It’s the first full week of May and the New Hampshire Legislature isn’t slowing down yet, with important decisions still to be made on both proposed legislation and the 2026-27 state budget. This week, Senate committees will hold public hearings on harmful bills impacting housing security and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, along with the state budget bills. A House committee is also scheduled to vote on the mandatory minimum sentencing bills.

In our recap section, you’ll find the results of last week’s votes on bills related to child care, Medicaid expansion, immunizations and community health, and harm reduction.

Learn more and take action below!
Housing Security for Older Adults: House Bill 60 threatens to remove tenant protections by allowing landlords to evict tenants without cause when their lease ends. No-cause evictions could exacerbate the ongoing homelessness crisis and negatively impact the health of Granite State children and adults.

Tuesday, May 6, 10:40 am
Senate Commerce Committee, State House Room 100
Sign In: Oppose HB 60 <Protecting Teen Voices and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey: The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a completely anonymous, optional survey that allows teens to privately share their experiences so parents, schools, and communities can prevent unsafe and unhealthy behaviors. House Bill 446 would require families to opt-in to the survey rather than opt-out, which would significantly reduce participation and make it impossible to learn how to keep Granite State youth safe and healthy.

Tuesday, May 6, 10:45 am
Senate Education Committee, Legislative Office Building Room 101> Sign In: Oppose HB 446
People First State Budget: At New Futures, we’re advocating for a People First budget that prioritizes the health and well-being of Granite State people and families. This includes investments in programming that expands access to affordable child care, supports substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery, invests in a system of care for older adults, grows New Hampshire’s health care workforce, and more. If you’re interested in attending the hearing, our Community Engagement team can help you prepare testimony and will be at the State House the day of the hearing to support you.Tuesday, May 6, 1-5 pm and 6 pm until finished

Senate Finance Committee, Representatives Hall in the State House

Note: If there are still folks waiting to testify at 5pm, the committee will break for dinner, resuming the hearing at 6pm. Attend the Hearing

Removing Anti-Discrimination Protections: It’s important for all Granite Staters to feel safe and have privacy in the places we visit every day, like hospitals, workplaces, libraries, and shops. Unfortunately, House Bill 148 would make life harder and less safe for transgender Granite Staters. It would roll back bipartisan discrimination protections in restrooms and locker rooms at places like these. While claiming to protect safety, the bill ignores current laws making it already illegal to harm or harass anyone in these spaces.

Tuesday, May 6, 1:50 pm
Senate Judiciary Committee, State House Room 100 Sign In: Oppose HB 148
Preventing the Return of Child Marriage: Last year, New Hampshire banned child marriage by raising the legal age of marriage to 18. However, House Bill 433 would chip away at this ban, allowing 17-year-olds to marry if one person in the couple is active duty military.

Tuesday, May 6, 1:30 pm
Senate Judiciary Committee, State House Room 100 Sign In: Oppose HB 433

Upcoming Executive Sessions

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Requirements: SB 14 would require a minimum sentence of 3.5 to 7 years for some fentanyl-related offenses, while SB 15 would require a minimum sentence of 10 years for distribution of fentanyl that results in a death. Mandatory minimum sentences remove individuals from their communities, restrict access to needed treatment, and weaken our state’s efforts to overcome the ongoing addiction crisis. The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee is scheduled to hold an executive session on Friday, May 9 to vote on recommendations for these bills. Email committee members to urge them to oppose mandatory minimum sentencing.> Email the Committee: Oppose Mandatory Minimums

Recapping Last Week’s Executive Sessions

Improving Access to Child Care: In New Hampshire, child care for a family with two children under five costs more than $32,000 per year. Child care scholarships provide critical support for working families, but complex paperwork requirements, upfront payment demands, and burdensome data tracking for providers create significant burdens. SB 243 streamlines the New Hampshire Child Care Scholarship program for parents and providers and will help more families access affordable child care in New Hampshire. Unfortunately, the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee voted on a recommendation of Inexpedient to Legislate, meaning they don’t recommend the bill move forward this session. The bill will still go to the House floor for a vote by the House of Representatives. Call or Email your Representatives: Support SB 243

Protect Medicaid Expansion for All: The Granite Advantage Health Care Program, more commonly known as Medicaid Expansion, is a unique New Hampshire solution that ensures all Granite Staters have access to health insurance. Senate Bill 134 would create unnecessary barriers to health insurance by adding burdensome work requirements to Medicaid Expansion, putting thousands of low-wage Granite Staters at risk of losing their health insurance. The House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee voted 18-0 to retain SB 134, meaning the committee will hold onto the bill for now and review it further later this year. While this is promising, work requirements could still appear in the state or federal budgets. New Futures will continue to monitor the situation and keep you updated on this issue!

Recapping Last Week’s Votes

Weakening of Immunization Requirements: HB 679 would remove requirements for childhood vaccinations that are currently needed to attend schools and child care centers in New Hampshire. This bill unnecessarily risks critical federal funding to child care centers by changing the vaccination requirements. HB 357 would prevent the state from requiring Hepatitis B, varicella, and Hib immunizations and would remove immunization schedule decisions from the Department of Health and Human Services, instead transferring the decision-making to the New Hampshire legislature. The Senate voted to kill both HB 679 and HB 357. However, immediately following the Senate vote on HB 357, the House took the same language and added it via floor amendment to Senate Bill 60 (a bill about horse wagering deposits in NH) and then passed SB 60 with the added vaccine language. SB 60 will next head to the House Finance Committee for review. 
Legalizing Drug-Checking Equipment: Under current law, with the exceptions of fentanyl and xylazine test strips, possession with intent to distribute life-saving drug-checking equipment is an unclassified misdemeanor and punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of $2,000. HB 226 would make the use and distribution of test equipment legal in New Hampshire. Unfortunately, the Senate voted to table HB 226 in a 14-8 vote, meaning it will not move forward this session.

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For more information about these issues, other priority legislation, and the state budget process, please visit our Current Legislation page and State Budget Page.

Thank you for taking action!

Sincerely,
Jake Berry
Vice President of Policy
New Futures | 100 N Main Street, Suite 400 | Concord, NH
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