Senate approves budget package, parental bill of rights and other measures after marathon session

The New Hampshire Senate adjourned a marathon day of legislative work Wednesday after approving the state’s spending package and a slate of bills dealing with education, public safety and local governance.

Senators voted to advance both the major operating-bill framework and the companion budget bill, approved a parental bill of rights and cleared a capital budget and other measures, after lengthy committee reports, floor amendments and several roll-call votes.

The Senate Finance Committee’s changes to the budget restored several items that had been cut by the House and redirected resources to programs committee members said senators and public testimony identified as priorities. “The most common requests were for Medicaid rates, developmental disabilities, [and] community mental health,” Finance Chair Senator Jeb Gray said while presenting the committee amendment. “In response to the overwhelming testimony, the finance committee began amending the budget.”

Gray told colleagues the committee had restored cuts to Medicaid and funding to address developmental-services wait lists and community mental-health programs. Senator Rosenwald urged caution, saying the committee “did not move our state forward overall because it still contains significant cuts from the current biennium to program areas Granite Staters consistently tell us are their highest priorities,” mentioning affordable housing, health care and higher education.

The Senate approved the primary budget bill (House Bill 1A as amended) on a roll call, 15–9. Later, the companion spending bill (House Bill 2 as amended), after multiple floor fights over divisibility, program-level cuts and policy riders, was ordered to be passed by a roll call (ayes 14, noes 10) and moved on for enrollment.

Parental bill of rights: The Senate adopted changes to the parental bill of rights (House Bill 10 FN) after committee action and a floor substitute. Senator Sullivan, speaking for the Education Committee, said the measure affirms parents’ rights to direct their children’s upbringing, review school and medical records and be notified about “significant events” affecting a child’s safety or well‑being. Senator Perkins Poca spoke in opposition to one element of the amendment concerning the standard for overriding parental access in safety investigations, urging a lower evidentiary standard; she said that, “as opposed to clear and convincing evidence… we would support preponderance of the evidence.” The Senate adopted the bill as amended and it was ordered to be sent back to the House for concurrence.

Other measures advanced: The Senate also adopted the two‑year capital budget (House Bill 25A) that funds bonded projects for state facilities, parks, and water/wastewater projects. Senator McConkie said the capital bill “appropriates approximately $171 million in bonding authority” for infrastructure projects. The Senate adopted that bill as amended and ordered it to enrollment.

Legislation addressing criminal and civil procedure drew attention as well. The Senate approved a bill to clarify procedures for issuing written no‑trespass orders on municipal and school property (House Bill 143), and it moved measures on background checks tied to return of firearms (House Bill 506) and other public‑safety bills through committees and to final reading after floor amendments.

Process and turnout: The session featured many floor amendments and multiple roll calls on divisibility and procedural questions, particularly on the budget bills. Committee reports, floor substitutes and negotiated language — including several “replace‑all” floor amendments — were used repeatedly to resolve disputes between chambers. Members of the Senate emphasized that some measures were the product of cross‑chamber compromise and of input from agency staff and stakeholder groups.

The Senate also approved a number of other bills on the calendar, including measures on landlord/tenant notice rules (House Bill 60, as amended to require certain notice and vacancy thresholds), expanded reporting requirements in several health and education statutes, and technical changes requested by agencies. Where the transcript recorded formal roll-call tallies, those numbers are reported in the Votes at a glance section below.

Ending: The Senate recessed to the call of the chair after the late session work was finished; many of the bills passed will now proceed to enrollment and signature processes or return to the House for concurrence on amendments passed by the Senate.