar programs and how this one would work.

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