A busy Friday at the State House saw the governor sign 29 bills into law spanning criminal justice, education, housing, and healthcare. Three bills died, and one newly signed law — restricting CDL testing to English only — drew the day’s closest House vote.
Signed into Law
Several of today’s signings carry direct consequences for NH residents:
- Child care and business: HB 1433 creates a tax credit for businesses that provide child care benefits to employees, targeting NH’s child care shortage.
- Child care zoning: HB 1195 modifies municipal zoning rules that affect where child care providers can operate, potentially making it easier to site facilities in residential areas.
- Special education funding: HB 1563 reforms the state formula for distributing special education aid and adds oversight requirements.
- Housing on public land: SB 490 creates a task force to study housing development on Great Bay Community College’s vacant property and authorizes the college to pursue it.
- Restitution enforcement: HB 1576 strengthens mechanisms for collecting court-ordered criminal restitution on behalf of crime victims.
- Sexual assault protections: HB 1651 establishes a specific protective order for sexual assault survivors and expands their legal rights.
- Custodial interrogations: HB 1236 expands requirements for recording law enforcement interrogations.
- First responder mental health: HB 1705 establishes an employee assistance program for small-town and volunteer first responders.
- Gig worker benefits: HB 1245 creates a voluntary portable benefits framework for independent contractors.
- Home heating contracts: HB 1262 regulates heating oil and propane sales and contract practices.
- CDL testing language: HB 1252 requires commercial driver’s license tests to be administered in English only, with no interpreter assistance permitted.
- EV registration fees: HB 1594 creates a weight-based tiered registration fee schedule for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Other bills signed today address addiction treatment licensing (HB 1328), utility data sharing for emergency planning (HB 1577), domestic violence definitions (HB 1522), bail hearing scheduling (HB 1637), and several technical and administrative matters.
Killed
- HB 232 — Would have expanded conscience-based refusal protections for medical professionals. Died without becoming law.
- HB 1422 — Would have modified time limits for petitioning for a new trial in NH courts.
- One additional bill (HB 1336, regulated conditional deposits) also died today.
Notable Votes
HB 1252, requiring English-only CDL testing, passed the House 194–156 before being signed today — the narrowest margin among bills that became law.
To see how your legislators voted on any of these bills, visit nhpolitics.org/find-your-rep.