Legislative Update: Another Bill rescue - April 17, 2026 Windham Independent
Legislative Update - Another Bill rescue
Most times, you can tell who helped a bill pass by checking who the sponsors are… but there are exceptions to that rule.
Take HB1574 (relative to the extension of free and reduced price breakfast and lunch for students under the age of 22): It's an all Democrat bill that was introduced in Education Funding on January 15, trying to make the free and reduced meal program available to 21+ year old high school special education students who are no longer eligible for the federal program due to their age.
The intent of the bill was good, but the bill language was fatally flawed. The House dealt with over 1,200 bills this year - no committee has the time to fix bad language in a bill, so HB1574 was going to be killed.
I have been instrumental in stopping bad bills before, including previous ´free´ school lunch bills… but this bill was attempting to solve a real problem, so l asked the committee to give me the time to work with the prime sponsor to fix the language. When I got COVID, Finance 2 Chairman Erf stepped up and did critical work in writing amendment 0632h, which was submitted by (and credited only to) the two Democrat representatives involved.
As amended, HB1574 passed the House on a voice vote and was referred to the Finance committee… but because the Republicans involved in amending the bill were the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Finance 2, and we had completely addressed any financial concerns, Finance Chairman Weyler waived the bill, sending it directly to the Senate.
I testified in front of the Senate Education Committee on March 10 to tell them that the bill had full bipartisan support and had been fully rewritten, and was delighted when the bill was voted on right after its public hearing, unanimously approved and put on the Senate consent calendar, where it passed on March 26 and was referred to Senate Finance.
On April 14, a non-germane amendment hearing was held to attach additional legislation on a different matter to this bill - a common occurrence in the legislative process around this time of the year.
While only time can tell if HB1574 becomes law (it depends on how the House feels about the unrelated Senate amendment), I will keep working every day to help good bills become law and stop bad bills from harming you all. It’s not about getting one’s name on the bill - it is about passing good bills regardless of who gets the official credit and who doesn’t. I’m happy to see good policy become law without my name on it, if that’s what it took to make it happen.
Please reach out to me at 603 267 4142 (call or text) or at dpmwindham@gmail.com (a quick call or text after emailing me would greatly help) with any questions or concerns.
Daniel Popovici-Muller
Windham State Representative,
Vice Chairman, Finance II Committee
Member, Education Funding Committee