NH 2026 Legislative Season

Proposed 2026 New Hampshire Legislation

This page at New Futures is an excellent resource to educate yourself about our unique NH legislative process. Bills beginning with "SB" start in the Senate, and bills beginning with "HB" start in the House. On March 26, they "cross over" and are debated again on the other side.

As the legislature swings into action on January 7, 2026, it will convene committee hearings for each of these, with opportunity for testimony from the public.

The “Track” links point to Fast Democracy, a free platform on which you can track bills of interest.

You’ll see bills with current action items have red text beneath them. Bills without current action items have purple text identifying where in the process they are. Bills in green strikethrough have been killed.

Biological Sex, Bathrooms, Sports, Prisons

First, there are eight bills that attempt to legislate on binary "biological sex," which is usually not defined.

Last year's "bathroom ban" HB148 passed the House and Senate, to be vetoed by the Governor. It was unenforceable, as all bathroom bans are and will be. This year six bills that are nearly identical to the vetoed bill are up for consideration.

  • Official Title: permitting classification of individuals based on biological sex under certain limited circumstances.

  • Bill Sponsors: (Prime) Avard (R), Lang (R)

    • BILL UPDATE:

      • HOUSE APPROVED on 01/08/2026 - going to Governor’s Desk

      • VETOED

    • Current Actions: NONE

Medical

In the medical category:

  • HB1356 This bill extends the statute of limitations for gender surgery on a minor to 10 years after majority, causing a chilling effect on accepted medical practice. (House Judiciary Committee) Track

    • Official Title: relative to the statute of limitations for bringing a private right of action for violation of the statute prohibiting medical procedures and treatments intended to alter a minor's gender.

    • Bill Sponsors: (Prime) Wherry (R), Kofalt (R), Layon (R), Mazur (R), Peternel (R), Potenza (R), McGrath (R), Ford (R)

      • BILL UPDATE:

        • Introduced on 01/07/2026 and referred to House Judiciary Committee

        • Committee hearing on 02/10 (House Judiciary, 1 Granite Place, Room 158, at 2:30)

        • Executive Session STAY TUNED

      • Current Actions:

        • STAY TUNED

  • SB520 This is a positive bill that allows for elective breast surgery for minors. (House Judiciary Committee?) Track

    • BILL UPDATE: Introduced on 01/07/2026 and referred to Health and Human Services Committee

    • Current Actions: None

Marriage

Legislation is lining up in anticipation of the US Supreme Court reversing the 2015 Obergefell vs. Hodges decision, which legalized same-sex marriage.

  • CACR25 This is another positive one! It is a CACR, not a normal bill, amending the NH constitution to establish marriage as a fundamental civil right. This protection will be essential as Obergefell gets challenged at the federal level. (House Judiciary Committee) Track

    • BILL UPDATE:

      • Meeting was scheduled with the House Judiciary Committee for Wednesday, January 21, 2026 at 1 Granite Place, Concord, NH, Room 230 @ 11:30 AM.

      • Bill has several proposed amendments, and was moved to Executive Counsel.

      • Executive Council issued two committee reports, with the majority ruling the bill ITL (inexpedient to legislate) 11-7 and the minority committee report ruling OTP (ought to pass). STAY TUNED.

    • Current Actions: None

  • HB1615 This Republican bill creates an second-class alternative to marriage, in anticipation of a federal attack on marriage equality. (House Judiciary Committee) Track

    • Official Title: permitting consenting adults to enter into contract-based marriage agreements as an alternative to the requirement of a marriage license.

    • Bill Sponsors: (Prime) Sabourin dit Choinière (R), Farrington (R), Granger (R), Drago (R), Dupont (R), Giasson (R), Love (R), Terry (R), Bailey (R), McFarlane (R), Keith Murphy (R)

    • Bill Hearings & Public Record

      • BILL UPDATE:

        • Meeting was scheduled with the House Judiciary Committee for Wednesday, January 14, 2026 at 1 Granite Place, Concord, NH, Room 230 @ 2:30 pm.

        • Committee recommended ITL (INEXPEDIENT TO LEGISLATE) - which means the committee does not support.

        • Very similar legislative language was included in a proposed amendment to the pending bill CACR25 (see below) after the public testimony was heard by the Judiciary Committee. Stay informed about CACR25 to see if the legislative body attempts to combine these two bills. THE BILL HAS BEEN KILLED.

      • Current Actions:

        • None

Gender Identity

There are two bills aimed at literally erasing gender identity from official life:

Civil Rights & Harassment

This bill would effectively reduce the penalty for harassing or threatening on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity:

Youth

Further encroachments against children’s rights against abusive parents:

Schools & Censorship

  • SB430 This bill expands upon the "forced outing" or mandatory disclosure of any information about public school students to their parents. Last year's HB10, the "parental bill of rights," created a situation where teachers would be forced to out LGBTQIA students. This trend continues. (Senate Education Policy Committee?) Track

  • HB1792 This bill prohibits a laundry list of concepts including "critical race theory" and "LGBTQ+ ideology as a prescriptive world-view". (House Education Policy Committee). Track

    • Official Title: prohibiting school districts and personnel from the instruction of critical race theory and LGBTQ+ ideologies in schools as well as establishing a private right of action for violations.

    • Bill Sponsors:  (Prime) Belcher (R), Noble (R), Osborne (R), Corcoran (R), Sabourin dit Choinière (R)

      • BILL UPDATE:

        • Introduced on 01/07/2026 and referred to House’s Education Policy and Administration Committee.

        • Committee Hearing scheduled for 02/02/26 at 2:00 at 1 Granite Place, Concord, NH , room 232

        • Committee recommended OTP (ought to pass)

        • Full House Vote: OTP 184 / 164

      • Current Actions:

        • Write your Senators

        • Attend Senate Session on 03/05

  • SB434 Nearly identical to SB33. (Senate Education Policy Committee?) Track

Flags

Finally, they are coming for our pride flags in the public schools:

  • HB1132 This bill only allows official flags in school buildings, effectively banning pride flags. (House Education Policy Committee) Track

    • Official Title: prohibiting the display of certain flags in public schools and public charter schools and establishing penalties for the display of prohibited flags.

    • Bill Sponsors: (Prime) Freeman (R), Colcombe (R), Ford (R), Harvey-Bolia (R), Litchfield (R), Miner (R), Thibault (R), Avard (R)

      • BILL UPDATE:

        • Committee hearing scheduled for 01/28/26 at 2:00pm at 1 Granite Place, Concord, NH with the House Education Policy and Administration Committee

        • Committee heard public testimony and the bill is now in Exec (Due Out: 3/5/2026).

      • Current Actions: NONE

  • HB1345 In addition to many flag rules, this bill only allows official flags to be flown in schools, effectively banning pride flags. (House Education Policy Committee) Track

    • Official Title: requiring schools to establish rules related to the display of flags and designate students at each school to serve as the school's color guard.

    • Bill Sponsors: (Prime) Thibault (R), Moffett (R), Morse (R), Nadeau (R), Perez (R), Ulery (R), Plante (R), Litchfield (R), Innis (R), Pearl (R)

      • BILL UPDATE:

        • Committee hearing scheduled for 01/28/26 at 1:30pm at the 1 Granite Place, Concord, NH with the House Education Policy and Administration Committee

        • Amendment was added during committee removing the pride flag ban

        • Committee heard public testimony and the bill is now in Exec (Due Out: 3/5/2026).

      • Current Actions: NONE