NH Republicans have wide majorities in House and Senate. Here are their priorities.

Republicans have had a trifecta of control of New Hampshire state government since 2021. But with only a slight edge in a nearly evenly divided House chamber the past two years, their powers were limited. A handful of absent lawmakers on voting day could tank a bill, and often did. 

Now, with last week's election providing stronger majorities in the State House and Republican Kelly Ayotte’s victory in the race for governor, Republican lawmakers have the opportunity to pass bolder legislation. 

Barring any changes from recounts, the House is expected to have 222 Republicans and 178 Democrats, according to the House Clerk’s Office; the Senate is projected to have 16 Republicans and eight Democrats. 

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They’ll also face a difficult budget season, with analysts predicting lower revenues coming into the state.

“I think that Republicans will have an easier path forward on some of the social issue changes they want to make,” said Anna Brown, executive director of Citizens Count, a nonprofit that tracks the New Hampshire Legislature. “That being said, I think that Republicans are very aware of how certain social issues can get a backlash. And the obvious example is the abortion issue. They had very clear messaging this time around: We’re not going to change the abortion law.”

New legislation is still pouring in; lawmakers have until Nov. 22 to continue to file new bill requests. But interviews and existing legislative service requests indicate that Republicans will seek to use their new majority to pursue long-held policy proposals. 

Here’s what to expect next year.  

More tax eliminations

After a series of sessions in which Republicans lowered business taxes and eliminated the interest and dividends tax, the party is unlikely to continue lowering the bigger taxes – especially with lower revenues coming in. 

But they are interested in eliminating the communication services tax, according to Jim Kofalt, the House deputy majority leader, in an interview Thursday.

That is a 7 percent tax on all landline and cell phone bills in the state as well as other communications. The tax used to bring in almost $60 million a year in revenue, but that has fallen to less than $30 million, as businesses have transitioned from conference calls to online Zoom and Skype meetings, which aren’t taxed.

House Majority Leader Jason Osborne has long sought to remove the tax, arguing it is a regressive tax that hurts low-income families, but the measure did not survive the 2023 budget process. Kofalt said the party would try to bring it back next year.

Republicans have also discussed a program to send direct tax relief to property taxpayers – rather than just aid to towns so towns can lower property taxes – Kofalt said. But the logistics of how to do so could be difficult since there is no broad-based income tax through which the state could send residents a refund. 

Meanwhile, amid projected revenue shortfalls, Republican budget writers will likely look for state programs to reduce or cut. Kofalt said he doesn’t know which programs that might entail, but predicted the party will seek to find alternate funding sources or cheaper solutions.

“I think we’re probably going to see revenues decline, so we don’t want to raise taxes,” he said. “So I think that’s going to mean tightening our belt. People sitting around the kitchen table have to figure out how to make it work for their family. I think we owe it to the people in New Hampshire to do the same thing.” 

Tougher immigration bills

In past years, Republicans have sought legislation to ban the creation of “sanctuary cities” and require all local law enforcement to refer undocumented people to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those efforts have not passed, but the party has indicated it will try again next year.

And Rep. Joe Sweeney, a Salem Republican, has submitted a bill “relative to illegal presence in New Hampshire and establishing a task force concerning deportation,” according to the bill’s description. Sweeney did not respond to a request for details on the bill.

Return of the ‘parental bill of rights’

House Republicans will once again attempt to pass a “parental bill of rights,” after similar attempts narrowly failed in 2021 and 2023. 

The bills require public schools to carry out a number of transparency measures, including a requirement to inform parents about their child’s choice of clubs and classes. Most controversially, they require school officials to tell parents who ask if their child is using different gender pronouns at school or has expressed a different gender identity or sexual orientation, and allowing parents to sue school staff if they do not comply.

Republicans have called the legislation a common-sense approach to prevent school staff from keeping information from parents; Democrats have argued it will force schools to “out” children to their parents even when they are not ready to tell them. 

And the bills have been defeated in the House by very narrow margins: two attempts in 2023 fell by four votes and 13 votes each. 

But with a bigger majority, House Republicans may be able to finally bridge the gap; Senate Republicans have had sufficient numbers to do so for years. This year’s bill – like the 2023 bill – is sponsored by current House Speaker Sherman Packard.

Housing bills face fraught politics

New Hampshire’s expensive housing market was a potent issue in the governor’s race and a top issue on voters’ minds. It was also a topic that both parties say they are focused on. 

But even with larger Republican majorities, it remains unclear what laws the House and Senate might pursue.

In 2024, the House passed House Bill 1291, which sought to remove local barriers to the creation of accessory dwelling units and allow homeowners to build two by right; current law allows only one. But the Senate rejected that bill after Republicans there raised concerns about increased ADUs lowering property values. 

Kofalt said he expects House Republicans to return with a pared back bill that removes the local zoning barriers for one ADU but that does not include the language allowing two ADUs by right.

Meanwhile, Rep Bob Lynn, a Windham Republican, is returning with his bill to allow landlords to evict tenants at the end of a lease period without needing an additional reason; that bill passed the House but was sent to interim study by the Senate, effectively killing it.

Education freedom accounts expansion

New Hampshire’s education freedom accounts program, which allows lower-income families to use public school dollars toward private school or home-school expenses, has been expanded once since it was created in 2021. 

In 2023, the Legislature raised the income eligibility cap from households making up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level to households making up to 350 percent. But many Republicans – including Ayotte – have said the state should remove income limits on the program and open it up to all families.

According to Kofalt, House Republicans will try to do that this year. But raising the income cap will inevitably lead the program to pay out more money, which could be a strain on the state’s Education Trust Fund. 

Concerns over the financial viability of an increase prompted Senate Republicans to reject a House Republican effort to raise the threshold to 500 percent this year; the Senate proposed 400 percent and the measure died. Those same fiscal tensions could limit the scope of an expansion of the program next year, but Kofalt said he believes House Republicans will still try to make the program universal.

Meanwhile, Rep. Kevin Verville, a Deerfield Republican, is bringing back a bill that would create “local educational freedom accounts” – allowing local residents to vote to allow families to use local taxpayer funds toward private and home-school expenses as well.

Cannabis legalization, right to work up in the air

It’s practically a certainty: The New Hampshire House is likely to pass a bill to legalize cannabis in the state. Similar bills have passed by wide margins under both Republican and Democratic control in the last decade.

But what form the legislation takes this year is less clear. Gov. Chris Sununu insisted that lawmakers pass a bill that included state-run retail cannabis stores, but House lawmakers balked at the model and killed the final bill. Gov.-elect Ayotte has said she would not support marijuana legalization, so lawmakers would need a two-thirds majority vote in both the Senate and House to overturn a veto.

House lawmakers have already submitted two bill requests for cannabis legalization, one from Democrat Jared Sullivan of Bethlehem and another from Verville. But the prospect of success for either measure is a major uphill climb.

Also a difficult task for Republicans: passing a right-to-work bill, or legislation that would bar unions from mandating the collection of union dues from employees. The measure, which has failed consistently in Republican-led legislatures due to a contingency of pro-union Republicans, is not likely to be a key focus next year, Kofalt predicted.

Democrats undaunted

Though diminished, Democrats will continue to put forward their own priorities. A public listing of legislative service requests shows the minority caucus will push to repeal legislation often referred to as the “divisive concepts” law that adds restrictions to teachers and state officials around the endorsement of certain concepts. They will attempt to roll back a new law that will require voter identification at the polls in future elections. 

They will press for a bill to protect access to abortion care, and a bill to eliminate the statute of limitations around lawsuits against PFAS manufacturers. And they will fight for a law requiring new background checks and a mandatory waiting period for firearms purchases.

But after Tuesday’s election, prospects of success for any of those measures are dim. For the next two years, the levers of control lie in Republicans’ hands. 

This story was originally published by the New Hampshire Bulletin.