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2020 New Hampshire legislative session

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Some states made changes to 2020 state legislative sessions and legislative activity in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
For a full list of changes, visit: Changes to state legislative session dates in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020.
New Hampshire: The New Hampshire General Court suspended its session, effective March 14, 2020, through June 11, 2020. The New Hampshire House of Representatives reconvened June 11. The New Hampshire State Senate was set to reconvene June 16. The legislature adjourned on June 30, 2020.
New Hampshire General Court

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General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   None
Session start:   January 8, 2020
Website:   Official General Court Page
Leadership
Senate President:  
Donna Soucy (D)
House Speaker:  Stephen Shurtleff (D)
Majority Leader:   Senate: Dan Feltes (D)
House: Douglas Ley (D)
Minority Leader:   Senate: Chuck Morse (R)
House: Dick Hinch (R)
Structure
Members:  24 (Senate), 400 (House)
Length of term:   2 years (Senate), 2 years (House)
Authority:   Part Second, New Hampshire Constitution
Salary:   $200/two-year term
Elections
Last election:  November 6, 2018
Next election:  November 3, 2020
Redistricting:  New Hampshire General Court has control

In 2020, the New Hampshire State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 8 and adjourn on June 30.

Several state legislatures suspended their sessions or otherwise limited legislative activity in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

At the start of the 2020, New Hampshire was one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Following the 2018 election, Democrats had a 14-10 majority in the Senate and a 234-166 majority in the House. Republicans controlled the governorship, meaning neither party held a state government trifecta.

At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session:
  • Democrats held a majority in the New Hampshire state Senate and state House.
  • New Hampshire was one of 14 states with a divided government.
  • New Hampshire’s governor was Republican Chris Sununu.

    • Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2020 state Senate and state House elections.
    Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2018 state Senate and state House elections.

    Partisan control in 2020

    See also: State government trifectas

    New Hampshire was one of 14 states without a state government trifectas at the start of 2020 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    New Hampshire was also one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the New Hampshire General Court in the 2020 legislative session.

    New Hampshire State Senate

    Party As of January 2020
         Democratic Party 14
         Republican Party 10
    Total 24

    Between 1992 and 2020, partisan control of the New Hampshire State Senate fluctuated. Since the 2018 elections, Democrats have controlled the chamber. The table below shows the partisan history of the New Hampshire State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    New Hampshire State Senate election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 11 6 9 13 11 6 8 14 14 5 11 10 10 14
    Republicans 13 18 15 11 13 18 16 10 10 19 13 14 14 10

    Between 1992 and 2020, majority control of the state Senate changed five times. During that time, Democrats usually controlled between 5 and 14 seats, while Republicans controlled between 10 and 19 seats. Republicans controlled the chamber from 1992 until the 1998 election. In 1998, Democrats picked up four seats in the election. That Democratic majority held until the 2000 elections, when Republicans gained two seats. Republicans held that majority until the 2006 elections, when Democrats retook control of the chamber. Democrats held a 14-10 majority from the 2006 elections until the 2010 elections. The chamber returned to a Republican majority in 2010 after Republicans picked up nine seats. Republican seat totals declined from their 2010 peak over the next three elections, and the chamber flipped into Democratic control in 2018.

    New Hampshire House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2020
         Democratic Party 233
         Republican Party 164
         Libertarian Party 1
         Vacancies 2
    Total 400

    Between 1992 and 2006, the New Hampshire House of Representatives was controlled by Republicans. Partisan control of the chamber fluctuated between 2006 and 2020. During the House's 2018 elections, Democrats obtained a 234-166 majority, flipping the 227-173 Republican-controlled chamber which arose after the 2016 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the New Hampshire House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    New Hampshire House of Representatives election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 136 112 143 154 140 119 148 239 224 102 221 160 173 234
    Republicans 258 286 255 242 256 281 252 161 176 298 179 239 227 166
    Other 6 2 2 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

    Between 1992 and 2020, majority control of the state House changed five times from large partisan swings. During that time, Democrats usually controlled between 102 and 239 seats, while Republicans controlled between 161 and 298 seats. Republicans controlled the House from 1992 until the 2006 elections. In the 2006 elections, Democrats picked up 91 seats and held a 239-161 majority. That Democratic majority held until the 2010 elections, when Republicans gained 122 seats. Republicans held that majority until the next election, when Democrats picked up 119 seats in the 2012 elections. The chamber returned to a Republican majority in 2014 after Republicans picked up 60 seats. In the 2018 elections, the chamber flipped once more to a 234-166 Democratic majority.

    Leadership in 2020

    New Hampshire State Senate

    New Hampshire House of Representatives

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2020 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2020. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in New Hampshire state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session, there were 41 standing committees in New Hampshire's state government, including no joint legislative committees, 12 state Senate committees, and 29 state House committees.

    Senate committees


    House committees


    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the New Hampshire Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article 100 of the New Hampshire Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in New Hampshire

    There are two paths to altering the New Hampshire Constitution: A legislatively referred constitutional amendment or a constitutional convention.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    A 60% vote is required during one legislative session for the New Hampshire State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 240 votes in the New Hampshire House of Representatives and 15 votes in the New Hampshire State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

    In New Hampshire, an amendment needs to receive support from two-thirds (66.67%) of the votes cast on the measure.

    Convention

    See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

    According to the New Hampshire Constitution, a question about whether to hold a state constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the state's ballot every 10 years starting in 1972. New Hampshire is one of 14 states that provides for an automatic constitutional convention question.

    The table below shows the last and next constitutional convention question election years:

    State Interval Last question on the ballot Next question on the ballot
    New Hampshire 10 years 2022 2032


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of New Hampshire.

    New Hampshire Party Control: 1992-2025
    Four years of Democratic trifectas  •  Fourteen years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor R R R R R D D D D D D R R D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R
    Senate R R R R R R R D S R R R R R R D D D D R R R R R R R R D D R R R R R
    House R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D R R D D R R R R D D R R R R R

    See also

    Elections New Hampshire State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    External links

    Footnotes

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