This is the 16th legislative/policy update for the 2026 New Hampshire legislative session. I provide this update periodically (almost weekly) while the New Hampshire legislature is in session to keep NHTOA members informed about what is happening in Concord.

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General Comments

This week the N.H. Senate had short general session on Thursday (April 16) when they voted on bills, on veto overrides, and on concurrences. Next week both the House and Senate will have general sessions and both chambers’ policy committees will continue to work on the newly arrived bills from the other chamber. This is the point of the session where both chambers begin to negotiate policy initiatives, and we see non-germane amendments getting attached to bills as a means to force the other chamber to negotiate a policy.

A couple of priority bills are seeing action next week and currently there is no opportunity for meaningful public input.

I am attaching the NHTOA’s bill tracker spreadsheet. It lists all the bills the NHTOA is currently monitoring and working on. All the bills of interest to the NHTOA have been vetted and reviewed by the NHTOA Policy Committee. There are still several bills about which we are seeking information. Therefore, our positions are tentative, pending the additional information.

While reviewing the spreadsheet, there are three notes to consider:

  1. The legislative process is very fluid and moves quickly. The House and Senate Status/Actions are as they are on the day the report is printed. Please note these are subject to change.
  2. The link to the bill text should take you directly to the N.H. General Court website’s link to the bill. Note that during the heat of committee meetings and debate over amendments, this link will sometimes not take you to the most current amendments.
  3. The Priority/Action looks at the entire bill and weighs many factors. The NHTOA Executive Director analyzes each bill and makes a recommendation to the NHTOA Policy Committee.

If you have any questions about any of the bills on the spreadsheet, please contact me.

Lastly, given the diversity of the NHTOA’s membership (landowners, loggers, truckers, foresters, and wood processors), the diversity of bills we monitor and lobby is large. This also explains why we will be following bills that deal with small-business interests, trucking, and renewable energy along with land use, forest management, and real estate matters.

Again, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about any of the bills listed.

Jasen

House Bill 1040 (line 16 on the spreadsheet) – This bill establishes a study committee to look at property fraud occurring through quitclaim deeds (i.e., people establishing bogus claims on others’ property).

NHTOA position: The NHTOA supports this bill. The full House of Representatives passed this bill on Feb. 5 and last week the Senate Judiciary Committee passed an amended version (and removed a senator from the committee). The full Senate approved this bill on Thursday (April 9). It will now go to Gov. Ayotte’s desk where she can sign it into law, veto it, or allow it to go into law without her signature.

Action: Please be sure to check out the upcoming NHTOA landowner workshop on this subject occurring on April 24, 2- 4 p.m. in Concord.

House Bill 1542 (line 39 on the spreadsheet) – This bill will modify the New Hampshire Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) law. Specifically, it raids the renewable energy fund diverting the money to state coffers and back to ratepayers. This modest fund was established when the RPS law was adopted to provide grants and assistance for the development of new renewable energy projects. It is instrumental in helping municipal, school, and private businesses build biomass heat and power units (e.g., lumber dry kilns, building heating projects). House Bill 1542 eliminates this fund.

NHTOA position: The NHTOA opposes this bill. This law is working and the renewable energy fund grants and support have helped many municipal, institutional, and businesses move to biomass heat and power, thereby saving money, using a local renewable fuel, and adding value to a low-grade forest product. The full House of Representatives passed this bill last month. On Tuesday (April 14) the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hosted a public hearing on this bill. The hearing went well with few testifying in support of the bill.  

Action: NHTOA will continue to monitor this bill and meet with committee members. A committee vote has not been scheduled.

House Bill 1095 (line 51 on the spreadsheet) – This bill proposes to increase the weight limit for Off Highway Recreational Vehicles from 2,000 pounds to 3,499 pounds on any state trail in Coös County and the Ammonoosuc recreational trail from Haverhill to Bethlehem and the Warren recreational trail in the town of Warren in Grafton County. At the hearings in the House the bill sponsors attempted to completely remove any weight limit and dismissed the NHTOA’s concerns over damage to trails crossing private property.  In the House, the NHTOA was the only organization/person to oppose this proposal stating,

  • “State trails” are commonly designated along and over woods roads on private property. Therefore, anything negatively impacting these roads (e.g., heavier OHRV traffic) also negatively impacts private landowner access.
  • Negative impacts on roads cost landowners time and money to repair.
  • Although the bill limits the weight increase to trails in Coös County, and the Ammonoosuc and Warren trails, OHRV enthusiasts will not understand nor want to restrict their travels to just one county or specific trails.
  • Advocates for the bill argue the weight increase is justified since NH Fish and Game currently does not enforce this law. NHTOA believes this is not a good reason to remove a law designed to protect landowner assets and natural resources.
  • Advocates for the bill argue OHRV tires have low ground pressure and therefore we can “afford” to increase the allowable weight limit.  NHTOA members are already seeing significant negative impacts with current weight limits and traffic. Increasing weight limits will only make the negative impacts worse.

On Tuesday (April 7) the Senate Transportation Committee held a public hearing on this bill during which the bill sponsors testified in support, the NHTOA and a couple of NHTOA members testified in opposition. Many on the committee appear to support this proposal, believing the economic activity coming from the use of new, larger OHRVs will help Coös County. The committee will be voting on this bill on April 21.

NHTOA position: For the reasons above, the NHTOA is opposing House Bill 1095.

Action: Since the hearing the NHTOA has been meeting with committee members, and it appears a compromise bill is in the works. We anticipate a vote on this bill next Tuesday (April 21). We will keep you posted.

House Bill 1603 (line 53 on the spreadsheet) – This bill addresses a concern raised by landowners regarding NH Fish and Game biologists entering private property to gather endangered species data without consulting the landowner. Recall, when it was originally introduced, this bill sought to make significant changes to how the NH Fish and Game Department gathers and maintains location data for threatened and endangered species collected on private property. Although the NHTOA’s membership has a good working relationship with Fish and Game, the gathering and cataloguing of information collected from members’ lands without notification or permission is a concern. While the bill was in the House, the NHTOA was able to work with the sponsor to draft a bill that achieves our goal and could pass. The new bill requires the NH Fish and Game Department to develop rules to ensure their endangered species database is accurate, and landowners are notified prior to the gathering of endangered species data from private property. By structuring the process in this manner, NH Fish and Game will have input into the final process and acknowledges that the ultimate goal is landowner notification/permission and database accuracy.

NHTOA position: The NHTOA supports this bill.

Action: Last week the Senate approved their version of this bill (a version the NHTOA supports). The House of Representatives will now be asked if they concur with the proposed changes. We expect this vote could come as early as next Thursday (April 23). If the House agrees with the Senate version, the new bill goes to the governor for consideration (she can sign it into law, veto it, or allow it to go into law without a signature). If the House does not agree, they can seek a “committee of conference” to negotiate the different versions. If the two chambers cannot come to an agreement, then the bill dies.