All seven bills on today’s agenda received the governor’s signature, covering education policy, environmental requirements, and public health.
Signed into Law
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HB 1093 — Grants public charter schools the same local zoning exemptions that traditional public schools receive, removing a siting barrier charter schools have faced when seeking facilities.
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HB 1827 — Requires the Department of Education to run confidential criminal history checks on all prospective educational employees, centralizing a screening process that previously varied by district.
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HB 1620 — Requires homeowners to remove residential underground heating oil tanks that have gone unused for 12 consecutive months, with some exceptions. Abandoned tanks can leak and contaminate groundwater; removal costs fall on property owners.
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SB 454 — Directs the Department of Health and Human Services to incorporate Alzheimer’s and dementia awareness into existing public health outreach programs.
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HB 1186 — Updates egg sale and labeling requirements in New Hampshire, including standards for freshness and production information on packaging.
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HB 1256 — Removes the state librarian’s authority to award scholarships to graduate library school students, eliminating a state-funded pipeline for training future librarians.
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HB 1003 — Prohibits the Grafton County attorney from maintaining a private law practice, addressing potential conflicts of interest between that office’s prosecutorial role and private client representation.
Three of today’s new laws directly affect education: charter school siting rules, criminal background checks for school employees, and the elimination of library school scholarships. The remaining four span environmental liability for property owners, dementia public health outreach, consumer egg labeling, and a county-level ethics restriction.
Want to know how your legislators voted on these bills or track what’s coming next? Find your state representative and senator at nhpolitics.org/find-your-rep.