Joseph Barton

CACR 10 (2026)

Constitutional amendment requiring any new tax or tax increase to originate in the House of Representatives and pass by a two-thirds majority.

The House amended the bill to instead prohibit any tax on personal income that was not in effect on January 1, 2026.

HB 1 (2025)

State budget bill. The governor presented her proposal for the next state budget February 13. Click here to read a summary of the budget process.

HB 10 (2025)

Establishes a Parental Bill of Rights. The bill requires schools to adopt a policy to promote parental involvement in the public school system. The bill also establishes a right to sue schools that violate the law. 

The final version of this bill requires schools to respond to parental inquiries "regarding any and all matters related to their minor child," within ten days. 

The final Senate version of this bill also does not require parents to give written consent to any medical procedure or treatment; that provision was removed after much debate.

HB 1196 (2026)

Repeals the Housing Champion designation and grant program, along with its associated fund and advisory committee.

HB 1268 (2026)

Modifies home education laws to remove the requirement for parents to notify the state unless participating in public school activities and makes annual evaluations optional. 

The House amended the bill to add other protections for parents who choose to home educate. For example, the amended bill allows families to seek damages if a person knowingly makes a report that alleges abuse or neglect predominantly on the basis that a child is home educated. However, the Senate removed some of those provisions.

HB 1300 (2026)

Redraws the boundaries for the state's two United States Congressional districts.

The House rewrote the bill. The new bill requires voters to vote on a school district local tax cap at each general election. The bill then limits central office administrative expenses in school districts.

The Senate amended the bill to only require a local tax cap vote only at the 2026 general election.

A conference committee of representatives and senators agreed to require a local tax cap vote at both the 2026 and 2028 general elections.

HB 1442 (2026)

Defines sex based on biology for statutory purposes and requires public schools and government buildings to designate bathrooms and locker rooms based on biological sex, while allowing private entities to do the same.

The Senate rewrote the bill to allow, but not require, separation based on biological sex in bathrooms, locker rooms, sports, prisons, and treatment centers.

HB 148 (2025)

Adds an exception to state anti-discrimination laws for bathrooms, locker rooms, sports, prisons, hospitals, and treatment centers to classify individuals based on biological sex.

HB 155 (2025)

Reduces the Business Enterprise Tax (BET) rate from 0.55% to 0.50% starting in 2027.

The House amended the bill so that it would start in 2028.

The Senate amended the bill to instead raise the threshold for business before they must file taxes, from $250,000 to $375,000. The Senate amendment also sends $2.5 million to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for nursing home Medicaid per diem rate stabilization.

HB 1580 (2026)

Imposes an annual 0.75% surcharge on the assessed value of residential properties classified as non-primary residences with a value over $500,000. There is an exemption for long-term rentals.

HB 1642 (2026)

Establishes a legal process for issuing extreme risk protection orders to temporarily restrict firearm access for individuals found to pose an immediate risk of harm to themselves or others. Family, household members, and law enforcement could petition the court for an order. An extreme risk protection order would restrict a person's access to firearms, and is also known as a "red flag law."

HB 1706 (2026)

Terminates the refugee resettlement program administered through the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and prohibits public spending to assist refugee resettlement.

The House added the substance of this bill to SB 625.

HB 1775 (2026)

Authorizes New Hampshire electric public utilities to invest in or own natural gas, hydrogen, and nuclear energy generation resources connected to their distribution system. The bill also expands the types of utility investments eligible for rate recovery (passing costs onto customers through monthly bills) to include those resources.

HB 1792 (2026)

Titled the "Countering Hate And Revolutionary Leftist Indoctrination in Education Act" or the "CHARLIE Act." The bill prohibits teaching various concepts and theories. For example, the bill prohibits teachers from requiring "affirmation of LGBTQ+ sexuality as ethical or normative." As another example, the bill only allows instruction on critical race theory if is presented "as Marxian theories contrary to American tradition, law, and ethics." The bill would not apply to colleges and universities, private schools, or home schools. Individuals could sue under the law.

HB 1793 (2026)

Prohibits public colleges and universities from regulating the possession or carrying of firearms and non-lethal weapons (such as pepper spray) on campus. Individuals could sue under the law.

The Senate rewrote the bill. Their version of the bill prohibits public colleges and universities from regulating non-lethal weapons students; faculty would be allowed to possess and carry firearms. The amended bill also establishes a committee to study allowing guns on campus.

HB 1811 (2026)

Repeals statutory immunization requirements for school and child care enrollment and prohibits vaccine mandates for public services.

HB 1815 (2026)

Redefines what educational content the state must fund to satisfy an "adequate education" in state law. For example, the bill removes references to the minimum standards for public school approval. Notably, this bill states, "How the state and its local governmental entities choose to raise, allocate, and spend financial resources to implement this integrated public education system is a political policy matter reserved to legislative and executive judgment and control." This pushes back against New Hampshire Supreme Court rulings on what the state must fund for an adequate education.

HB 198 (2025)

Removes the legal penalties for possessing and using marijuana and cannabis-infused products for those over age twenty-one. This bill does not include any mechanism for legal sales or taxation.

HB 232 (2025)

Creates a right for health care providers to conscientiously object to participating in providing abortion, sterilization, or artificial contraception services. A health care employer could not act against a provider who refuses to participate.

The House amended the bill to only protect the right to conscientiously object to participating in abortion.

The Senate amended the bill to more narrowly protect the right for health care employees to request a reasonable accommodation of a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction against abortion.

HB 238 (2025)

Right-to-work bill that prohibits collective bargaining agreements that require employees to join or contribute to a labor union.

HB 282 (2025)

Increases the maximum compensation for first responders' critical injury benefits from $500,000 to $1,000,000. 

HB 323 (2025)

Requires a voter to present government-issued photographic ID to vote. Student identification, for example, would no longer satisfy voter ID laws.

HB 324 (2025)

Prohibits K-12 schools from making "any material that is harmful to minors" available to students. The bill defines this material to include various content related to sex. This bill also requires school boards to adopt complaint resolution policies to address complaints regarding harmful material by parents or guardians.

HB 357 (2025)

Removes the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services to require vaccinations beyond those in state law. This bill specifically notes that the requirements for chickenpox, Hepatitis B, and Hib vaccinations will expire in 2026.

The House added the text of this bill to SB 60.

HB 377 (2025)

Makes it a felony to provide hormone treatments and puberty blockers to a minor unless a minor is "born with a medically verifiable disorder of sex development."

The Senate amended the bill to allow doctors to continue hormone treatments and puberty blockers started prior to January 1, 2026.

The Senate amended the bill to also recognize Children's Environmental Health Day, similar to SB 184.

A conference committee of representatives and senators agreed to those Senate amendments.

HB 53 (2025)

Allows qualifying medical marijuana patients and caregivers to grow marijuana at home. There would be limits on the size of the growing operation.

The House added the text of this bill to SB 118.

HB 56 (2025)

Requires sales and transfers of firearms to take place through licensed dealers. Those dealers are required to perform background checks. This bill also establishes a 3-day waiting period for firearm transfers. The bill includes some exceptions, such as transfers between immediate family members.

HB 60 (2025)

After six months of renting, this bill adds the expiration of the term of the lease or tenancy as grounds for an eviction. 

The Senate amended the bill so that it will only take effect if there is a 4% vacancy rate in the state. The amended bill also increases in the minimum lease term to twelve months before eviction. 

A conference committee of representatives and senators agreed on a final version of the bill. Landlords could evict without cause after twelve months, and the law would take effect regardless of the vacancy rate.

HB 649 (2025)

Removes the requirement for physical safety inspections and on-board diagnostic tests for passenger vehicles and eliminates funding for the Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Abatement Fund. 

SB 101 (2025)

Allows parents to enroll their children in any public school in the state, regardless of what town or city they live in. A public school could reject a student's transfer for limited reasons, such as a "documented history of significant disciplinary issues."

The Senate amended the bill to also allow school events open to the general public, such as concerts and sports games, to be recorded without written consent from parents.

The Senate then added the substance of this bill to another bill, HB 751.

SB 14 (2025)

Sets a mandatory minimum sentence for supplying fentanyl. The minimum starts at three years and six months and goes up for higher quantities.

The House amended the bill to also increase penalties for dealing fentanyl to a person who overdoses and dies, similar to SB 15. The amendment also decreases the penalty for possessing 3/4 of an ounce or less of psilocybin (magic mushrooms) to a misdemeanor.

SB 228 (2025)

Modifies the scope and capacity limits of community solar projects. Generally speaking, this bill increases the size of projects that can participate in net energy metering. The bill also allows nonprofit educational institutions and public housing authorities to operate as “municipal hosts” for net metering.

The Senate added some of this bill to HB 710.

SB 284 (2025)

Limits zoning laws to require no more than one parking spaces per residential unit, with exceptions for certain workforce housing and multi-family developments.

The House amended the bill to remove those exceptions.

SB 287 (2025)

If an absentee voter asks for a ballot to be mailed to an address other than the address shown on the voter checklist, this bill adds additional verification requirements. In particular, the voter must show a copy of their photo ID to the clerk or include a notarized signature on their absentee ballot application. If an absentee voter does not complete either step, "his or her signature on the application for an absentee ballot shall be compared to his or her signature on the absentee ballot affidavit on election day in the same manner as other voters."

SB 295 (2025)

Removes the household income limit to participate in the Education Freedom Account (EFA) program.

The Senate amended the bill, adding a 10,000 enrollment cap for the EFA program. If there are 9,000 EFA applicants in a year, the enrollment cap would increase by 25%.

SB 62 (2025)

Prohibits state and local government from blocking law enforcement participation in a federal 287(g) program. That program allows local law enforcement to perform some immigration enforcement duties.

The House amended the bill to add the text of SB 71, which prohibits state and local governments from adopting "sanctuary policies," which prohibit or impede law enforcement cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.