Governor Signs 54 Bills into Law

CONCORD, NH - This week, Governor Kelly Ayotte signed the following bills into law:

• HB 113 - Relative to OHRV operation on certain highways within the town of Windsor
• HB 297 - Relative to providing self-funded employer health benefit plans access to their claims data
• HB 524 - Relative to disbursement of funds by the New Hampshire vaccine association
• HB 564 - Relative to the adoption of school administrative unit budgets
• HB 1013 - Relative to games wherein the object is to capture a pig
• HB 1089 - Extending the authorization of the department of environmental services for the evaluation and mitigation of new community water system contamination risks
• HB 1140 - Enabling certain disabled persons to hunt from a motor vehicle
• HB 1153 - Establishing a committee to study New Hampshire statutes relative to cats and dogs
• HB 1199 - Enabling the fish and game department to create a permit and fee for the use of fish and game staff by other state agencies and departments
• HB 1228 - Relative to the enforcement of alimony orders and relative to waivers of alimony
• HB 1253 - Exempting dogs guarding livestock or crops from nuisance dog statutes when engaged in such work
• HB 1266 - Allowing election moderators access to the area designated for counting votes during the performance of their duties
• HB 1298 - Relative to the disposal of electronic ballot counting device external memory devices
• HB 1308 - Relative to increasing the penalty for passing a stopped school bus
• HB 1318 - Renewing the committee to study non-pharmacological treatment options for patients with chronic pain
• HB 1331 - Enabling the Derry town council to incorporate the Derry Cooperative School District as a department of the town through a charter amendment
• HB 1361 - Relative to the procedure concerning search warrant inventories
• HB 1363 - Relative to employee candidate background checks
• HB 1460 - Prohibiting the sale of a child's personal data
• HB 1466 - Relative to obtaining a certificate of title for certain trailers
• HB 1468 - Relative to a flood resilience section in municipal master plans
• HB 1483 - Creating a motor vehicle license plate for amateur radio operators
• HB 1489 - Relative to interstate depositions and discovery
• HB 1514 - Requiring the department of education and the department of revenue administration to send school monitoring and financial reports to relevant school and school board authorities
• HB 1535 - Relative to clarifying eligible renewable energy classes under the renewable portfolio standard
• HB 1537 - Relative to the use of high resolution cameras to identify school bus stop light violators
• HB 1569 - Repealing the directive that the state sell the Anna Philbrook Center for Children property in Concord
• HB 1630 - Prohibiting the sale of nitrous oxide and certain inhalants for recreational purposes
• HB 1698 - Relative to electronic credentials
• HB 1733 - Relative to the reconciliation of default electric service rates
• HB 1742 - Relative to customer-generators inadvertently enrolled in a municipal or county aggregation program
• HB 1758 - Relative to school bus drivers' certificates
• HB 1763 - Establishing a committee to study siting and maintenance rules regarding certain intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) and acquired brain disorder (ABD) community residences
• HB 1780 - Relative to seed laws
• HB 1817 - Relative to access to curricular courses and cocurricular programs within school districts
• SB 405 - Relative to amounts reported by political committees
• SB 445 - Relative to adjudicative proceedings where there is a council or board with jurisdiction
• SB 470 - Relative to the expungement of certain disciplinary matters
• SB 482 - Establishing consumer protections for digital access transaction kiosks
• SB 487 - Allowing credit union members to pay members of the board of directors for their services as a board member
• SB 496 - Relative to supervision and registration requirements for associates of broker-dealers
• SB 502 - Removing references to the department of business and economic affairs and the office of planning and development, and making various changes to how certain committees and commissions participate or operate
• SB 507 - Establishing a committee to study violence in schools directed at staff members and obstacles to disciplining or expelling students
• SB 525 - Raising the maximum amount of state guarantees in force
• SB 529 - Giving preference to lumber sourced in the United States on all state-funded building projects
• SB 541 - Relative to capital appropriations for regional drinking water infrastructure
• SB 548 - Relative to health carrier provider contract standards
• SB 560 - Modernizing the New Hampshire coordinate system
• SB 565 - Requiring an insurance department report regarding fortified home and commercial standards and resiliency programs
• SB 589 - Relative to port electrification, microgrid development, and cybersecurity standards for energy and water systems
• SB 590 - Relative to electric aggregation plans
• SB 607 - Relative to short-term, limited duration health insurance policies
• SB 615 - Establishing a commission to study the use and regulation of SNAP in New Hampshire
• SB 660 - Relative to photo identification cards issued solely for the purpose of voting

The Governor also vetoed the following bills:

• HB 1097 - Requiring legislative approval of the amendment or permanent removal of historical markers
• HB 1369 - Relative to the manner of posting the warrant for town meetings
• HB 1491 - Relative to pool risk management programs
• HB 1726 - Relative to the sale of surplus state-owned land and establishing a commission to study the sale of state-owned property
• HB 1766 - Relative to cruelty to livestock
• SB 552 - Permitting classification of individuals based on biological sex under certain limited circumstances
• SB 661 - Relative to pooled risk management programs

The Governor's veto statement for House Bill 1097 is below:

"I have tremendous respect for the principle of separation of powers outlined in the New Hampshire Constitution, and I find no compelling reason that the Legislature should be given responsibility over the process of removing historical markers. Governor Sununu vetoed similar legislation to this in 2024 on the same grounds. For these reasons, I have decided to veto HB 1097."

The Governor's veto statement for House Bill 1369 is below:

"Town meetings are where some of the most important decisions that affect Granite Staters' daily lives are made and play a critical role in ensuring local community voices are heard. The public posting of town meetings notices in print is an important part of notice to ensure participation in the decision-making process. Allowing municipalities to only post these notices online or at the place of the meeting but otherwise not in a printed publication can limit public participation. That is a step in the wrong direction for New Hampshire. For these reasons, I have vetoed HB 1369."

The Governor's veto statement for House Bill 1491 and Senate Bill 661 is below:

"Risk pools are cooperative self-insurance organizations that allow our municipalities, counties, and school districts to manage health care costs and other risks instead of utilizing commercial insurance. Predictability is essential to deliver on this goal, which means reserves driven by actuarial expertise and operations following industry best practices.

"Unfortunately, both bills reforming risk pool operations fail to deliver on these needs. HB 1491 creates a "choose-your-own-regulator" model that dilutes necessary oversight. SB 661 arbitrarily caps reserves to manage liabilities as well as mandating an immediate policy change impacting current health care policies for hundreds of municipalities and school districts across the state.

"As we have seen from recent risk pool failures, this is an important policy area to get right and these proposals need more work. For those reasons I am vetoing HB 1491 and SB 661."

The Governor's veto statement for House Bill 1726 is below:

"I agree that we need to improve the management of state-owned assets such as surplus land. However, the change of law in this bill limits the proceeds of sales or leases to the fund originally used to purchase the property. This is not an efficient or fiscally prudent structure for allocating revenues and does not improve state management of surplus land. For that reason, I am vetoing House Bill 1726."

The Governor's veto statement for House Bill 1766 is below:

"It's important that we protect livestock owners' due process rights and ensure fair treatment under the law. However, HB 1766 would hinder the ability of local law enforcement, veterinarians, and animal welfare professionals to respond to cases involving neglect and abuse of animals. By centralizing power with the State, this bill would increase the size of state government, cost taxpayers more money, increase animals' pain and suffering, and lead to forced euthanasia of abused but otherwise healthy animals."

The Governor's veto statement for Senate Bill 552 is below:

"I have continued to ask the Legislature to address this issue in a thoughtful, narrow way while protecting the privacy, safety, and rights of all Granite Staters. Unfortunately, there is minimal difference between this bill, the bill I vetoed earlier this year, the one I vetoed last year, and the one vetoed in 2024 by Governor Sununu. Trying the same thing again isn't going to get a different result. For this reason, I have vetoed Senate Bill 552."