Updates

Summer in New Hampshire is beach, boat, and fireworks season. But it’s also the time of year when bills that made it through New Hampshire’s legislative Hunger Games finally reach the governor’s desk for action. Here’s a quick recap of some of the good, the bad, and the ugly bills that have made it to the finish line so far.

On Thursday, members of the NH House of Representatives took final action on remaining committee of conference reports. For some bills it was the final step before moving on to Gov. Sununu for signature or veto. For others—thankfully—it was the end of the line. Here are some of the highlights.

Last Thursday, members of the NH House of Representatives had the opportunity to listen to a speech from former Polish President Lech Walesa, who broke the stranglehold of communism in his country decades ago. They also decided the fate of 81 bills and formed conference committees to hash out differences with the Senate on dozens more. Here are the highlights.

On Wednesday and Thursday May 4-5, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted on the remaining bills already passed in the Senate. Complicating matters were potential “poison pill amendments” added to several bills. Here were some of the key votes from this week’s session.

On Thursday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives met for the first time in 2022 without Rep. Katherine Rogers (D-Concord), who died of cancer earlier this month. Over the course of the day, the House voted on close to 30 bills already passed in the Senate. Here are the highlights.

On Thursday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted on the remaining House bills in the 2022 session. Here is a wrap-up of some of the key votes.

Last Tuesday through Thursday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives met at the State House in Concord to vote on close to 400 bills. While some were non-controversial, debates on many others were heated and contentious. Here are some of the highlights.

As New Hampshire readies for a Thanksgiving holiday where twice as many people are expected to gather together to celebrate as in 2020, hospitals are under tremendous strain to not only deal with the patients they already have—but to prepare to accommodate those likely to be sickened over the holiday.

On Tuesday, a bill that would ban all New Hampshire employers from making COVID vaccinations a condition of employment passed the New Hampshire House Education Committee 11-8 after an eyeopening public hearing.

New new redistricting maps drawn by New Hampshire Republicans mean big changes for Portsmouth and other Seacoast Communities.

After a 41% increase in active cases over the most recent 7-day period, active COVID-19 cases in NH have hit their highest levels since Jan. 31. Vaccinations are off to a slow start for children ages 5-11. Meanwhile, a solution to the state’s vaccination data collection and reporting issues may be months away. More here...

The legislative filing period for the New Hampshire House of Representatives for the 2022 session ended last week with a flurry of bills that will tie the hands of public health officials when it comes to ending the COVID pandemic and when it comes to fighting communicable diseases in the future.

Twenty years ago, the most devastating attacks to take place on American soil since Pearl Harbor united the country and much of the world in shared shock, anger, and grief. For every person old enough to remember 9/11, there is a story.

Yesterday the Majority Leader of the New Hampshire House of Representatives framed the most extreme budget in state history as a “transformational symphony of reforms.” But a more accurate description would be a “symphony of depravity” that will likely create a “symphony of accountability” for Gov. Chris Sununu, who seems to be just fine with signing off on the worst budget in NH history. 

On Thursday June 24, both branches of the New Hampshire state legislature will get together (separately) to vote on a state budget for the 2022-2023 biennium. Here are five things you should know about the state’s $13.5 billion 2022-2023 budget.

Tonight at midnight, New Hampshire’s year-long COVID-19 State of Emergency will be allowed to expire. While COVID-19 continues to be with us (51 new cases and three additional deaths announced on Thursday), New Hampshire public health officials say the end of the State of Emergency marks the beginning of a transition to living with the virus “at a baseline level”. They also repeated their call for everyone to get vaccinated to minimize the risk of the virus surging back in the fall.

After two deaths were announced on Friday, New Hampshire public health officials announced one additional death on Saturday, bringing the state’s pandemic death toll up to 1,352. Also reported on Saturday were 73 new COVID-19 cases. There were 500 active infections reported statewide and 46 people were hospitalized. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Sunday.

On Thursday, New Hampshire public health officials acknowledged that as new cases and hospitalizations continue to trend downward, the pace of vaccinations is also slowing. Five additional deaths were announced along with 298 new cases. That brings the the total number of active cases to 2,610. There were also 87 people hospitalized with the virus. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Friday.

Last week’s three-day session of the New Hampshire House of Representatives was filled with moments that were intensely, and sometimes emotionally, debated. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights of a contentious three days.

Vaccination registrations open today for residents age 30 and over. Meanwhile, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced 408 new positive test results for COVID-19 and no new deaths on Tuesday. There were 2,864 active COVID-19 cases diagnosed statewide and 80 people were hospitalized. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Wednesday.