Specifies how small hydroelectric generators can participate in the net metering program. Should increase amount of renewable hydro power in our total supply in a limited way.

Bill details on state page.

This bill establishes procedures for ranked-choice voting and allows state parties and municipalities to opt into such procedures.
OpenDemocracy says “Ranked-Choice voting is a system that gives voters more voice, and more choice, in elections. It also negates the need for run-off elections. More talking points from NH Ranked Choice Voting, and Common Cause.“

Bill details page on state site. Testify Remotely

Conference Committee is on Tuesday 1/17 at 3:30 pm. Stream here. Original hearing schedule page.

Bill details page on state site.

This will make meetings more accessible, but for towns not doing it now there would be expenses incurred. However, no penalties are specified if a town does not stream or record.

Bill details page on state site.

This removes any decision making power from the representatives of the select board and school board. Roy and Verville are the two sponsors, seems like a free state proposal.

Bill details page on state site.

This will increase number of students eligible and will raise the cost from $14 million to $30 million (est.). More tax money will go to benefit private and religious schools.

Bill details page on state site.

This bill increases the minimum hourly rate (to $15 on 1/1/25), increases the base rate for tipped employees, and adjusts both rates annually based on the most recent 12-month average of the consumer price index. The bill also requires a youth minimum wage for employees under 18 years of age.

Bill details page on state site.

This will increase participation and the cost to the state, but Dept of Education cannot estimate the increase.

Bill details page on state site.

No employer shall require an employee to attend or participate in anti-union training of any kind, including requiring or coercing an employee to view a video that casts unions in a negative light.

Bill details page on state site.

Hearing on Thursday 1/12 at 9:30 am. Original hearing schedule.

Bill details page on state site.

The “voter owned election” bill which aims to provide public funds for certain races. Bill details

This bill would increase aid to school districts from the state of NH, which would reduce property taxes significantly. Bill details

This is one of the only progressive taxes in NH, the worst of the Republicans are sponsoring it (e.g. Osborne). Bill details.

This bill establishes 2 additional aid grants for schools based on the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals and municipal fiscal capacity disparity. Bill details

A bill that would increase funding for Charter Schools while keeping the funding dangerously low for our neighborhood public schools. 7 of the 10 lowest performing schools in the state are charter schools. The state must fix our broken school funding formula to improve public education for all public school students and not just focus on the few who attend charter schools.

Bill Details

Under current law, first-time possession or use of schedule I, II, III, or IV controlled drugs (excluding marijuana) in New Hampshire is a class B felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison. A felony conviction for a first-time offense makes it more difficult for people to secure safe housing, education, and employment long after they have served their time. HB 473 would reduce these charges from a class B felony to a misdemeanor, thus reducing the unnecessary hurdles people will face when they return home to their communities.

Bill details

The legalization of recreational marijuana for adults is widely supported by Granite Staters. It's long overdue that New Hampshire ends its destructive and misguided war on marijuana that disproportionately harms poor people and people of color.

Expands actions that can be taken against teachers for teaching certain subjects.

Here is what a judge said about the so-called “divisive concepts” law just one week ago, “In sum, the amendments’ vague terminology, their lack of a scienter requirement, and the possibility that teachers could be found liable for teaching a banned concept by implication, leave both teachers and enforcers to guess at what speech the amendments prohibit. Given the severe consequences that teachers face if they are found to have taught or advocated a banned concept, plaintiffs have pleaded a plausible claim that the amendments are unconstitutionally vague.”

Bill details

Under current New Hampshire law, drug testing equipment, including fentanyl test strips (FTS), is classified as drug paraphernalia. This means that the distribution of these life-saving tools is an unclassified misdemeanor and is punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of $2,000. Updating this classification will save lives and lead to safer communities in New Hampshire.

Bill details

This bill establishes a methodology for interconnection and participation in net metering by small hydroelectric generators. This will increase the proportion of renewable energy in the grid by enabling small hydro suppliers to partiicipate.

This bill requires the state board of education to adopt rules for and authorizes local school boards to implement release time for students' participation in religious instruction in an elective course for the purposes of satisfying curriculum requirements.

This bill would allow a student to go to any public school, not just the one in the town where he/she lives. Rather than funding education adequately, this proposal would let students abandon failing schools to go to “good” ones. Remote Sign-In

Here is an excerpt from the bill:

VII. “Policy” means, but is not limited to, a rule, directive, policy, procedure, regulation, motion, order, ordinance, resolution, amendment, practice, or custom, whether written or unwritten and whether formally enacted, informally adopted, or otherwise effectuated.

VIII. “Sanctuary policy” means any policy that:

(a) Limits, prohibits, or discourages any person from communicating or cooperating with federal agencies or officials to verify or report the immigration status of any alien;

(b) Grants to aliens unlawfully present in the United States the right to lawful presence within the boundaries of this state in violation of federal law;

(c) Violates 8 U.S.C. Section 1373;

(d) Restricts in any way, or imposes any conditions on, cooperation, or compliance with immigration detainers;

(e) Requires a federal immigration agency to obtain a judicial warrant or other court order or to demonstrate probable cause before complying with immigration detainers; or

(f) Prevents any person from inquiring as to the citizenship or immigration status of any person.

IX. “State government entity” means any public agency, bureau, commission, council, department, public postsecondary educational institution, or other office, body, or entity established under the laws of the state, including law enforcement agencies. The term shall include officials, officers, representatives, agents, and employees.

7:50 Prohibition of Sanctuary Policies. No state government entity, local government entity, or law enforcement agency shall knowingly enact, issue, adopt, promulgate, enforce, permit, endorse, maintain, or have in effect any sanctuary policy.

Unless otherwise provided by statute, no person, firm, or corporation shall employ any employee at an hourly rate lower than that set forth in the federal minimum wage law, as amended, or the following, whichever is higher:

From September 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, $13 per hour.

From July 1, 2024 and thereafter, $15 per hour.

Tipped employees of a restaurant, cigar bar as defined in RSA 178:20-a, II, hotel, motel, inn or cabin, or ballroom who customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips directly from the customers will receive a base rate from the employer of not less than 45 percent of the applicable minimum wage.

This bill repeals HB 1264 (the bill that required everyone who registers to vote in NH and who has a driver's license or car to obtain a NH driver's license and register their car in NH at significant expense) and returns NH elections to how they were run in 2018 before HB1264 was adopted.

This bill is a repeal of SB418 - the provisional ballot bill from 2022. Provisional ballots for new registrants threaten confidentiality of voting and are unnecessary since fraud is very rare. Email the committee

This bill would disenfranchise large numbers of residential students. Requires that students qualify for in-state tuition in order to register. Only applies to UNH system, private colleges do not have “in-state” tuition, so it discriminates against public university system students.

For hearing list, copy this link: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/schedule/eventDetails.aspx?event=613&et=1

Bills to be heard include:

• Background checks

• Waiting periods

• Enforcing/not enforcing federal laws

One part of HB 514 bans public schools from displaying or disseminating “obscene material” without, of course, a definition of what obscene material means. In an interview on WMUR just a couple of weeks ago, Frank Edelblut alluded to wanting to see books banned in public schools. A second part allows public institutions, such as libraries, to be charged with showing obscene material. If judged obscene in a legal hearing, the material would have to be removed. Employees could be charged if the material remains available.