What Just Happened: Recap of June 5, 2025 NH Legislative Session: Special “Did They Really Just Do That?” Edition
As the legislative session inched closer to the end on Thursday, GOP majorities in the NH House and Senate are ensuring manufactured GOP priorities like “parents rights”, “election security”, and “education freedom” for the wealthy are passing—and actual voter priorities like housing and childcare receive lip service. Here are the lowlights and a few highlights.
But First Things First—Let’s Set the Scene
Thursday was the final day for the House to act on bills passed in the Senate, and for the Senate to act on bills passed in the House, including HB 1 and HB 2 which together comprise the state budget.
With Republicans holding large majorities in both the House and Senate, GOP members of both chambers were busy not only trying to pass their priority bills, but also attempting to resurrect favored bills passed earlier in their own chamber that died for one reason or another in the other.
The result was a flurry of last minute amendments. In one version of this gambit, a starkly divisive unrelated provision is grafted onto an otherwise desirable bill that in many cases was not-so-coincidentally authored by a Democrat. Sometimes this forces a hard choice: Do you swallow the “poison pill” to get the good thing passed? Or do you sigh heavily and vote against the entire combo.
In another version of this particular game, the other chamber simply erases the original bill and amends something onto it that does something completely different. (This actually happened to me with HB 57—a non-controversial bill I worked on with the Department of Corrections that would allow inmates released on administrative home confinement to take secondary educational courses in the communities where they were offered. In the Senate, the bill was amended to strip out ALL of the provisions from the original bill and replace them with (wait for it…) additional qualifying crimes under our revised bail statute.)
Something else we see frequently is another version of this ploy. This is the one where—upset that one of his or her pet bills died in the other chamber— the master-strategist rep or Senator channels Vizzini from The Princess Bride and tries to amend it back onto to a priority bill for Republicans in both chambers as a “negotiation” ploy to “send a message” to the other chamber that they won’t take “no” for an answer. (This explains why many GOP members of the House and Senate actually despise each other despite being together on the wrong side of history).
So What Does All This Machiavellian BS Mean?
All of this last-minute maneuvering worthy of the Prince himself ensures that a good chunk of the bills that actually pass near the end of the session will differ from the version of the bill that was passed in the other chamber. Since the House and Senate must pass an identical version of a bill before it becomes law, this sets up a process where each chamber must vote to either “concur” (agree) with the other chambers changes—or to “non-concur (which kills the bill) or (because reps love torturing each other) to “non-concur and request a committee of conference” where differences can sometimes be ironed out—or not. Many of these last-minute amendments are negotiating ploys that can occasionally result in a bill with wildly unrelated provisions being passed, but occasionally they can result in a bill stalling and dying if negotiators can’t agree.
Got all that?
Now on to some of the highlights and lowlights.
A GOP Educational Model Emerges: Support Private Schools, Defund Public Education, Punish Teachers
No Rich Parents Left Behind! Get out your wallets folks. Wealthy people want subsidies from taxpayers like you to send their kids to private schools. On Thursday, our GOP-majority legislature decided that they’re going to get them—and you’re going to pay for them. SB 295 passed the House on a 190-178 vote and is expected — if it becomes law — to increase the state’s obligation to pony up your tax dollars for the GOP school voucher scam by tens of millions of dollars over the next biennium while many state services will be cut due to declining state revenues. More
Mandatory Snitching. SB 96 passed 198-172. It requires teachers and school employees to “honestly” answer questions from parents within 5 days, and could impose stiff penalties for teachers who don’t provide the information. Under the bill, teachers will be required to disclose information provided in confidence that students do not want shared, such as their sexual orientation or gender identity. Teachers who don’t comply could face up to a one-year suspension—which for most would also include the loss of their job. As frosting on the cake, Republicans also successfully attached an amendment prohibiting mask mandates in schools. More.
More Gaslighting When It Comes to Racism. The efforts of Republican legislators to chill any discussion of our country’s unfortunate history of racism and discrimination, took a step forward with the 192-155 passage of SB 100. As rewritten by Republican legislators, the bill prohibits “the teaching of discrimination” or inferring in any way that modern-day Americans bear any responsibility for more than two centuries of despicable, racist behavior. The bill allows any aggrieved person—not just a parent— to trigger and investigation and initiate a civil action against a school or district.
Punishing School Districts and Teachers for School Bullying—But Not the Parents of Bullies. SB 210 passed 193-159. It was amended to totally replace a bill sponsored by Dems that would have studied the problem of bullying in schools to a bill that punishes educators and districts—without addressing parental responsibility for bullying in any way. As an added bonus, Republicans successfully added an amendment allowing “open enrollment” in public schools. This would allow any child in any NH public school to transfer to another school in any district at any time for any reason before, during, and after the school year,—which will essentially create a budget and administrative nightmare for some districts.
Cell Phone Ban. On a vote of 314-42, New Hampshire state representatives approved SB 206. The bill requires school districts to adopt policies banning on cellphones for students for the entire school day, with limited exceptions for special education, medical and language needs. Dems pushed for additional exceptions for students using devices for film, photographic, and arts class work. But those attempts were rejected. More.
Attempt to Mandate “Gun Safety Training” for K-12 Public School Kids Fails. SB 54—another combo bill that would have raised penalties for people suspected of DUI who refuse a chemical test that was inexplicably amended by GOP lawmakers to include mandatory “firearms safety training” for K-12 public school kids—was tabled 256-106. Prior to the public hearing on the amendment, nearly 1,300 people signed-in against it with just over a dozen people signing-in in support. During hearing, concerns were raised about everything from the lack of effectiveness of of these programs, to the lack of input from parents, to the possibility that these classes (put together with the assistance of the NRA and Sig Sauer) could lead to increased normalization of firearms among kids, an increase in student suicide attempts, and mental health issues. But perhaps the most significant concern raised was neither the amendment nor the bill included any provisions requiring adults to store firearms safety or increasing accountability for those who don’t—which effectively transfers the responsibility for keeping children safe from adults to kids themselves. While the tabling motion effectively kills the amendment for the year, the first part of the bill—which most Democrats supported—still lives. It was attached later in the day by the Senate to another bill which has evolved into what some legislator’s call a “Christmas tree bill” of unrelated legislation and others call a “FrankenBill.” The title of HB 560, the bill in question, now reads, “An Act relative to parental access to a minor child's medical records, relative to refusal of consent to testing to determine alcohol concentration and penalties for aggravated driving while intoxicated, defining pre sequestration timber tax revenue, establishing a moratorium on carbon sequestration and establishing a commission to study the effects of carbon sequestration in New Hampshire forests upon state and local tax revenue, effective forest management, and the health of New Hampshire’s logging industry.” Got all that straight? More.
The cell phone ban aside, it’s not hard to notice a theme here. As Garry Rayno summed it up in his weekly column in InDepthNH , “The Free State/Libertarians have long sought to have public schools house only special education students and kids with disciplinary programs. The rest of the students and their parents will be on their own to find and pay for their education, meaning the rich will do just fine and everyone else will scramble to find an inferior education they can afford.”
And there you have it!
Manufactured Issue Update
Twin “Parent’s Rights” Bills Pass. One of the biggest manufactured non-issues foisted on New Hampshire residents over the past 4 years has been the GOP’s battle for so-called “parent’s rights” legislation. In both the House and the Senate, Republicans finally reaped their reward when identical versions of parent’s rights bills passed in both chambers. In the House, SB 72 passed 214-167, largely along party lines. In addition to simply rehashing a number of existing parental rights already in statute, The bill outlines numerous rights, including the right to opt their children out of sex education classes, the bill adds some new ones, such as a provision that school boards must develop policies that allow parents to easily examine instructional materials and get answers from teachers about what their children are saying in school. On the plus side, a controversial provision was struck from the final bill that would have required parents to be told if their minor child obtains birth control. More.
Let’s Revisit Failed Drug Policies from the 80s and Please Pass the Magic Mushrooms! Only NH House Republicans could come up with a bill that combines a failed drug policy that nearly 50 years of experience shows is harmful, costly, and ineffective —with a penalty reduction for possessing…magic mushrooms. SB 14 passed 214-167. As amended , the bill establishes mandatory minimum sentences ranging from 3 years, 6 months to 7 years for possessing certain quantities of fentanyl or for providing fentanyl to another person who dies as a result. Worth noting is that current law already allows offenders to be sentenced to up to 30 years for these crimes. Moreover, no evidence was presented that New Hampshire judges, most of whom were appointed by Republican governors over the past 8 years, are failing to hand out appropriate sentences for those selling drugs, including fentanyl. Paradoxically, the bill was amended by House Republicans to reduce the penalty for possessing magic mushrooms from a felony to a misdemeanor. More.
Hmmm…What Can We Do to Make It Even More Difficult to Vote?
Let’s Pass Laws to Solve a Non-Existent Absentee Voter “Election Security” Problem! If you’re a working person, elderly, handicapped, or annyone else who has trouble getting to the polls but wants to vote, bad news: voting absentee in New Hampshire is about to get even harder.
SB 218 passed 192-149. Despite the fact that there has never been a case of voter fraud on an absentee ballot in New Hampshire, people registering for an absentee ballot will now have to present proof they are a United States citizen to receive one.
Also passing 187-149 was SB 287. As amended the bill requires an applicant for an absentee ballot to provide photo identification with their application or to apply in-person. No evidence was presented at any point during the process that this busywork will result in voting being any more secure. However, it is likely to suppress the vote of people who lack access to a copier machine and/or are handicapped.
Also passing 184-153 was SB 221 , which requires an annual purging of voter registration using a 5-year look-back period instead of the current 10 year period. This unfunded mandate will add to the cost of administering elections for municipalities while resulting in many more voters being wrongly disenfranchised. More.
Housing Schmousing!
With Republicans in both chambers opposed to measures that would provide financial incentives—or actual financing—to alleviate the state’s housing crisis, the housing bills that are reaching the end-stage of the legislative session are mostly measures to reduce the ability of local boards to block construction or impose regulatory and zoning requirements.
Officially Dead for this Year: SB 163, a bill that would have blocked municipalities from being able to issue moratoriums on building permits, was tabled by voice vote. Municipalities have used this power in the past to pause potentially problematic commercial development while they update their zoning regulations.
Still Alive: Among the housing measures still breathing at this point is one that would prohibit communities from adopting or enforcing any ordinance that restricts the number of occupants of any dwelling unit to less than 2 occupants per bedroom.
Now In The Governor’s Hands: On the way to the governor for signature or veto HB 577, which requires municipalities to allow either one detached or attached accessory dwelling unit (ADU) by right on single-family lots, and to HB 631, which allows residential building in commercial zones, mandating mixed-use development in nearly every zoning district in New Hampshire. While there is a certain level of agreement in both parties that overly restrictive local regulations have been a key factor in slowing construction, there is also significant disagreement in both parties when it comes to what extent the state should butt in to reduce local control over planning, zoning, and building requirements.
Refusing to Die: Also worth noting is that Republicans successfully attached provisions from HB 60–a bill allowing landlords to evict renters with no-cause in middle of a housing crisis that failed earlier in the Senate—to SB 263, a bill that criminalizes AI chatbots that suggest children engage sexual activity, self-harm, or violent actions. The bill passed 202-168.
A Few Bright Spots
Attempt to Move State Primary Date Fails. SB 222 , a bill that would have changed the current September state primary date to June, was tabled by voice vote after an attempt to pass it failed 153-185. Dems had opposed the bill over concerns that the January 1 effective date wouldn’t have given the Secretary of State and local election officials enough time to implement the change.
Attempt to Add Anti-Vax Provisions to Bill Boosting Coos County Economy Fails. SB 180, a bill granting Coos County a “distressed place” based economic designation—which qualifies it for more federal assistance—eventually passed 323-6. But not before anti-vax Republicans tried and failed to insert an amendment banning childhood vaccine requirements for any vaccine that doesn’t fully prevent transmission. Because most vaccines are designed to reduce the severity of illness and slow down—but not prevent—the spread of the illness, it would have effectively eliminated nearly all childhood vaccine requirements in New Hampshire.
Taking Some of the Risk Out of Risk Pool Management Programs. SB 297 passed by voice vote after being amended to address concerns over solvency issues, operational concerns, and oversight of pooled risk management programs created by cities, towns, counties, and school districts to reduce risks and associated insurance costs. The Secretary of State’s office had expressed concern that a lack of controls could lead to insolvency of the pools, which could have greatly increased the cost of health insurance.
The Budget Battle Moves Closer to a Sad Ending
Among a forest of self-inflicted cuts AND in the middle of a housing crisis that only keeps screaming for real solutions, NH Senate Republicans have decided to blow $30 million to subsidize private school tuition for NH’s wealthiest families. While the Senate used more optimistic/realistic revenue assumptions to attempt to restore several unwise and unpopular cuts made by House Republicans, both chambers must agree on a final version before there can be any degree of confidence that Medicaid provider subsidies, the Office of the Child Advocate, and other critical programs on the chopping block have actually been saved. Meanwhile, another concern are priorities neither House nor Senate Republicans chose to invest in. As Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Perkins-Kwoka put it , “This is a budget that's not only going to NOT lower costs on things like housing, child care, monthly utility bills and health care, which are some of our top priorities that we heard from, but they may even raise costs, because we're not honoring all of our obligations at the state level.” More.
Ayotte Signs 19 Bills, Vetoes 1
After rubber-stamping every bill to reach her desk in 2025, Gov. Kelly Ayotte finally found her veto pen and used it to veto HB 319—a bill that would have ended the requirement for school districts provide transportation for students in half-day kindergarten programs. If adopted, the proposal would have allowed school boards to decide on their own whether to pay the transportation costs for students.
Among the bills she signed was HB 230, a measure brought forward by the anti-public health, COVID-grievance crowd that will restrict the ability of municipalities to enact public health ordinances. More.
Up Next This Week…
On Thursday, both the House and Senate will each devote an entire session day to deciding whether or not to concur (agree) with, non-concur, or ask for a conference committee on more bills amended by the other body. A vote to concur sends the bill to the governor for signature or veto with no additional changes, a vote to non-concur kills the bill, and a vote to non-concur with committee of conference sets up a process where Senate and House negotiators attempt to reach a compromise on the final language of the bill. See How a Bill Becomes Law for more information.