# New Hampshire HB348: relative to eligibility for local assistance.

New Hampshire HB348, relative to eligibility for local assistance., is a 2025-2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Jennifer M Rhodes (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-05-28 (Signed by Governor Ayotte 05/22/2026; Chapter 81; eff.07/21/2026); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-17).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/NH-HB348-2025-2026
- As of: 2026-10-17
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: New Hampshire HB348
- State: New Hampshire
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: relative to eligibility for local assistance.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-01-08
- Last action: 2026-05-28, Signed by Governor Ayotte 05/22/2026; Chapter 81; eff.07/21/2026
- Sponsor: Jennifer M Rhodes (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 10
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 1 (190 yes, 157 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 4

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Emergency aid bridges local residency disputes: benefit, medium. Welfare officials must provide up to 6 days of temporary help when someone temporarily in town faces a basic-needs emergency. This includes time needed to obtain residency proof, apply to their town of origin, or coordinate with that town. If the assisting town starts a residency hearing, help must…
- Residency protections for local aid applicants: benefit, medium. These changes take effect 60 days after passage. When towns require residency proof for general assistance, they must accept qualifying address documents dated within the past 60 days. Examples include a lease, vehicle registration, utility bill, or government or court document matching the applica…
- Local aid standards reflect household costs: mixed, medium. Towns and cities must adopt written general assistance guidelines covering applications, eligibility, appeals, and residency disputes. Basic-cost standards must reflect household size and local market costs, using objective public, provider, or government cost information. Towns must review these s…
- Towns share aid costs through reimbursement: mixed, low. The applicant's town of residence generally bears local assistance costs, subject to statutory exceptions. If the assisting town believes the person lives elsewhere, it must seek reimbursement, request ongoing help, or request a residency hearing. An agreed neutral hears disputes: a consenting curr…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Jennifer M Rhodes (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Daryl Abbas (Republican), Senate
- Cosponsor: Bob J. Lynn (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Donald S McFarlane (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Bill M. Gannon (Republican), Senate
- Cosponsor: Daniel E. Innis (Republican), Senate
- Cosponsor: Jason M. Osborne (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Joe Sweeney (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Ross Berry
- Cosponsor: Steven T Bogert (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Terry W Roy (Republican), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-01-08 | House | OTPA | pass | 190 | 157 |   |

## Actions (20)

- 2026-05-28: Signed by Governor Ayotte 05/22/2026; Chapter 81; eff.07/21/2026 (House)
- 2026-05-12: Enrolled (in recess of) 05/07/2026 HJ 12 P. 40 (House)
- 2026-05-11: Enrolled Adopted, VV, (In recess 05/07/2026); SJ 12 (Senate)
- 2026-05-06: Enrolled Bill Amendment # 2026-1673e: AA VV (in recess of) 04/23/2026 HJ 11 P. 84 (House)
- 2026-04-30: Enrolled Bill Amendment # 2026-1673e Adopted, VV, (In recess of 04/23/2026); SJ 11 (Senate)
- 2026-04-09: House Concurs with Senate Amendment 2026-1207s (Rep. Pauer): MA VV 04/09/2026 HJ 10 P. 8 (House)
- 2026-03-20: Ought to Pass with Amendment #2026-1207s, MA, VV; OT3rdg; 03/26/2026; SJ 7 (Senate)
- 2026-03-20: Committee Amendment # 2026-1207s, AA, VV; 03/26/2026; SJ 7 (Senate)
- 2026-03-18: Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2026-1207s, 03/26/2026; Vote 5-0; CC; SC 11 (Senate)
- 2026-02-18: Hearing: 03/03/2026, Room 122-123, SH, 09:30 am; SC 7 (Senate)
- 2026-01-15: Introduced 01/07/2026 and Referred to Election Law and Municipal Affairs; SJ 2 (Senate)
- 2026-01-08: Ought to Pass with Amendment 2025-0154h: MA RC 190-157 01/08/2026 HJ 2 P. 60 (House)
- 2026-01-08: Amendment # 2025-0154h: AA VV 01/08/2026 HJ 2 P. 60 (House)
- 2025-11-13: Minority Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate (House)
- 2025-11-13: Majority Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2025-0154h 09/24/2025 (Vote 9-8; RC) HC 51 P. 42 (House)
- 2025-09-03: Executive Session: 09/24/2025 01:00 pm GP 154 (House)
- 2025-01-31: Retained in Committee (House)
- 2025-01-22: Executive Session: 01/30/2025 02:00 pm LOB 301-303 (House)
- 2025-01-15: Public Hearing: 01/23/2025 11:15 am LOB 301-303 (House)
- 2025-01-08: Introduced 01/08/2025 and referred to Municipal and County Government HJ 2 P. 16 (House)

## Bill text

- As Amended, 2026-04-30: [PDF](https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/pdf.aspx?q=billVersion&id=30177)
- Enrolled, 2026-04-30: [HTML](https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=691&inflession=2025)
- Introduced, 2025-01-08: [PDF](https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/pdf.aspx?q=billVersion&id=5476)
- CHAPTERED FINAL VERSION: [PDF](https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/pdf.aspx?q=billVersion&id=33253)
- Version adopted by both bodies: [PDF](https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/pdf.aspx?q=billVersion&id=30657)

## Related bills

- HB2026: (New Title) relative to the state 10-year transportation improvement plan; relative to toll rate adjustments and periodic toll reviews for the New Hampshire tu… (became law)
- HB1002: repealing the solar energy systems tax exemption. (failed)
- HB1834: relative to the education freedom account enrollment cap. (failed)
- SB101: (Second New Title) authorizing parents to enroll their children in any public school in the state. (failed)
- CACR22: relating to the compensation of the legislature. Providing that the present compensation per elected term for legislators is hereby abolished. (failed)
- HB1786: relative to creating a state assessment on non-homestead luxury second homes to fund statewide housing development programs and address housing shortages and m… (failed)

## Sources
- [As Amended (PDF)](https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/pdf.aspx?q=billVersion&id=30177)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=691&inflession=2025)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/pdf.aspx?q=billVersion&id=5476)
- [CHAPTERED FINAL VERSION (PDF)](https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/pdf.aspx?q=billVersion&id=33253)
- [Version adopted by both bodies (PDF)](https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/pdf.aspx?q=billVersion&id=30657)

## Related
- [HB2026: (New Title) relative to the state 10-year transportation improvement plan; rela…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/NH-HB2026-2025-2026)
- [HB1002: repealing the solar energy systems tax exemption.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/NH-HB1002-2025-2026)
- [HB1834: relative to the education freedom account enrollment cap.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/NH-HB1834-2025-2026)
- [SB101: (Second New Title) authorizing parents to enroll their children in any public s…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/NH-SB101-2025-2026)
- [CACR22: relating to the compensation of the legislature. Providing that the present com…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/NH-CACR22-2025-2026)
- [HB1786: relative to creating a state assessment on non-homestead luxury second homes to…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/NH-HB1786-2025-2026)
- [New Hampshire bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/new-hampshire/bills)
- [New Hampshire state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/new-hampshire)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/NH-HB348-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-17).