Independent New Hampshire Journalism · Northfield, NHCorrection and update, Sept. 22, 2026, 9:03 a.m. EDT: This article, published Jan. 15, 2026, said a budget shortfall had prompted lawmakers to raise or create more than a hundred fees and fines “in 2026,” and that both cannabis bills had testimony scheduled in late January. According to the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, lawmakers increased or created fees and fines in 125 instances to help balance the state budget, and up to 58 of those took effect Jan. 1, 2026; according to the General Court docket, the Senate hearing on SB 650 was held Feb. 10, 2026. Both passages are corrected, citations that pointed to a general bill-tracking home page now point to each bill’s docket on the General Court website or to news reports, and a section at the end records what happened to the bills named here.
By GSR Staff
When the 2026 session of the New Hampshire General Court opened in Concord in January 2026, lawmakers faced a sprawling docket of more than 1,300 bills touching on education, gender identity, taxation, housing, public safety, and more. This year’s agenda isn’t just a rerun of old fights; it’s a front-row view into the priorities and ideological divide shaping state policy. (BostonGlobe.com)
Battles Over Schools, Books, and Identity
Education was an early flashpoint. In the session’s first week, the House took up an updated version of the controversial “Right to Challenge Act” (Senate Bill 33), designed to regulate how local districts handle complaints about allegedly “harmful” or age-inappropriate books and curriculum. This bill follows a 2025 veto by Governor Kelly Ayotte, who warned that it risked creating a statewide book-banning regime and could invite needless litigation. The newer versions strip out penalty provisions but still aim to reshape how districts respond to content complaints. (BostonGlobe.com)
Lawmakers also voted on Senate Bill 268, a measure that would define “biological sex” in statute and allow public and private entities to maintain sex-segregated bathrooms, locker rooms, sports, and detention spaces without violating anti-discrimination law. Supporters frame this as protecting safety and privacy; opponents argue it codifies exclusion and fails to account for the complexity of gender identity. (BostonGlobe.com)
Both issues underscore how education has become more than funding and curriculum — it’s now a battleground over cultural values, identity, and the role of state oversight in local schools.
Taxes, Fees, and the Budget Crunch
Tax policy and state finances were also center stage. Lawmakers considered constitutional amendments (CACR 10 and CACR 12) that would have required a two-thirds legislative vote for new broad-based taxes, a move aimed at constraining future revenue growth. (Citizens Count) The session opened against the backdrop of a budget shortfall: to help balance the state budget, lawmakers had increased or created fees and fines in 125 instances, and up to 58 of those took effect Jan. 1, 2026, primarily for motor vehicle registrations. (New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute)
Other tax proposals targeted housing costs, including a 0.75% tax on second homes worth $500,000 or more and a tax on homes that sit unoccupied for six months of the year. Both drew some support but mostly opposition at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing. (New Hampshire Public Radio)
Cannabis Policy Reemerges
Two Senate bills introduced in January 2026 sought to revisit cannabis regulation:
- SB 651 would legalize and regulate adult recreational cannabis in the state, establishing a framework for production, sale, and taxation.
- SB 650 dealt with the use of cannabis products for therapeutic purposes by alternative treatment centers.
Both went to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which heard SB 651 on Jan. 22, 2026 and SB 650 on Feb. 10, 2026.
Public Safety, Technology, and Civil Liberties
Several bills reflected concerns about policing and transparency. HB 1587 sought to make police body-worn camera footage subject to right-to-know law, a push for greater public access and accountability. Meanwhile, HB 1812 would have required periodic independent evaluations of mental health access across the state, in response to long-standing concerns about behavioral health services.
On the technology front, lawmakers considered proposals like HB 1725, which would have regulated artificial intelligence technologies, especially where they intersect with professional licensing and public safety — an emerging policy frontier with both promise and risk.
Culture Wars and Social Policy
A cluster of bills aim to redefine how gender identity appears in state law, from removing references entirely to reasserting sex-based distinctions in public spaces. This suite of proposals reflects the ongoing “culture war” dynamic in Concord that mirrors national political debates. The Boston Globe counted at least seven such proposals besides SB 268: House bills 1217, 1299, 1442, 1447 and 1564 and Senate bills 459 and 552. (BostonGlobe.com)
Lawmakers also took up a range of other contentious issues, from proposals to reinstate the death penalty for certain crimes (a policy last repealed in 2019) to debates over housing regulations and municipal authority. (New Hampshire Public Radio)
Tracking the Session
In mid-January 2026, with hearings happening almost daily, committees sorted through a firehose of testimony and proposed amendments. Key policy debates that week included potential revisions to the school cell phone ban in K-12 schools, cigarette tax increases, and limits on local land-use regulations that critics say stifle housing development. (NH Journal)
What’s clear is that New Hampshire’s legislative agenda for 2026 isn’t just about incremental fixes. It’s a contest of philosophical priorities: how much the state should intervene in social policy, where authority lies between state and local entities, how to balance fiscal restraint with public services, and who gets to define the state’s cultural and legal landscape.
The session brought familiar controversies back to Concord along with new ones.
What happened to these bills
- SB 33 (Right to Challenge Act): The House passed an amended version 181-157 on Jan. 7, 2026. On Feb. 5, 2026, the Senate voted not to concur with the House amendment. (General Court docket)
- SB 268 (biological sex): The House passed it 185-159 on Jan. 8, 2026. Gov. Kelly Ayotte vetoed it Feb. 6, 2026, and on Aug. 19, 2026 the Senate voted 24-0 against overriding the veto. (General Court docket)
- CACR 10 and CACR 12 (two-thirds vote for new taxes): Each fell short of the three-fifths House vote a constitutional amendment needs: CACR 10, which the House had amended into a proposed ban on an income tax, on March 5, 2026, and CACR 12, as amended, on May 14, 2026. (CACR 10 docket; CACR 12 docket; InDepthNH)
- SB 651 and SB 650 (cannabis): The Senate laid SB 651 on the table 15-9 on Feb. 5, 2026, and laid SB 650 on the table on March 26, 2026. (SB 651 docket; SB 650 docket)
- HB 1587 (body-camera footage): The House sent it to interim study on Feb. 19, 2026, and on Sept. 16, 2026 the committee reported it as not recommended for future legislation. (General Court docket) Granite State Report covered the bill in a later story on body cameras.
- HB 1812 (mental health access) and HB 1725 (artificial intelligence): The House voted both inexpedient to legislate on Feb. 19, 2026. (HB 1812 docket; HB 1725 docket)
Corrections: Granite State Report corrects verified errors promptly and appends a dated note identifying what changed and when. The corrections policy and the corrections register are public, and correction notes are never removed.
