relative to state fees, funds, revenues, and expenditures.
Sponsored By: Kenneth L Weyler (Republican)
Signed by Governor
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
192 provisions identified: 91 benefits, 58 costs, 43 mixed.
State funds Michael Gilpatrick settlement
The law approves the Michael Gilpatrick settlement and provides $10 million for the state's obligations, including payment to Gilpatrick. Payment follows the March 5, 2025 agreement and procedures set by the justice and administrative services departments.
More prosthetic coverage for insured residents
Beginning January 1, 2026, qualifying group and blanket health policies must cover prosthetic devices for insured New Hampshire residents. Coverage includes activity-specific devices, materials, components, instruction, and qualifying repairs and replacements, subject to policy terms. Activity-specific coverage may be limited to one device each plan year for children under 19, or every five years for people over 19. Medically necessary devices have no annual limit. Self-funded plans, including the state employee plan, and Small Business Health Options Program plans are excluded.
Patients gain covered biomarker testing
Health carriers and Medicaid must cover biomarker tests supported by specified medical or scientific evidence of clinical value. Tests can help diagnose, treat, manage, or monitor a condition; Medicaid's health department determines clinical value for its program. Health carriers must limit care disruptions, including repeated biopsies, and Medicaid contractors must follow the program's coverage scope and frequency. Required prior-authorization decisions are due within 14 days for routine requests and 72 hours for urgent requests. Patients and providers must have an exception process, including an online process for Medicaid.
More families qualify for education accounts
The law removes the Education Freedom Account income limit of 350% of federal poverty guidelines. Students must live in New Hampshire and qualify to enroll in public elementary or secondary school. Students in the Department of Corrections special school district remain excluded. The program has a 10,000-student cap for 2025–26, with rules governing later increases.
Business donors gain arts tax credits
Eligible taxpayers donating to the Granite Patron of the Arts Fund can claim a state tax credit. The credit is the lesser of 50% of the donation or the donor's proportional share of available credits. Total awards are capped at $350,000 per fiscal year. Applications are due June 30 after the donation tax year, and final awards are set by September 30. Credits cannot carry forward, but unused awarded credit may apply to the business enterprise tax.
Some Medicaid families face monthly premiums
The state must file a Medicaid plan amendment by January 1, 2026, to establish premiums for qualifying families with children. The schedule applies at or above 255% of poverty during the budget period ending June 30, 2027. Monthly premiums are $190 for two people, $230 for three, and $270 for four or more; waiver services are excluded. Premiums do not vary with income; federal limits apply, and the health department must develop hardship criteria. The commissioner must adopt premium rules beginning in fiscal year 2028.
Revised fees for land disturbance permits
A qualifying terrain-alteration permit-by-notification application costs $3,125. Projects disturbing at least 150,000 but less than 200,000 square feet cost $6,250, plus $2,500 for each additional block of up to 100,000 square feet. On property covered by the shoreland law, projects disturbing at least 50,000 but less than 150,000 square feet cost $5,000. Other projects cost $500 plus $0.005 per square foot disturbed. A permit amendment requiring plan review costs a nonrefundable $500, with no added per-square-foot charge.
Public workers face narrower disability retirement
For disability findings on or after July 1, 2024, the stated retirement condition requires physical incapacity that is likely permanent. The condition must prevent the member from continuing to perform their duties. Mental incapacity alone no longer meets this condition.
Students must pass two civics tests
Students must pass a locally developed U.S. government and civics assessment to receive a graduation certificate. They must also score at least 70% on the 128-question U.S. naturalization civics exam. Public and chartered public schools must use the education department's assessment. The department must provide disability accommodations and changes consistent with each student's individualized education program.
School choice expands with enrollment limits
Education Freedom Accounts now cover New Hampshire residents eligible for public kindergarten through grade 12, without the former 350%-of-poverty income limit. Enrollment is capped at 10,000 for 2025–2026; each later year's cap rises 25% if prior-year enrollment exceeded 90% of its cap. Current participants get reserved places before new applicants. Current participants, their siblings, students with disabilities, and families at or below 350% of federal poverty guidelines get initial priority and rolling-enrollment cap exemptions. These priority and cap rules end when the education department certifies that applications have not exceeded the cap for two straight school years.
Appointed-lawyer debt collections end for defendants
The state ends collection efforts for appointed-lawyer repayment debts, including debts under former versions of the law. People with repayment orders can ask the court to cancel them. Courts must grant repayment relief when appointing counsel in proceedings under RSA 604-A:2-f. The law also repeals additional-inquiry and partial-liability rules. Payment records must be destroyed after the collection program ends.
More case support for eligible defendants
The state can contract for more services for defendants eligible under RSA 604-A:6, within available funding. Added services include interpretation, translation, transportation, investigation, psychological and psychiatric services, and mental health and substance abuse evaluations. Administrative judges can designate routine, necessary services costing under $1,500 each for direct invoicing without ordinary prior approval. The defendant must be unable to afford the services, and the attorney must certify their need. The Judicial Council reviews payment, and its executive director can require a judge to review an invoice.
Families get temporary child care scholarships
Beginning January 1, 2026, applicants passing the department's initial screening can receive child care scholarships while final eligibility is pending. Help ends at the earliest of 60 days after screening, a final decision, or the deadline for submitting required documents. Before ending help for missing documents, the department must give families and providers 10 days' notice and identify missing documents. Families and providers do not repay covered care costs unless there is fraud or an intentional program-rule violation. The department can pause the pilot during an active waitlist but must restart it when the waitlist ends; repeal takes effect May 2, 2028.
Funding continues existing developmental pilot services
The law provides $1 million through June 30, 2027, to continue services for existing developmental services pilot participants. The funding covers people already enrolled in the pilot established in 2022. The health department may also accept federal money, gifts, grants, and donations without prior Fiscal Committee approval.
Guardianship help for hospital discharge
Beginning September 30, 2025, the law funds public guardianship to help eligible people leave hospitals. It provides $550,000 for the two-year period ending June 30, 2027. The person must be court-declared incapacitated, need a discharge decision maker, and have exhausted other resources and guardianship options. Hospitals must apply, and slots depend on available money. Unspent money may support services under the listed disability, protective-services, or mental-health laws.
Medicaid covers qualifying extra hospital days
Medicaid covers up to five newborn administrative days, with additional days requiring expedited approval and the department's clinical criteria. Administrative days cover qualifying stays without acute-care need when suitable placement is unavailable, or newborn monitoring after prenatal substance exposure. The newborn rate requires the postpartum parent to stay with and support the baby and the hospital to provide that parent's prescribed medicines. The department must set an all-inclusive administrative-day rate, updated each November 1 using the statewide weighted average Medicaid nursing-facility payment rate. It must also set a rate for approved nursing-level care in hospital swing beds.
More funding for shared supportive housing
The health department receives $350,000 in each year ending June 30, 2026, and June 30, 2027. The money supports congregate housing under the Medicaid waiver and congregate services under state law. It funds these shared housing and service programs, not a stated payment to each resident.
More shelter funding supports opioid recovery
The law provides $5 million for year-round emergency shelters in each fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, and 2027. The money comes from the opioid abatement trust fund and serves people with opioid use disorder. Shelters must provide support aimed at recovery, permanent housing, and self-sufficiency.
More support for child care scholarships
The law provides $100,000 for provider payments, a scholarship pilot, and an application-process study through June 30, 2027. The 24-month pilot for temporary scholarship eligibility starts January 1, 2026. To avoid a scholarship waitlist, the commissioner can seek more money from otherwise uncommitted treasury funds. The Fiscal Committee must approve the request first, followed by the Governor and Council. Extra funding and individual award amounts are not guaranteed.
More support for community living
The health department must fully implement Medicaid supportive housing services and seek continued federal approval through a plan renewal or waiver. Implementation reports are due November 1, 2025, and November 1, 2026. Separately, the law provides $10 million through June 30, 2027, for room and board in staffed New Hampshire community residences. That funding serves people with disabilities or acquired brain disorders. The department can accept and spend matching federal funds without prior fiscal committee approval.
Mothers gain screening and home visits
Medicaid covers maternal depression screening at well-child visits, billable through child screening services or the mother's or infant's Medicaid identification. Beginning January 1, 2026, qualifying group policies issued or renewed must cover depression screening during pregnancy and the following 12-month period. That period includes birth, pregnancy loss, or adoption relinquishment; coverage includes the child's 1-, 2-, 4-, and 6-month visits, instruction, and referrals. Screening must follow current care standards under certified provider supervision; SHOP small-business plans are excluded from the group screening requirement. Qualifying group coverage must also cover voluntary, evidence-based home visits for women who otherwise do not qualify, through 12 months after birth, including instruction, referrals, and materials from qualified maternal and pediatric health professionals.
Young children gain trauma treatment support
The health department must create prevention, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment services for qualifying children from birth through age six. Children must have adverse childhood experiences and severe emotional disturbances, with needs beyond child care, education, and developmental services alone. The program also serves their families and increases Medicaid reimbursement for early-childhood mental health care. It supports provider credentials, pay or reimbursement incentives, training, and professional development. Within one year of the provision taking effect, the department must develop and begin a five-year child-parent psychotherapy capacity plan.
Adults gain high school completion options
Beginning January 1, 2025, the state board must establish and promote adult high school diploma or equivalent programs. Programs serve adult legal residents and students age 16 or older who qualify to enroll in New Hampshire public schools. When a student's district receives state adequacy funds for that student, the district pays tuition. The program and district must agree on the tuition amount.
Eligible fire director keeps pension membership
Eligible fire service personnel serving as Division of Fire Safety director can keep Group II retirement membership during that service. They need 10 years of fire service experience and must meet applicable prior membership or fire service qualifications. Covered hazardous-materials, firefighting, and rescue technical personnel must also meet required entrance and certification standards.
Fewer training hours for cosmetology applicants
Cosmetology applicants need 1,200 training hours at a board-approved school, down from 1,500. This cuts the training requirement by 300 hours.
Higher daily pay for labor board
Public employee labor relations board members receive $250 for each day spent on board duties, up from $50. Necessary expenses continue to be paid.
Public worker pensions define ten-year vesting
The law defines a vested New Hampshire retirement system member as someone eligible for a benefit after 10 years of service. This provision does not set the benefit amount or state a previous service threshold.
Public workers gain pension calculation protections
After three years of service, retirement system members' earnable compensation and average final compensation calculations cannot be reduced. These calculations help determine pension benefits. The law also removes the listed annual compensation cap for permanent firefighters and police officers first eligible for membership on or after July 1, 1996.
Transition help for affected state workers
Beginning June 30, 2025, state workers laid off because 2025 HB 1 or HB 2 leaves their positions unfunded or abolished get hiring help. They receive a waiver under Executive Order 2025-02 and priority consideration for open state jobs they qualify for. Separately, the law provides $160,000 for the year ending June 30, 2025, for transitioning temporary classified employees at Hampstead Hospital and Residential Treatment Facility. That money pays specified accrued leave and applicable bonuses or retention payments, prorated to time in state service. The Hampstead funding remains available beyond year-end and can only serve those purposes.
Temporary relief for unpaid state taxes
The law provides amnesty for Revenue Administration taxes due but unpaid on or before June 30, 2025. Taxpayers must report and fully pay the tax between December 1, 2025, and February 15, 2026. Qualifying taxpayers avoid penalties and pay only 50% of the applicable interest. The commissioner may consider failure to use amnesty when reviewing later requests to reduce interest or penalties.
Child care employers gain conditional workforce grants
The law sets aside $7.5 million in federal TANF reserves for each year ending June 30, 2026, and June 30, 2027. The grants support child care recruitment and retention bonuses, benefits, and listed workforce costs, subject to federal approval. New Hampshire programs must have an active license, or be license-exempt and enrolled in the state child care scholarship program. If requests exceed funding, preference goes to scholarship-enrolled programs connected to their regional early childhood network. The department must seek federal approval and a waiver if one is necessary and available; individual awards are not guaranteed.
Developmental services pilot stops at twenty
For the pilot period ending June 30, 2025, the developmental services pilot has a 20-person limit. Once it reaches that limit, the health department cannot serve additional eligible people with remaining pilot money. Unused funds do not create more places.
Granite Advantage members face monthly premiums
The law directs the state to seek federal changes needed to charge Granite Advantage premiums. For the budget period ending June 30, 2027, the schedule covers participants with income at or above 100% of poverty. Monthly household premiums are $60 for one person, $80 for two, $90 for three, and $100 for four or more. Amounts do not vary with income; federal limits apply, and the health department must develop hardship criteria. The commissioner must adopt premium rules beginning in fiscal year 2028.
Medicaid reviews restore earlier income checks
The health department must let specified pandemic-era Medicaid income-verification waivers expire effective June 30, 2025. Earlier income-check standards apply during eligibility reviews for the two-year budget period ending June 30, 2027.
Higher fees for shoreline project applicants
Covered shoreline structure, repair, reconfiguration, minimum-impact, and qualifying restoration applications cost $600, up from $400. Permanent dock fees rise from $4 to $6 per square foot; seasonal dock fees rise from $2 to $3. Dredge, fill, and other covered project fees rise from $0.40 to $0.60 per square foot. The minimum for projects affecting less than 600 square feet rises from $400 to $600. Voluntary registration of an existing dock costs $300, up from $200.
New state loan repayment enrollment pauses
For the two-year budget period ending June 30, 2027, the health department cannot use general funds for new state loan repayment participants. The department can keep funding agreements for people enrolled before the restriction took effect. This is a limit on general-fund spending, not a ban on every possible funding source.
Returning public retirees face benefit limits
New Hampshire retirement system retirees who return to active service remain eligible only for benefits tied to their initial retirement. Returning to work does not change their average final compensation calculation or other retirement benefits.
Some public workers lose pensionable pay
For Group I retirement members, extra-duty and special-duty pay no longer count in the listed compensation for retirement calculations. This applies to members vested before January 1, 2012, and those not vested before that date. The exclusion can lower the pay used to calculate retirement benefits.
Parents gain appointment leave, without guaranteed pay
Beginning January 1, 2026, employers with at least 20 workers must allow up to 25 hours of qualifying appointment leave. It covers the employee's childbirth or postpartum visits and the child's pediatric visits during the first year after birth or adoption. The leave is unpaid unless the employee uses accrued vacation or other suitable paid leave. Parents with the same employer share the 25-hour limit. Employees must give reasonable notice and try to avoid undue disruption; employers may request proof of the leave's purpose.
State layoffs get dates and funding
The law sets separation rules for executive-branch classified employees whose positions were unfunded or repealed by the 2025 budget laws. It covers employees who cannot be reassigned, but excludes health department positions. Notices could not precede June 26, 2025; the last workday was July 10, with payment scheduled for July 25. The law reserved $400,000 for pay and $250,000 for benefits. Unused money transfers to the revenue stabilization reserve account by September 30, 2025.
County billing caps rise through 2027
The law raises the county billing cap by 3% in each year of the biennium ending June 30, 2027. Total billings cannot exceed about $135.805 million in state fiscal year 2026 and $139.879 million in 2027. These caps govern county obligations, not individual household bills.
State seeks to end emissions testing
The law requires the environmental department to seek removal of vehicle emissions-testing requirements. It sets January 1, 2026, as the deadline to submit state air-quality plan changes. Related inspection rules begin only after federal approval and state commissioner certification.
Drivers face narrower rust inspection failures
Rust causes inspection failure only for listed body, panel, or structural problems. These include exhaust entering passenger or cargo areas and frame damage that weakens the vehicle. Listed panel problems include missing or insecure panels, improper latches or height, and materials that fail manufacturer specifications. An automatic-transmission vehicle fails the parking check only if it rolls or moves while in park on a grade.
Drivers get longer vehicle inspection windows
Vehicle owners generally get 30 days after registration or ownership transfer to obtain an inspection, up from 10. New vehicles bought at retail from licensed dealers get 30 days instead of 20. The law extends the missed-inspection charging window from 10 to 30 days and gives other expired inspections a 30-day grace period. Used vehicles with dealer-issued 20-day plates need inspection when the plate is attached, unless a valid dealer inspection sticker exists. With that sticker, inspection is due within 30 days or before the sticker expires, whichever comes first.
Drivers get narrower light inspection rules
Headlamps and required turn signals fail inspection only for listed defects involving operation, specifications, color, mounting, obstruction, water, or light output. Headlamps also fail for improper aim, but aim is checked only when beams look misaligned. Turn signals can fail for damage emitting white light or an LED lamp that is more than 25% inoperable. Tape or a similar seal is an accepted repair when it prevents the specified water buildup. Beginning January 1, 2027, a nonworking auxiliary light cannot alone cause failure, except as provided by RSA 266:31.
Drivers get narrower tire and mirror checks
Beginning January 1, 2027, tires fail only for listed structural, tread, or tire-combination problems, using the required measurement rules. The 4/32-inch front-axle tread standard applies to vehicles weighing over 10,000 pounds; compatible U.S. and metric tire sizes are allowed. Wheels fail only for loose, missing, or cracked bolts, nuts, studs, or lugs. A cracked exterior mirror passes if it still gives an unobstructed rear view. A cracked interior mirror cannot cause failure when exterior mirrors are installed on both sides.
Backup funding for youth residential care
For the year ending June 30, 2027, the commissioner may seek extra money for youth residential placements. The child and family services and system of care accounts must lack enough money. Prior legislative Fiscal Committee authorization is required. The governor may then draw the authorized amount from otherwise unappropriated treasury money; no amount is set.
Nursing home allowances get yearly updates
The commissioner must update nursing home residents' personal needs allowance every year to reflect Social Security cost-of-living increases. The former schedule required updates every five years. The law does not state a new allowance amount.
Optional treatment copay relief for new parents
Beginning January 1, 2026, group health plans may waive copays for covered mental health and substance use treatment. This applies during pregnancy and within 12 months after birth, pregnancy loss, or giving up an infant for adoption. It also covers biological, adoptive, and foster parents within 12 months of taking custody of a child. High-deductible plans apply the waiver after the annual minimum deductible, except for preventive care. Waivers are optional, and tobacco-related treatment is excluded.
Standing orders expand medicine and test access
State standing orders can cover certain Medicaid-covered over-the-counter medicines, medical supplies, and lab tests. The chief medical officer must find the order medically needed and cost-effective, and review it yearly. The order must also let people outside Medicaid get the listed items. Access does not guarantee payment: insurers only have to pay when their coverage terms require it.
New permit pathway for smaller projects
By January 1, 2026, Environmental Services must adopt rules for a terrain-alteration permit-by-notification pathway. Project plans must cover less than 150,000 square feet and must not be subject to RSA 483-B:9. The provision does not set the pathway's detailed requirements or fees.
Beauty apprentices face fewer application requirements
The law removes a Social Security number requirement for barbering, cosmetology, manicuring, and esthetics apprentice certificates. Applicants no longer need to provide that number under the repealed rule.
Injured workers get faster ordered benefits
Ordered workers' compensation benefits must start or resume as soon as possible, within five working days after the decision is issued. This applies when the commissioner or compensation appeals board orders weekly payments, medical benefits, or vocational benefits. The deadline replaces timing tied to the decision's effective date.
Public labor board members earn more
Public Employee Labor Relations Board members receive $250 for each day actually spent on board duties, up from $50. They also continue to receive payment for necessary expenses.
Trust fund holds workers' unpaid wages
The law creates a treasury fund to receive and distribute wages handled under the state's unpaid-wage law. The commissioner manages the fund. Its money is held in trust, not treated as state money or property. The law sets no new wage amount or payment schedule.
Child care providers get advance payments
By December 2025, the health department must pay child care scholarship providers in advance or at each payment period's start. If care starts mid-period, the department can delay the first payment until the next period. The department must also remove hourly attendance reporting when it is unnecessary to administer scholarship payments.
Aging commission gets dedicated operating money
The law creates a separate Commission on Aging Fund that can receive gifts, grants, and donations. It receives $150,000 for each year ending June 30, 2026, and June 30, 2027. That state money is restricted to the executive director and commission activities. The fund covers compensation, expenses, and overhead, and unspent money stays in the fund.
Arts agencies gain dedicated donation fund
The law creates the Granite Patron of the Arts Fund for gifts, grants, federal money, and donations. It supports the Division of the Arts and state Council on the Arts. Money is continuously available for agency operations, employees, implementation, and initiatives, and does not lapse to the general fund.
Attorney general can enforce lobbying laws
The attorney general may investigate and prosecute lobbying-law violations, in addition to election-law violations. The office may act after receiving a signed written complaint or start a case on its own.
Child Advocate can seek staffing funds
The Office of the Child Advocate may request additional staffing money. The fiscal committee must approve before the governor and council can authorize funding. Money may come from otherwise unappropriated treasury funds, but no amount is guaranteed.
Direct invoice review for appointed lawyers
Administrative judges may send appointed lawyers' invoices directly to the Judicial Council for review and payment. The invoices must fall within Supreme Court fee limits. The council's executive director may still require a judge to review a particular invoice.
Fish and Game monitors conservation land
Beginning January 1, 2025, Fish and Game must monitor property acquired through the former land conservation investment program. It acts for the council, follows the governing monitoring rules, and uses the monitoring endowment to pay costs. Its executive director can monitor other state-held conservation interests only with council approval. The office handling statewide outdoor recreation planning and national flood insurance no longer administers the former land program.
Justice Department assigns rights enforcement units
The Justice Department's legal counsel division has units for civil rights, charitable trusts, and election law. The civil rights unit enforces named state civil rights and anti-discrimination laws. The election-law unit enforces state election laws and the Uniform Law on Notarial Acts.
Northern border patrols receive state funding
Effective January 1, 2025, the law provides $600,000 for Northern Border Alliance activities for the year ending June 30, 2026. The money supports patrol overtime, training, equipment, and grants for county and local law-enforcement overtime. Unspent money remains available after the budget year ends.
Off-road trail grants cover up to 80%
The Bureau of Trails may cover up to 80% of eligible off-road vehicle trail costs. Eligible costs include required equipment rentals, maintenance equipment purchases, grading equipment reconditioning, and summer grading. Trails may be on private, municipal, state, or federal land. The grant periods are June 1, 2025–May 31, 2026, and June 1, 2026–June 30, 2027.
Public records ombudsman receives set compensation
The right-to-know ombudsman receives $200 per biweekly payroll cycle for qualifying work outside scheduled sessions. The law also pays $400 per office-work day and $50 per hour drafting final decisions. Travel, professional development, and other business expenses may be reimbursed.
Youth center settlement fund gets money
The law provides $20 million to the Youth Development Center settlement fund for the year ending June 30, 2026. It does not set individual claimants' payments.
Insurers must disclose mental health comparisons
Health insurers, health service corporations, and health maintenance organizations must report detailed comparisons of mental-health, substance-use, and medical-surgical benefits. Reports cover services, coverage guidelines, denials, complaints, network capacity, provider qualifications, and restrictions. Age data must include children ages 0–5 and those 18 and younger. The information must be public to the extent state and federal law allow.
Dedicated fund supports 988 crisis care
The law creates a separate 988 trust fund whose money remains available and is continuously authorized for spending. It supports hotline operations, mobile and acute crisis response, stabilization, promotion, data, and oversight. Money can pay only costs not covered by insurance, government programs, or other listed funding. Surcharge money is limited to hotline equipment, communications, and direct staff costs for taking and routing calls.
Funding strengthens maternal emergency and consultation care
The safety department receives $75,000 for rural maternal emergency medical services in each year ending June 30, 2026, and 2027. Beginning July 1, 2027, the health department receives $275,000 for the year ending June 30, 2028. That money supports a psychiatric consultation line for providers caring for patients during pregnancy and around childbirth. These funds support services, not direct household payments.
Health department call center receives funding
The health department receives $3.825 million for a tier-one call center through June 30, 2027. It may accept and spend matching federal funds without prior fiscal committee approval. The provision does not describe the center's services.
Health professionals gain standing order protection
Health professionals gain protection from civil lawsuits, criminal liability, and professional discipline for authorized standing-order actions and resulting outcomes. The protection covers issuing, dispensing, or distributing items. Professionals must act in good faith and use reasonable care.
Higher payments for children's disability care
Facilities providing intermediate care for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities receive higher payment rates. The law provides $70,105 for a 2% increase in the year ending June 30, 2026. It provides $141,613 for an additional 2% increase in the year ending June 30, 2027. These payments go to facilities, not directly to families.
More support for childhood trauma treatment
The health department receives $150,000 in each year ending June 30, 2026, and June 30, 2027. The money supports prevention and treatment of adverse childhood experiences. It also supports continued training for child-parent psychotherapy providers.
More support for food benefit access
The law provides $105,000 through June 30, 2027, for two health department positions supporting food benefit access. They support Summer EBT participation and simpler SNAP applications for older adults. The WIC farmers' market nutrition program receives $15,000 in each year ending June 30, 2026, and June 30, 2027. The department may accept matching federal funds for both efforts without prior Fiscal Committee approval. These appropriations do not set new individual benefit amounts.
Phone companies must help locate callers
Phone providers and prepaid mobile sellers must make reasonable, good-faith efforts to help locate emergency 988 callers. They must provide timely, reasonable help when doing so is lawful. The law protects them from damages tied to that lawful help.
Rural medical training gains required partnership
The health department must amend its contract with Bi-State Primary Care Association's Recruitment Center. The contract must require collaboration with a family medicine residency at a rural New Hampshire teaching health center. The partnership supports training family medicine residents in the North Country. The teaching health center program must be nationally accredited or eligible for that accreditation.
Rural medical training receives state funding
The law provides $500,000 for rural residency training for the year ending June 30, 2027. The public health division's training effort requires collaboration with a family medicine residency program. The appropriation does not set individual resident payments.
State planning adds gambling harm prevention
The state's substance misuse commission must include problem gambling and other drugs in its planning and advice. Treatment planning includes reducing harm to individuals and society. The commission must update a statewide prevention plan and report on prevention, treatment, recovery, and related spending. Its budget task force must review statewide spending and recommend funding priorities.
State studies independent birth center barriers
Health and Human Services receives $30,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026 to study independent birth center sustainability. The study must identify barriers and ways to reduce burdens. Findings and recommendations, including needed law or rule changes, are due by June 30, 2026. The study itself does not change coverage, prices, or eligibility.
Public land supports workforce housing development
Beginning June 30, 2025, planning boards may designate select-board-recommended property for housing and send descriptions to the state. The state must publish a list of suitable municipal and county properties available for housing grants or loans. The Partners in Housing Program supports developers receiving municipal or county land for housing, subject to available funding. At least 20% of units must stay affordable for at least 20 years; listed properties receive funding priority. Program rules are due by December 1, 2026; these provisions set no funding amount.
Towns gain tools for housing development
Beginning June 30, 2025, town voters may authorize select boards to lease municipal property for up to five years. That authority lasts until withdrawn; withdrawing it does not end existing leases. Towns may identify select-board-managed land for a public housing-development list, excluding land acquired by tax deed. Local officials may authorize faster review after planning-board submission to the state planning office; listed, solely workforce-housing projects have another route where minor site-plan review is authorized. Municipalities may also adopt pattern zoning for homes on vacant lots between developed lots; these local options are not mandatory.
More funding for student learning programs
Effective January 1, 2025, the law funds two education efforts from the education trust fund. Approved adult education programs receive $400,000 in each year ending June 30, 2026, and June 30, 2027. Each program's share follows the credits it awarded high school students served in the year ending June 30, 2025. The education department also receives $1.5 million in each of those two budget years. That money must provide learning platforms with high-quality materials across subjects for kindergarten through grade 12.
Agencies can seek conditional funding restoration
Agencies facing specified fiscal year 2027 general-fund cuts may seek restored funding, capped at amounts in the 2025 budget laws. Audited fiscal year 2026 combined general and education trust fund revenues must exceed the combined plan. Actual statewide general-fund unspent money must also meet or exceed the final budget estimate. With prior Fiscal Committee approval, agencies may ask the governor and council to authorize otherwise unappropriated treasury money.
Bridges House gains ongoing upkeep funding
The governor can accept public funds, gifts, grants, donations, and other money for the Bridges House special account. Money remains available across budget years and is continually available to the Department of Administrative Services. It can pay for care, maintenance, repairs, additions, and other relevant purposes approved by the advisory board.
State decisions must weigh Coos jobs
State commissioners must consider and seek to avoid regional harm from covered decisions affecting Coos County's place-based economy. Covered decisions could cause a downturn, affect private-sector jobs or development, and reduce local and state revenues. Residential matters and unrelated regulatory permits are excluded. When negative impacts cannot be avoided, commissioners must explain the decision to the county and develop measures to reduce harm.
State must seek youth property upkeep
Administrative Services must request money to maintain the former Sununu Youth Services Center until the state relinquishes the property. Funding requires approval from the fiscal committee, governor, and executive council. Approved money comes from funds not otherwise appropriated; no amount is set.
State surplus operations need smaller reserves
The state surplus distribution section must hold three months of operating costs in reserve, down from six months. Its administrative assessments fund carries money forward and has ongoing spending authority. This changes state fund management, not household payments.
State tourism programs gain funding floor
Beginning July 1, 2027, the state travel and tourism division has a minimum funding requirement. It receives at least 3.15% of the combined revenue identified in the law, using the most recently completed fiscal year. This includes the travel and tourism development fund. The law sets no fixed dollar amount.
Transportation partnership money stays available longer
Public-private partnership proceeds intended for the transportation department must be credited to that department. The money remains available across budget years without a new appropriation. Spending must follow the approved partnership agreement.
Youth center sale funds settlement claims
The state must seek a buyer for the entire Sununu Youth Services Center property in Manchester. It must offer the property for at least market value, and the governor and council must approve the sale. All sale proceeds go to the youth development center claims and administration settlement fund.
Funding targets Medicaid long-term care delays
The health department receives $3 million through June 30, 2027, to address delayed Medicaid long-term care eligibility decisions. A contractor must help reduce the backlog and develop a better processing plan. Competitive bidding must begin by September 30, 2025, and work must start by December 31, 2025. The plan is due June 30, 2026. Hiring requires approval from the Governor and Executive Council; the law guarantees no individual processing deadline.
Hampstead hospital revenue stays with campus
Hampstead Hospital lease and administrative revenue must enter a fund for campus investment, maintenance, and upkeep. All such revenue for the two-year period ending June 30, 2027 goes into the fund. Specified transfer, purchase, lease, and transition-agreement revenue collected for the period ending June 30, 2025 also goes there. The money remains available without expiring and cannot be transferred or spent elsewhere. Health and Human Services must report the total to the Fiscal Committee if 2025–2027 revenue exceeds $3 million.
More support for Medicaid care management
Medicaid care management funds from the budget period ending June 30, 2025, remain available through June 30, 2027. Those funds can only pay for Medicaid care management. Beginning July 1, 2025, the health department must set case management rates annually by October 1. Rates must reflect average service costs and consider fair payments, efficiency, quality, and access. The law provides $2.3 million for fair rates in the year ending June 30, 2027, and allows both programs to accept federal funds without prior Fiscal Committee approval.
Housing grants last longer, cover land inventories
Beginning June 30, 2025, the Housing Champion fund can also pay to compile town- and county-owned properties suited for housing. The fund remains continuously available, and its balance does not expire at year-end. Separately, the existing $5 million appropriation stays available through June 30, 2026, instead of expiring June 30, 2025. This extends existing funding rather than adding another $5 million.
Education fund can cover more services
The education trust fund can pay for specified special education and education services linked to an episode of treatment. It can also fund leased-space grants for approved public charter schools and public school infrastructure grants. Authorized education department operating costs are another allowed use. The law does not provide a new funding amount in this provision.
Funding supports computer science teaching
The law provides $500,000 to help certified educators pursue eligible industry-recognized computer science credentials. It also provides $2.741871 million to encourage credentialed people to teach computer science or related courses in approved programs. Another $455,000 supports robotics in grades 6–12, including kits, fabrication sites, and teacher training and support. These appropriations remained available through June 30, 2025. The law does not set individual teacher payments.
More school aid for lower-wealth towns
Beginning July 1, 2026, fiscal capacity disparity aid supports towns with lower assessed property wealth per pupil. Towns at or below $1 million in equalized property value per pupil get $1,250 per eligible free- or reduced-price-meal pupil. From $1,000,001 through $1,599,999, the grant equals $0.00208333 per dollar below $1,599,999 for each eligible pupil. Towns at $1.6 million or more receive no grant. Beginning July 1, 2027, the valuation thresholds and maximum grant rise 2% annually, with the formula adjusted.
School aid grows two percent yearly
Beginning July 1, 2026, the Education Department increases specified per-pupil adequate-education amounts and additional charter-school grants by 2% each year. Each adjusted amount is rounded up to the nearest whole dollar. The law sets no end date for these increases.
School districts gain special education guarantee
Districts qualify for special education aid when a pupil's costs exceed 3.5 times the latest state average per-pupil spending. The calculation uses the preceding school year. If appropriations fall short, the education department prorates aid but must pay each district at least 80% of its entitlement. Districts cannot receive this aid for a child already covered by emergency assistance funds.
School project funding needs fewer approvals
The Public School Infrastructure Commission can authorize education department spending on eligible school infrastructure purposes without fiscal committee approval. Projects must serve a purpose listed in RSA 198:15-y, III, and still need the commission's authorization. The law sets no funding amount.
State backs funding for special education
The law provides the amount needed for state special education aid from the education trust fund. The governor can authorize payments even when that fund lacks enough money. The state comptroller must transfer general funds to cover any resulting shortfall. No fixed dollar amount is stated.
Towns get school grant payment deadlines
The education department must finalize municipal grants by October 1; an estimate cannot fall below 95% of the earlier estimate. The April payment must bring the fiscal year's total to the final amount. After October 1, the department or a school district can petition for a change before January 15. The state board must vote to accept the petition by February 15. Petitions must name affected towns and amounts, with a school adequacy funding impact above $10,000 for at least one town.
Children's behavioral health association gets exemption
The New Hampshire Children's Behavioral Health Association is exempt from state and local fees and taxes, except real property taxes. This exemption applies to the association, not household tax bills.
State funds tax amnesty outreach
The revenue department receives $50,000 for the year ending June 30, 2026, to run tax amnesty outreach and administration. This pays for implementing the program, not direct taxpayer payments. The appropriation does not itself set taxpayer eligibility or savings.
Towns get property tax exemption reimbursements
The law creates the Elderly, Disabled, Blind, and Deaf Exemption Reimbursement Fund. It repays municipalities for revenue lost through the specified existing property tax exemptions. Fees collected under the video lottery law fund the reimbursements. The law sets no reimbursement amount and does not create a new household exemption.
Boat owners pay more for decals
Each boat fee decal covered by the law costs $12.50, up from $9.50. Revenue goes to the lake restoration and preservation fund.
Borrowing ability counts for appointed lawyers
Rules for appointed-lawyer eligibility must consider whether a defendant can borrow some or all of a private lawyer's cost. The assessment compares income and assets with the minimum cost of qualified private counsel. Protected property and income remain excluded, and necessary expenses for defendants and dependents count. The law removes the requirement to consider installment payments.
Children wait longer for appointed lawyers
Two sections of the 2024 law expanding access to court-appointed lawyers take effect August 1, 2028. The rest of that law takes effect July 1, 2027. Children covered by those two sections wait longer for expanded access.
Fee allowed for extended fine deadlines
The Supreme Court may set a fee when a court gives someone more time to pay a fine. The fee must be at least $25. It is due before or at the same time as the fine.
Freshwater anglers pay higher habitat fees
Beginning January 1, 2026, the freshwater fisheries habitat fee rises from $1 to $5 per applicable fishing or combination license. It applies to people age 16 or older who take fish in New Hampshire fresh waters. Specified complimentary-license holders remain exempt. Lifetime licenses purchased in an earlier calendar year are also exempt.
Higher registration fees for vehicle owners
The law raises prorated state registration fees, with amounts based on vehicle type and sometimes weight. Agricultural vehicles, tractors, and antique motorcycles cost $12; listed compressors, mixers, saw rigs, and log splitters cost $11. Vehicles weighing up to 3,000 pounds cost $42, or $3.50 per month. Truck-tractors over 73,280 pounds cost $1.58 per 100 pounds or portion of 100 pounds. Specified equipment towed exclusively within one city or town has no state registration fee.
Installment claimants face attorney fee interest
For Youth Development Center claims paid in installments, approved attorney fees must follow the same number of payment years. The fees are paid in equal installments. The remaining unpaid fee carries 5% annual interest, compounded each year.
State identification cards cost more
The nonrefundable state identification-card fee rises from $10 to $20. Cards needed solely for voter identification remain free with a voucher; the election fund covers issuing costs. Health-related exemptions remain available when an applicant turns in an unexpired driver's license. The age-related exemption also requires surrendering an unexpired license and applies only to people over age 65.
Temporary vehicle registrations cost twice more
A 20-day vehicle registration costs $20, up from $10. Eligible New Hampshire residents include those buying out of state or from another person, or facing limited town-clerk hours. Applicants must appear in person and sign the required inspection or registration statement under penalty of perjury. For the same vehicle, the law permits only one application and no more than three 20-day registrations within 12 months.
Unauthorized park-and-ride drop-offs risk removal bills
Effective January 1, 2025, the state may recover removal costs for equipment towed to and left at park-and-ride facilities without written approval. Covered items include vehicles and campers. The state may seek payment from the towing company, the owner, or both; charges are not automatic.
Users can pay conservation information fees
The commissioner can charge cost-recovery fees for Natural Heritage Bureau inventory and information services, publications, and reports. Fees go to the Bureau's fund to cover those costs and other purposes of the chapter. Protected-species screening and environmental review fees are excluded from this fee authority. The law does not set fee amounts.
Vehicle owners pay higher title fees
First, transferred, and duplicate vehicle titles cost $35, up from $25. Ordinary titles issued in exchange for a distinctive certificate cost $40, up from $20. Distinctive New Hampshire numbers cost $40, up from $30, and salvage decals cost $60, up from $50. Security-interest notices remain $20, assignments remain $2, and records searches remain $20.
Wildlife habitat licenses cost at least $5
Beginning January 1, 2026, a wildlife habitat license costs at least $5. The law does not state the previous fee or set an exact charge above that minimum.
Higher price cap for racing drawings
Horse or dog racing drawing tickets can cost up to $50 each, up from the former $30 cap. Sellers do not have to charge the maximum, and cannot charge above the new $50 ceiling.
Medicaid seeks higher prescription drug copays
The health department must file a Medicaid plan amendment by January 1, 2026, to raise prescription drug copays to $4. Federal limits on cost sharing and eligibility still apply. The filing deadline is not itself a guaranteed start date for the higher copay.
Phone charges support 988 crisis services
The state may charge up to 75 cents monthly per covered phone line with a New Hampshire connection. Each account can be charged for no more than 25 specified business, mobile, or internet phone lines or channels. Qualifying prepaid mobile sales carry a matching charge; sellers keep 3% of collections. Sellers may skip device bundles containing no more than 10 minutes or $5 of service at one non-itemized price. Sellers with fewer than 150 quarterly transactions and no collections can avoid remittance by certifying with records by the following month's 15th. Core surcharge provisions take effect May 2, 2028.
Higher fees for sewage system applicants
Applicants submitting covered sewage or waste disposal system plans or permit-by-rule applications pay a $450 review fee, up from $290. An additional septage fee rises from $10 to $25 per system. Together, these charges rise from $300 to $475 per system and are due when applicants submit their plans or applications. Review fees go to the water resources fund; septage fees support municipal handling and treatment grants and related work.
Lift owners pay higher certificate fees
Elevator and accessibility-lift owners, or their designees, pay $75 for an inspection certificate, up from $50. The unit must pass inspection first. The commissioner issues the certificate after receiving payment.
New fee for expedited driveway permits
The law sets a nonrefundable $120-per-unit fee for applicants choosing expedited driveway permitting. The money goes to the New Hampshire Highway Fund. This fee's application depends on SB 153 of the 2025 session becoming law.
Waterfront owners face new boathouse limits
Boathouses built after July 1, 2025, over covered public waters cannot exceed 18 feet or have a second floor. They also cannot store items unrelated to boat use. Existing boathouses cannot be made taller or gain floors. The rules cover natural ponds larger than 10 acres and tidal waters up to the mean-high-tide high-water mark.
Waste coordinators pay higher certification fees
Hazardous waste coordinators pay a nonrefundable annual certification fee of $225, up from $125. The fee accompanies an initial certification or renewal application.
Workers' compensation special fund ends
Beginning September 1, 2025, the law repeals the special fund for active workers' compensation cases. This provision does not identify a replacement fund. It does not specify a change to workers' compensation payments, medical benefits, or vocational benefits.
Higher fees for property tax challenges
Covered Tax and Land Appeals Board applications and appeals cost $125 each, up from $65. These include current-use land reviews and land-use-change-tax abatements, qualifying farm-structure reviews and use-change-tax abatements, qualifying historic-building reviews, and betterment-assessment appeals. Complaints alleging fraudulent, improper, or illegal land classification cost $50 per parcel, up from $10. A landowner must file that complaint within 90 days after the parcel is listed under RSA 79-A:5, IV.
Tanning facilities face initial inspection rules
State tanning-device standards must address inspections when facilities apply for their first license. The provision does not set an inspection fee.
Agricultural businesses face minimum product fees
Covered pesticide registrations carry an annual fee of at least $220 per product, with the exact fee set by rule. Fertilizer distributed to nonregistrants carries an inspection fee of at least 37 cents per ton, with at least a $9 minimum. Sales or exchanges among importers, manufacturers, distributors, or registrants are exempt from the fertilizer fee. Companies obtaining a seed labeling license pay at least $94, with the fee set by rule.
Agricultural product sellers pay higher fees
Fertilizer registration rises from $75 to $128 per brand and grade; each must be registered before distribution in New Hampshire. Registration for each separately identified agricultural product rises from $50 to $100 and is also required before distribution. Annual growing-media registration and inspection rises from $50 to $96 per product. Agricultural product and growing-media fees support the agricultural products regulatory fund. Commercial feed registration rises from $75 to $120 per product, excludes customer-formula feed, and is refunded when registration is refused.
Businesses pay more for measuring devices
The law raises annual license fees for covered commercial weighing and measuring devices. Listed fees range from $35 for certain smaller scales, retail fuel dispensers, and length measures to $330 for vehicle scales. The charge depends on the device category and sometimes its size or type.
Farm product permits get minimum fees
Farm product permit fees must be at least $33 for maple products and $13 for other farm products. Actual fees may be higher. The provision does not state prior fees.
Inspection stations face electronic reporting changes
The director can require vehicle inspection stations to submit inspection data electronically. Motorcycle-only, fleet, municipal, and county stations can instead use a department-prescribed schedule and form. The law removes the electronic-transfer exemption for vehicles from model year 1995 or earlier.
Measuring device service agencies pay annually
Covered service agencies pay a $250 annual registration fee to the weights and measures division. The fee applies to agencies employing registered technicians who service commercial weighing or measuring devices.
More personal care locations need licensing
Shop licensing and supervision rules cover barbershops, mobile barbershops, salons, and other New Hampshire locations offering barbering, cosmetology, or esthetics. The broader definition brings these service locations within shop-related requirements. The law does not state a new customer charge or fee amount.
Pesticide businesses pay higher licensing fees
Annual commercial pesticide applicator registration rises from $20 to $60; nonprofit and government entities remain exempt. Annual pesticide dealer licenses also rise from $20 to $60. Dealer renewals received after December 31 still carry a $10 late fee. Applicator exams and retests rise from $5 to $15 for each requested category or commodity group. Initial and repeat dealer exams also rise from $5 to $15 each.
Salons and barbershops face licensing rules
Salons, barbershops, and mobile barbershops need a shop license before opening or operating. Applicants must meet board rules, including passing an inspection. The board can discipline the shop license for violations or professional conduct. It can also discipline licensed managers and workers at the shop.
Medicaid rate filings limited each year
During the two-year period ending June 30, 2027, Health and Human Services may complete only one Medicaid rate filing per state fiscal year. The limit applies to filings with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It does not set a specific provider rate or patient payment.
Agencies can pay retirement-related penalties
After appeals end, state agencies can use existing budget funds to pay retirement-system or IRS penalties, fines, interest, and costs. The charges must relate to employer payments, reporting, or audits. Administrative Services must get Justice Department concurrence before processing payment. The law provides no new appropriation amount.
Counties pay set medical examiner rates
The medical examiner's office bills counties $50 for telephone consultations and $100 for pre-cremation examinations. Death investigations involving an external body examination cost $200 plus mileage at the state rate. Counties receive monthly bills for services and associated body transportation.
Dam owners face higher filing fees
Annual dam registration costs $800 for low-hazard, $1,500 for significant-hazard, and $3,000 for high-hazard dams. A federal energy commission classification controls when it differs from the state classification. State-classified non-menace dams remain exempt while keeping that status. Preliminary filing fees are $4,000 for non-hazard, $6,000 for low-hazard, and $8,000 for significant- or high-hazard dams.
Higher hazardous waste and oil fees
Beginning July 1, 2025, generators producing less than 220 pounds of hazardous waste monthly pay $140 annually, up from $90. This nonrefundable fee is due with the required self-certification declaration and supports that program. Generators producing at least 660 pounds of unrecycled hazardous waste in three months pay $0.12 per pound quarterly, up from $0.06. The $100 quarterly minimum remains. Licensed automotive oil importers pay $0.05 per gallon, up from $0.02, into the hazardous waste cleanup fund.
Late crisis surcharge collectors face penalties
Collectors with 988 surcharge receipts more than 90 days overdue face a possible penalty of up to $1,000. The commissioner may also charge 18% annual interest. Penalty and interest money goes into the 988 trust fund. These charges apply to surcharge collectors, not directly to households.
New major waste capacity approvals pause
Until July 1, 2026, the environmental department cannot approve permits authorizing new capacity at major solid waste disposal facilities. It can accept applications and check completeness, but cannot further evaluate or process complete applications during the pause. Landfill expansion and remedial landfill expansion applications are exempt.
Waste facility owners face added costs
Landfill owners with existing per-ton host-town payment agreements must raise those payments at least 25% for waste received in approved expansions. Major waste facility certificate applicants must also pay committee costs for technical, legal, or administrative help from the environmental department. Committee filing fees support its operations and part of the administrator's salary. The law does not specify household charges.
Higher health licensing and application fees
Annual hospital, nursing home, and certain residential facility fees rise from $25 to $38 per licensed bed. Covered outpatient clinic fees rise from $500 to $758. Laboratory fees rise from $150 to $228 annually per licensed testing category. The health department must also raise listed rule-based fees by at least inflation since their last adjustment. These include health and radiation licenses, food and shellfish fees, manufacturing registrations, laboratory samples, and therapeutic cannabis patient applications.
Hospitals face Medicaid funding suspensions
The health department must seek federal approval to suspend Medicaid payments for direct and indirect graduate medical education. That suspension starts only after federal approval and the plan amendment's effective date. The department must also submit a Medicaid plan amendment to stop all catastrophic aid payments to hospitals. Both suspensions apply to the two-year budget period ending June 30, 2027. These changes target hospital funding, not stated Medicaid eligibility or individual benefits.
Nursing homes pay annual bed fees
For the biennium ending June 30, 2027, nursing homes pay an annual licensing fee of $85 per licensed bed. Of each fee, $60 goes to the general fund and $25 goes to the specified nursing home account. This is a facility fee, not a fee the law charges directly to residents.
Property-taking cases carry higher filing fees
The party bringing a condemnation case before the Board of Tax and Land Appeals pays $250, up from $100. Condemnation is the legal process for taking property. Collected fees go to the state general fund, not to the property owner.
Unused scholarship money moves from fund
The law requires all uncommitted Governor's Scholarship Fund money to move to the general fund on July 1, 2025. The transfer does not include money already committed. The law states neither the transfer amount nor its effect on individual scholarship awards.
Smaller business-tax share for education fund
Each fiscal year, 35.5% of business profits tax and business enterprise tax revenue goes to the education trust fund. That is down from 41% for each tax. These changes affect where revenue goes, not tax rates or taxpayers' bills.
Court surcharge ends; card charges allowed
People filing civil cases no longer pay the former $25 filing surcharge. Court fees, surcharges, and fines can be paid by credit card instead of cash. The Supreme Court can set service charges for credit cards, debit cards, and other electronic payments.
Drivers face horn and visibility standards
Beginning January 1, 2027, vehicles fail inspection if their horn is loose, broken, or inaudible from 200 feet in normal conditions. Vehicles made after January 1, 1968 need windshield wipers with at least two distinct speeds. Vehicles made after January 1, 1947 need a working defroster that melts windshield snow and ice. These safety standards can require repairs before a vehicle passes inspection.
Drivers face revised windshield inspection standards
Beginning January 1, 2027, vehicles made or assembled on or after January 1, 1936 must use safety glass wherever glass appears. Vehicles without required safety glass fail inspection. This requirement excludes vehicles registered elsewhere by genuine residents of that state. Windshields fail only for intersecting cracks or at least two star breaks or bullseyes larger than 1.5 inches. Those defects count only within the defined critical viewing area.
Drivers get defined mechanical inspection standards
The law defines vehicle inspection failures, limiting fuel-system failures to leaks or improper connections. Steering and suspension failures require excessive looseness, damage affecting control, weakened structure, or repairs conflicting with manufacturer or industry standards. Vehicles built with starter safety switches fail for starting outside park or neutral, or without clutch engagement on manual transmissions. Passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses need a reverse gear that moves them backward under their own power. Listed brake failures include leaks, improper line repairs, loose or exposed linings or rivets, defective drums or rotors, and linings below 2/32 inch.
Drivers see changed inspection fee rules
Vehicle inspection stations must clearly post their inspection fee. They no longer must separately post the on-board diagnostic testing fee. The law also removes the rule excluding diagnostic testing or reporting costs for vehicles not subject to those requirements. This provision does not set inspection prices.
New cars follow revised inspection schedules
New vehicles with a certificate of origin need inspection at first registration, except commercial motor vehicles and school buses. Their next inspection is due by the owner's birth-month deadline occurring within 36 months of first registration. Covered vehicles owned by individuals generally follow an annual birth-month schedule. Stickers can last as long as registration, up to 16 months. Off-highway recreational vehicles, snowmobiles, mopeds, roadable aircraft, and other exempt vehicles are outside that annual schedule.
Medicaid sets generic and brand rules
Pharmacists generally must substitute an equivalent generic for prescriptions paid by the health department. A prescriber can require a brand-name drug when medically necessary. For Medicaid, pharmacists must dispense a brand-name drug when it appears on the state's preferred drug list. Fee-for-service Medicaid generally cannot require prior authorization for generics. An exception allows review when the Drug Utilization Review Board recommends it for clinical appropriateness and safety.
Workers' compensation records gain privacy protections
Workers' compensation claim proceedings and records at the Labor Department and compensation appeals board are exempt from the public-records law. Specified parties and agencies may still receive information. Release to anyone else requires the claimant's prior written permission.
Tax appeals expand, with court fees
People in unincorporated towns or unorganized places who meet state property-reporting requirements can seek a tax reduction. They must apply to the commissioners by March 1 following the tax notice; denial or inaction permits a tax-board appeal. An appeal can move to superior court in the county where the tax was assessed. Moving it requires a completed, processed board application, payment of the filing fee, and a request within 45 days after board filing. Each move to court costs an additional $200.
New oversight rules for beauty businesses
Barbering, cosmetology, manicuring, and esthetics shops and schools must have direct supervision and management by a licensed professional. Schools must meet board rules and pass an initial licensing inspection. Operators must keep schools compliant; violations can bring discipline, including against licensees working there. Sanitary inspections occur at initial licensure and every two years, unless the establishment has a qualifying certificate. An OSHA certificate of at least 10 hours, or an equivalent certificate, provides that exemption; investigative inspections remain allowed.
Child Advocate gains oversight and record access
The Child Advocate must advise the public and state leaders about improving children's services and keep outreach and advocacy nonpartisan. The office may investigate matters within its authority at the governor's or oversight commission's request. It gains access to specified records about children currently or formerly involved with child services, or receiving licensed residential treatment. Access to another child's records requires direct relevance to a case within the office's authority. All access remains subject to state and federal law.
Communities can vote to ban gambling
Beginning January 1, 2025, communities can vote to prohibit games of chance, blocking new operator-employer licenses with stated exceptions. City petitions need signatures from 5% of registered voters, and a prohibition needs a majority vote. Existing licensees and qualifying applicants who applied before the petition or hearing notice are generally exempt. Exceptions end after more than four years without operation, or when an approved applicant fails to start within six years. In unincorporated places, a county delegation can approve a ban by majority vote after a public hearing.
Keno expands, with local bans allowed
Beginning January 1, 2025, keno uses a local opt-out system instead of requiring towns and cities to approve sales. Towns and cities can ban keno by majority vote through the required local process. In cities, a ballot petition needs signatures from 5% of registered voters. Retailers can sell keno only where the municipality has not banned it. Licensed businesses can offer games throughout business hours, replacing the former 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. window.
Landfill expansions gain state-controlled approval
The Department of Environmental Services has sole authority to approve landfill expansions. Municipal ordinances, agreements, and other local restrictions cannot block the location of a state-approved expansion. Remedial landfill expansions automatically satisfy the requirements of RSA 149-M:11, III. Facilities designed to manage food waste under RSA 149-M:27, V(b) receive the same treatment.
Large waste facilities face added oversight
Covered facilities accepting over 100,000 tons yearly need a site committee certificate before construction or operation, plus required federal and state approvals. Exceptions cover specified food-waste facilities, recycling and landfill expansions, and facilities proposed by New Hampshire municipalities. Review weighs applicant capability, regional development, and public benefits against impacts; uncorrected violations can bring $5,000 daily fines after 15 days. Unauthorized construction, operation, or material certificate violations can bring $10,000 per violation or continuing day, enforcement costs, and specified criminal penalties. Revocation requires prior suspension, at least 90 days' written notice, and a hearing opportunity. Public members receive state-schedule pay except for initial meetings before application fees are accepted; agency reimbursement excludes members' first five full proceeding days.
Penalties cover water damage to railroads
Effective January 1, 2025, existing water-obstruction offenses also protect state-owned railroad corridors. The rule covers diverted stream, pond, or ditch water that damages a corridor or makes it unsuitable for railroad travel. Existing violation or misdemeanor penalties apply.
Permit applicants get species review deadlines
The environmental department must finish covered permit-related species reviews within 60 days after receiving all required information. Applicants can agree in writing to extensions; time spent answering necessary information requests does not count. Missing the deadline means the action is deemed not to appreciably jeopardize threatened or endangered species. The department must set review rules and fees, with fees going to the water resources fund.
Some magistrates continue without bail powers
Beginning September 21, 2025, qualifying magistrates appointed before January 31, 2025 may continue their previously authorized duties. They cannot hold bail hearings or decide bail. Authority ends when their qualifying term or court employment ends, whichever comes first. It ends in all cases by January 1, 2030.
Some residents get revised court assignments
Effective January 1, 2025, the law revises some judicial districts and court locations. Candia and Dover district courts are located in their respective towns. The Henniker-Hillsborough court is in Hillsborough, and the Jaffrey-Peterborough court is in Jaffrey. The law also establishes Conway and Ossipee districts in Carroll County.
Species protection adds staffing and payments
The law creates an environmental scientist position to run a threatened and endangered species conservation program. State agencies must cooperate on native plant protection and avoid jeopardizing protected plants and exemplary natural communities when possible. Agencies needing an environmental review must consult the environmental department. The department must set rules for when covered permit impacts require species mitigation payments and how to calculate them. Fish and Game must set fund spending rules and an administrative fee; payment and fee amounts are not specified.
Species safeguards and environmental review fees
Within their authority, state agencies must take reasonable steps to avoid, reduce, and offset harm to protected species and designated critical habitat. This duty does not apply when federal law or regulations require the agency to address wildlife or habitat impacts. Environmental Services may charge at least $50 for protected-species database screenings and may charge for environmental reviews. Fees must cover database and review costs and go to the water resources fund; no review fee amount is set.
Health plans help fund children's care
The law creates a Children's Behavioral Health Association to assess specified health coverage entities for care-management-based behavioral health services. Assessments cover estimated non-federal service costs, operations, and reserves up to 10%, minus unused prior assessments and interest. Collections enter a continuously funded state account, and assessments count as medical benefit costs. The covered-life count includes qualifying New Hampshire residents under 19, excluding children whose services Medicaid pays for. Only one interim assessment is allowed yearly, payable in the calendar quarter beginning at least 30 days after establishment.
Law sets harm reduction service boundaries
The law defines harm reduction under several state health and drug laws. It recognizes direct work with people using alcohol or drugs to prevent overdose and infectious disease. Activities are limited to a statutory list, including overdose education, reversal medicine, substance test kits, syringe services, and care referrals. The approach must also balance these services with protecting society from alcohol or drug misuse.
Student records shift toward workforce information
Beginning January 1, 2025, the specified student information category becomes student workforce information and includes the employer's name. The law removes listed references to postsecondary information and the name of a college attended outside New Hampshire. This provision does not specify who can access or use the information.
Corrections gains flexibility with spending safeguards
Corrections can move specified staff-pay and benefit funds among accounting units, with reports due within 60 days after each quarter. Extra overtime funding above appropriated amounts and transfers from vacant positions require prior fiscal committee and governor-and-council approval. Division directors, the deputy warden, and deputy directors must qualify through education and experience, with salaries governed by state law. Prison industries can charge necessary permanent staffing and other production costs to its inventory account. Charges for its goods and services must cover account expenses.
Fish and Game gains funding flexibility
Fish and Game can hold fundraising raffles, with proceeds going to its gifts, donations, and raffles account. At fiscal year-end, its director may transfer fisheries habitat account balances above $750,000 to the fish and game fund. The same authority applies separately to game management account balances above $750,000. These transfers make money available to the broader fund instead of keeping it in the dedicated accounts.
Hampton Beach spending expands within limits
The Hampton Beach Master Plan Fund can cover more commission, commissioner, employee, operating, and initiative expenses. Its money remains available across budget years and is continually available for authorized spending. The commission's listed duties now depend on available funding. The law sets no funding amount.
Renewable funding limits and uses change
After offshore wind office costs, the Energy Department may use up to $1 million yearly for thermal and electrical renewable initiatives. This allocation excludes Class II money and cannot support residential solar; remaining eligible money goes to the general fund. Beginning July 1, 2027, revised rules allow remaining non-Class II money to support thermal, electrical, and offshore wind initiatives. Eligible uses then include the Office of Offshore Wind Industry Development and Energy Innovations; that provision states no funding amount. Class II money remains primarily for solar technologies in New Hampshire.
State can seek reserves for deficit
An official audit finding a fiscal year 2025 general fund operating deficit triggers a required notice from the comptroller. The comptroller must seek fiscal committee and governor approval to use revenue stabilization reserves to eliminate it. A transfer covers the deficit but uses reserve savings; it is not automatic, and no amount is set.
Uncommitted renewable money shifts to budget
Beginning July 1, 2025, the energy department must transfer uncommitted renewable energy fund money to the general fund. This adds general fund resources but removes that money from the renewable energy fund. The law does not specify the amount.
Unused Cannon Mountain tramway money returns
The law provided $18 million for Cannon Mountain tramway maintenance and operations for the year ending June 30, 2023. Any remaining money returned to the general fund on June 30, 2025.
Waste surcharge funds local recycling help
Beginning January 1, 2026, customers pay $3.50 per ton at covered New Hampshire landfills, incinerators, and waste-to-energy facilities, beyond tipping fees. Landfill cover materials are exempt, and facilities send collections quarterly to the solid waste management fund. Municipalities receive quarterly, tonnage-based payments to offset surcharge costs and support waste reduction and recycling. Municipalities, private entities, and businesses can receive matching grants for projects that significantly improve diversion and reduce disposal. Unpaid surcharges accrue interest after 30 days late; penalties can reach $1,000 per violation, with each late day separate.
Wildlife funds gain broader spending uses
At fiscal year-end, Fish and Game's executive director may move wildlife habitat account money above $750,000 into the fish and game fund. Pheasant license money may also pay for program management and operations, beyond buying or raising pheasants. That money remains available without expiring, and spending requires commission approval.
Youth facility funding gains strict limits
The secured treatment facility replacing Sununu Youth Services Center must maximize federal discretionary funding, including previously allocated but unspent money. Project funds cannot be diverted to other purposes. Available federal discretionary funds can support activities or infrastructure integrating the replacement facility with Hampstead Hospital. General funds can support that integration only with prior fiscal committee approval.
Charter funding tracks enrollment and credits
The first charter tuition payment equals 30% of the per-pupil amount times eligible pupils enrolled and present on day one. It is due within 15 days after receipt of the approved report; December and March payments use October 1 and February 1 counts. Part-year tuition is prorated daily; Virtual Learning Academy membership uses 12 completed half-credits per 1.0 membership, capped at 1.0 per full-time pupil. The academy's first three payments use year-end membership estimates; an optional May 1 payment can bring it to an estimated 90% of its adequacy funding. The department can reduce a charter school's December or March payment after an enrollment decline of at least 20% since day one.
Higher education fund temporarily loses revenue
During the two-year budget period ending June 30, 2027, $6 million annually in assessment proceeds goes to the general fund. That money does not go to the higher education endowment trust fund during that period. Beginning July 1, 2027, the trust fund receives annual assessments after administrative costs, without the $6 million deduction.
Schools must use state accounting standards
Effective January 1, 2025, the education and revenue departments must develop and maintain school accounting standards. School districts and chartered public schools must use those standards for financial reports.
Targeted school aid comes with caps
Beginning July 1, 2026, extraordinary need grants depend on town property value per pupil eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Towns at or below $1,697,933 receive $11,730 per eligible pupil; those at or above $7,003,973 receive nothing. Between $1,697,934 and $7,003,972, the per-pupil grant equals $0.00221069 times the gap between $7,003,972 and that property value. Grant thresholds and the maximum rise 2% annually beginning July 1, 2027, with the formula adjusted. For towns with at least 5,000 pupils in average daily resident enrollment, combined extraordinary need and fiscal capacity disparity aid cannot exceed $3,750 per enrolled pupil.
Education receives shares of two taxes
The education trust fund receives 35.5% of retail tobacco tax revenue and 35.5% of real property transfer tax revenue. The remaining revenue from each tax goes to the general fund. These allocation rules do not change tobacco tax rates or the tax owed when property is transferred.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Kenneth L Weyler
Republican • House
Cosponsors
Dan McGuire
Republican • House
Jess Edwards
Republican • House
Keith Erf
Republican • House
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
Actions Timeline
Without Objection, the Clerk is authorized to make technical and administrative corrections which are necessary to reflect the intent of the Senate, MA; 06/05/2025; SJ 15
7/8/2025SenateSigned by Governor Ayotte 06/27/2025; Chapter 141; 7/01/2025
6/30/2025HouseEnrolled Adopted, VV, (In recess 06/26/2025); SJ 18
6/27/2025SenateEnrolled (in recess of) 06/26/2025 HJ 18
6/27/2025HouseEnrolled Bill Amendment # 2025-2900e Adopted, VV, (In recess of 06/26/2025); SJ 18
6/27/2025SenateEnrolled Bill Amendment # 2025-2900e: AA VV (in recess of) 06/26/2025 HJ 18 P. 58
6/27/2025HouseConference Committee Report 2025-2871c: Adopted, RC 184-183 06/26/2025 HJ 18 P. 42
6/26/2025HouseRep. Sweeney moves Previous Question MA RC 193-173 06/26/2025 HJ 18 P. 40
6/26/2025HouseRemove from Table (Rep. Osborne): MA RC 185-180 06/26/2025 HJ 18 P. 38
6/26/2025HouseLay HB2 on Table (Rep. Osborne): MA VV 06/26/2025 HJ 18 P. 32
6/26/2025HouseConference Committee Report # 2025-2871c; RC 16Y-8N, Adopted; 06/26/2025; SJ 17
6/26/2025SenateConference Committee Report Filed, # 2025-2871c; 06/26/2025
6/19/2025SenateConferee Change: Rep. Edwards Replaces Rep.Wallner 06/19/2025 HJ 17 P. 26
6/19/2025HouseConferee Change: Rep. Edwards Replaces Rep.Mooney 06/13/2025 HJ 17 P. 23
6/19/2025HouseConference Committee Meeting: 06/19/2025 10:00 am LOB 210-211
6/19/2025HouseConferee Change; Senator Birdsell Replaces Senator Rosenwald; SJ 17
6/18/2025SenateConference Committee Meeting: 06/18/2025 10:00 am LOB 210-211
6/18/2025HouseConference Committee Meeting: 06/17/2025 10:00 am LOB 210-211
6/17/2025HouseConference Committee Meeting: 06/17/2025 10:00 am LOB 210-211
6/17/2025HouseConferee Change: Rep. Edwards Replaces Rep. Mooney 06/16/2025 HJ 17 P. 26
6/16/2025HouseConference Committee Meeting: 06/16/2025 10:00 am LOB 210-211
6/16/2025HousePresident Appoints Alternates: Senators Reardon; (In Recess 06/12/2025); SJ 17
6/13/2025SenateConference Committee Meeting: 06/13/2025 10:00 am LOB 210-211
6/13/2025HousePresident Appoints Alternates: Senators Lang; (In Recess 06/12/2025); SJ 17
6/12/2025SenateConferee Change: Rep. Mooney Replaces Rep. Edwards 06/12/2025 HJ 16 P. 173
6/12/2025House
Bill Text
As Amended
6/27/2025
Enrolled
6/27/2025
Introduced
3/3/2025
CHAPTERED FINAL VERSION
Version adopted by both bodies
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