2023 New Hampshire legislative session

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2022
2024


2023 New Hampshire legislative session
Seal of New Hampshire.png
General information
Session start:    January 4, 2023

Session end:    June 30, 2023

Leadership
Senate President
Jeb Bradley (R)

House Speaker
Sherman Packard (R)
Majority Leader
Senate: Sharon Carson (R)
House: Jason Osborne (R)
Minority Leader
Senate: Donna Soucy (D)
House: David Cote (D)

Elections
Next Election:    November 5, 2024

Last Election:    November 8, 2022

Previous legislative sessions
20222021202020192018
Other 2023 legislative sessions


In 2023, the New Hampshire General Court was scheduled to convene on January 4, 2023 and adjourn on June 30, 2023.

The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2022 elections. Republicans won a 14-10 majority in the Senate and a 201-197 majority in the House with two vacancies. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta. At the start of the 2023 session, New Hampshire was one of 23 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.


At the beginning of the 2023 legislative session:
  • Republicans held a majority in the New Hampshire state House and state Senate.
  • New Hampshire was one of 22 Republican state government trifectas.
  • New Hampshire's governor was Republican Chris Sununu.
  • Leadership in 2023

    New Hampshire State Senate

    New Hampshire House of Representatives

    Partisan control in 2023

    See also: State government trifectas

    New Hampshire was one of 22 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2023 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 23 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 State Legislature in the 2023 legislative session.

    New Hampshire State Senate

    Party As of January 2023
         Democratic Party 10
         Republican Party 14
    Total 24

    New Hampshire House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2023
         Democratic Party 197
         Republican Party 201
         Vacancies 2
    Total 400

    Regular session

    The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2023 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 2023. 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 2023 legislative session, there were 51 standing committees in New Hampshire's state government, including 14 joint legislative committees, 12 state Senate committees, and 25 state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees

    • Administrative Rules Committee
    • Capital Budget Overview Committee
    • Dedicated Funds Committee
    • Employee Classification Committee
    • Employee Relations Committee
    • Fiscal Committee
    • Health Care Reform Oversight Committee
    • Historical Committee
    • Information Technology Oversight Committee
    • Legislative Ethics Committee
    • Legislative Facilities Committee
    • Legislative Performance Audit and Oversight Committee
    • Long Range Capital Planning and Utilization Committee
    • Tax Expenditure Review Committee

    Senate committees

    • Capital Budget Committee
    • Commerce Committee
    • Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee
    • Energy and Natural Resources Committee
    • Health and Human Services Committee
    • Rules and Enrolled Bills Committee
    • Senate Education Committee
    • Senate Executive Departments and Administration Committee
    • Senate Finance Committee
    • Senate Judiciary Committee
    • Senate Transportation Committee
    • Senate Ways and Means Committee

    House committees

    • Children and Family Law Committee
    • Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee
    • Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee
    • Election Law Committee
    • Environment and Agriculture Committee
    • Finance - Division I Committee
    • Finance - Division II Committee
    • Finance - Division III Committee
    • Fish and Game and Marine Resources Committee
    • Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee
    • House Education Committee
    • House Executive Departments and Administration Committee
    • House Finance Committee
    • House Judiciary Committee
    • House Transportation Committee
    • House Ways and Means Committee
    • Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services Committee
    • Legislative Administration Committee
    • Municipal and County Government Committee
    • Public Works and Highways Committee
    • Resources, Recreation and Development Committee
    • Rules Committee
    • Science, Technology and Energy Committee
    • Special Committee On Redistricting
    • State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Committee

    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

    Historical Senate control

    Between 1992 and 2022, partisan control of the New Hampshire State Senate fluctuated. Republicans won control of the chamber in the 2020 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the New Hampshire State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2022. 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: 1992-2022

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20 '22
    Democrats 11 6 9 13 11 6 8 14 14 5 11 10 10 14 10 10
    Republicans 13 18 15 11 13 18 16 10 10 19 13 14 14 10 14 14

    Between 1992 and 2022, majority control of the state Senate changed six times. During that time, Democrats 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 to gain a majority. That Democratic majority held until the 2000 elections, when Republicans gained two seats to flip the chamber. 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 to Democratic control in 2018. In 2020, Republicans won a 14-10 majority, which they maintained in 2022.

    Historical House control

    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 2020 elections, Republicans flipped the chamber, obtaining a 213-187 majority, which narrowed to a 201-198 majority in 2022. The table below shows the partisan history of the New Hampshire House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2022. 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: 1992-2022

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20 '22[1]
    Democrats 136 112 143 154 140 119 148 239 224 102 221 160 173 233 187 198
    Republicans 258 286 255 242 256 281 252 161 176 298 179 239 227 167 213 201
    Other 6 2 2 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

    Between 1992 and 2022, majority control of the state House changed six times. During that time, Democrats 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, creating a 239-161 majority. That Democratic majority held until the 2010 elections, when Republicans gained 122 seats. Republicans held that majority until the 2012 elections, when Democrats picked up 119 seats. The chamber returned to a Republican majority in 2014 after Republicans picked up 60 seats. In the 2018 elections, the chamber flipped back to a 233-167 Democratic majority. In 2020, the chamber flipped to a 213-187 Republican majority, which narrowed to a 201-198 majority in 2022.

    Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker

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    See also

    Elections New Hampshire State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    External links

    Footnotes

    1. One race remained uncalled after the election, ending in a tie. It will be filled in a redo election in February 2023.