What happens when the House and Senate can’t agree on a bill?

Every year, the New Hampshire Legislature passes hundreds of bills. Most of them travel a well-worn path: one chamber passes a bill, the other chamber agrees, and it heads to the governor's desk. But some bills hit a detour and end up in a room with a small group of legislators trying to hammer out a deal. That group of legislators is called a conference committee, and right now, there are several already in session with more likely on the way.

What triggers a conference committee?

When the House passes a bill and the Senate changes it—or vice versa—the two chambers have a choice. They can accept the other chamber's changes, reject them outright (which kills the bill), or request a conference committee to negotiate a compromise.

Both chambers have to agree to form one. The Senate has already turned down some conference committee requests this session, which means those bills are effectively dead.

If both bodies say yes, the Senate President appoints three senators and the House Speaker appoints four representatives to serve as conferees. The first-named member from the chamber that originated the bill chairs the joint meetings.

It’s almost always a conference committee that decides the final state budget bill—a huge amount of power for a small number of appointed officials.

How does the committee actually work?

The House and Senate conferees meet together, but they vote separately. Getting a deal done isn't easy: it requires a unanimous vote from both groups. That means all three senators and all four representatives have to sign off. One holdout on either side is enough to sink an agreement.

The prime sponsor of the original bill can request a hearing before the committee acts. That's a small but important protection—the person who introduced the legislation gets at least a chance to weigh in before the negotiators potentially reshape it beyond recognition.

Once a committee reaches agreement, the report is printed and distributed before either chamber can vote on it. The full House and Senate then each vote to accept or reject the deal as written, with no further amendments allowed.

If no agreement is reached by the deadline, the bill dies. In 2026, conferences must be formed by May 21, reports must be signed by May 28, and the full Legislature must act by June 4.

Leadership has a trump card

Here is something that surprises many people: if a conferee refuses to support a proposed compromise, leadership can replace them.

The Senate rules are explicit about this. The Senate President “may replace any member of a Senate committee of conference who asks to be replaced or who is unwilling or unable to support a proposed conference committee report.” The House rules require that any replaced member's name appear on the final report with a strike-through, so the record shows who was swapped out.

It’s also worth noting that the number of conferees can be adjusted if the presiding officers from the House and Senate agree to do so.

In practice, this means that legislative leadership has significant leverage over what a conference committee ultimately produces. A conferee who digs in too hard against a compromise their leadership wants may simply find themselves off the committee.

For example, in 2022 Rep. Kimberly Rice (R-Hudson) was removed from a conference committee considering HB 1431, a parental rights bill championed by fellow Republicans. She opposed the bill because she believed it could put children at risk.

The “non-germane” loophole

Both the House and Senate rules explicitly prohibit non-germane amendments in conference committees. The House rules state that a committee of conference “shall not add amendments that are not germane to the subject matter of the bill as originally submitted to it.”

Here is the catch: many bills end up in conference precisely because one chamber tacked an unrelated bill onto them before sending them over. Once that amendment is part of one chamber's passed version, it's technically on the table for conference—even if it has nothing whatsoever to do with the original bill.

Last year produced some memorable examples. HB 243, which originally dealt with child abuse reporting, arrived in conference carrying the substance of four separate Senate bills: a revision to the Maternal Mortality Review Panel, fees for electric vehicle charging stations, authorization to accept a portrait of Senator Jeb Bradley, and authorization to accept a portrait of former Senate President Sylvia Larsen. In other words, a bill about protecting children from abuse became a vehicle for hanging artwork in the Statehouse.

HB 560, which would have given parents access to their minor children's medical records, showed up to conference bundled with a lengthened driver's license suspension for refusing alcohol tests and a moratorium on carbon sequestration contracts. SB 141—extending the time a convicted person has to request a new trial based on new evidence—picked up an amendment protecting the confidentiality of library card membership status along the way. And SB 302, a background check requirement for solid waste facility owners, arrived at conference also carrying a three-year moratorium on new landfills, a site evaluation committee, and due process protections for animals seized in abuse cases.

All four of those bills died in conference committee. Apparently, the negotiating table couldn't support the weight of that much unrelated legislation.

Why does this keep happening?

Senators and representatives use amendments strategically. If a priority bill has stalled, attaching its substance to a moving vehicle—a bill that's already passed one chamber—is a way to force the other chamber to engage with it. Conference committee becomes the arena where those forced conversations finally happen.

The rules say non-germane amendments are prohibited, but the rule applies to what the conference committee can add. It doesn't stop either chamber from loading up a bill before sending it over. Once the content is in one chamber's version, it's fair game for the negotiators.

Legislators are very open about this practice. For example, after a Senate committee voted against a business tax cut in April, Rep. Joe Sweeney posted on X, “Every Committee of Conference I am on will have a tax cut amendment ready to go. I was elected to cut taxes, and my bill, HB 155 as amended by the House, cut taxes. Let's get the job done.” It remains to be seen if his priority will make it to Governor Ayotte’s desk.

What do you think?

Conference committees are already meeting this week, and more are expected before the May 21 deadline. Whether they produce compromises—or collapse under the weight of unrelated additions—depends on whether seven legislators are willing to reach a unanimous agreement under significant time pressure.

Want to know if a bill you care about is headed to conference? Check the status of New Hampshire bills on our website.