House Bill 1719 passed 186–168 along largely party lines and now heads to the NH Senate, as public health officials warn of outbreak risks and measles cases surge to levels not seen in a quarter-century.
By Granite State Report
Concord, N.H. – New Hampshire’s House of Representatives voted last month to remove the hepatitis B vaccine from the state’s mandatory childhood immunization schedule — a move supporters frame as personal liberty legislation aligned with the federal government’s shifting guidance, but that public health officials warn could accelerate disease outbreaks in Granite State schools and daycare centers.
House Bill 1719, introduced by Rep. Kelley Potenza, a Rochester Republican, passed on February 12 by a vote of 186 to 168. New Hampshire Bulletin The bill now awaits action in the New Hampshire Senate, where the Senate Health and Human Services Committee will schedule a public hearing in the coming weeks. New-futures
A Bill Born From Personal Conviction — and Federal Politics
Potenza framed the bill as an effort to align New Hampshire with the CDC, but ultimately said the inspiration came from her own family. She believes that aluminum ingredients in the hepatitis B vaccine gave her daughter a lifelong digestive disorder. New Hampshire Public Radio
But the national backdrop matters here. The bill comes after changes at the CDC under new U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic who has elevated vaccine detractors nationwide. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices decided in December to change the federal government’s guidance to not recommend the hepatitis B vaccine at birth for infants unless the mother tested positive for the virus. The decision came months after Kennedy fired every member of the panel and replaced many of them with fellow vaccine skeptics, and was instantly controversial, panned by organizations including the American Association of Immunologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and dozens of others. New Hampshire Bulletin
New Hampshire is among 24 states that have not changed their own vaccine schedules to align with this new guidance, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. New Hampshire Public Radio
Co-sponsor Rep. Matt Drew (R-Manchester) made the liberty case bluntly on the House floor. “What HB 1719 does is make the hep B vaccination a real choice — not a government mandate with the force of the state behind it and the lurking threat of being banned from your day care or school if you refuse.” Valley News
What State Health Officials Said
State health officials testified in opposition at the January committee hearing. Dr. Benjamin Chan, New Hampshire’s state epidemiologist, refuted the claim that hepatitis B poses no meaningful risk in school settings, saying the viral infection is “50 to 100 times more easily transmitted through the blood-borne route” than other infections like HIV. Megan Petty, chief of the New Hampshire Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, added that “transmission is possible in schools and child care settings through scratching, biting, cuts, or scrapes that accidentally share bodily fluids.” New Hampshire Bulletin
Rep. William Palmer, a Cornish Democrat, noted on the House floor that since universal hepatitis B vaccination was introduced in 1991, there has been a 99% drop in infant infections, across more than a billion doses administered globally. New Hampshire Bulletin
The Department of Health and Human Services, in its fiscal note on the bill, flagged the financial risk: the Department estimates outbreak response costs ranging from $100,000 to $350,000 per outbreak, and notes that multiple outbreaks per year are possible. LegiScan
The Vote — and the Broader Anti-Vaccine Push
HB 1719 was not the most sweeping vaccine bill before lawmakers. House Bill 1811, sponsored by Rep. Matt Drew, sought to end all vaccine mandates in New Hampshire. Lawmakers voted 192–155 to kill it, with 34 Republicans crossing over to join Democrats in opposition. New Hampshire Bulletin
Rep. Jessica LaMontagne (D-Dover) made a pointed appeal before that vote: “New Hampshire has the lowest vaccination rate for measles in New England. Do you want to be the legislature that ushers in the next outbreak of measles?” New Hampshire Bulletin
A slate of additional vaccine-related legislation is also moving through the Legislature. House Bill 1584 would simplify New Hampshire’s religious exemption process and require DHHS to advertise exemptions prominently. House Bill 1616 would forbid state agencies from spending money to advertise vaccines at all. House Bill 1449 would prohibit vaccine clinics from being held at schools during school hours. New Hampshire Bulletin
A National Backdrop: Measles Is Back
The debate is unfolding against a troubling national picture. The United States saw 2,276 reported measles cases in 2025 — the most since 2000 — a trend that correlates with growing skepticism of vaccines nationwide. That record is on pace to be broken this year, with 733 cases already reported as of February 5. New Hampshire Public Radio
In April 2025, Idaho became the first U.S. state to get rid of their vaccine mandate with the Idaho Medical Freedom Act. New Hampshire Public Radio New Hampshire’s 2026 bills are part of that same national pattern — arriving precisely as disease rates are climbing.
Legislative History
Many of the lawmakers behind 2026’s legislation have been fighting against vaccine mandates for years. Among the most notable changes they secured came in 2025, when the Legislature revoked the state health commissioner’s authority to select vaccines to be required for children in the state. However, the final version of the legislation grandfathered in all the vaccines that the commissioner had previously approved, meaning it had no immediate effect on what vaccines are required. New Hampshire Bulletin The 2026 session is the first in which lawmakers are directly targeting the hepatitis B requirement by name.
What Happens Next
HB 1719 now sits with the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. The Senate has historically been a more difficult chamber for this category of legislation. In 2025, Sen. Kevin Avard (R-Nashua) — who described himself as “one of the most vocal critics of vaccine mandates in the Senate” New Hampshire Bulletin — voted against similar legislation, arguing the existing process was working. Governor Ayotte has not stated a public position on HB 1719.
If enacted, the bill would take effect 60 days after passage, LegiScan meaning children could enroll in New Hampshire public schools and licensed child care facilities without the hepatitis B vaccine — a protection that has been in place for over three decades.
The Senate has not yet announced a hearing date.
Sources: NH Bulletin, NHPR, Valley News, LegiScan (HB 1719 bill text and fiscal note), NH General Court legislative database, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, New Futures legislative tracker.
