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2024 New Hampshire legislative session
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| 2024 New Hampshire legislative session |
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| General information |
| Scheduled session start: Jan. 3, 2024 Scheduled session end: June 13, 2024 |
| Leadership |
| Senate President Jeb Bradley (R) House Speaker |
| Elections |
| Next Election: November 5, 2024 Last Election: November 8, 2022 |
| Previous legislative sessions |
| 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
| Other 2024 legislative sessions |
In 2024, the New Hampshire General Court was scheduled to convene on January 3 and adjourn on June 13.
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 2024 session, New Hampshire was one of 21 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.
Leadership in 2024
New Hampshire State Senate
- Senate president: Jeb Bradley (R)
- Majority leader: Sharon Carson (R)
- Minority leader: Donna Soucy (D)
New Hampshire House of Representatives
- Speaker of the House: Sherman Packard (R)
- Majority leader: Jason Osborne (R)
- Minority leader: Matt Wilhelm (D)
Partisan control in 2024
- See also: State government trifectas
New Hampshire was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2024 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 21 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 2024 legislative session.
New Hampshire State Senate
| Party | As of January 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 10 | |
| Republican Party | 14 | |
| Total | 24 | |
New Hampshire House of Representatives
| Party | As of January 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 193 | |
| Republican Party | 201 | |
| Independent | 1 | |
| Other | 1 | |
| Vacancies | 4 | |
| Total | 400 | |
Standing legislative committees
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 2024 legislative session, there were 54 standing committees in New Hampshire's state government, including 14 joint legislative committees, 12 state Senate committees, and 28 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
- Education Committee
- Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee
- Energy and Natural Resources Committee
- Executive Departments and Administration Committee
- Finance Committee
- Health and Human Services Committee
- Judiciary Committee
- Rules and Enrolled Bills Committee
- Transportation Committee
- Ways and Means Committee
House committees
- Children and Family Law Committee
- Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee
- Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee
- Education Committee
- Election Law Committee
- Environment and Agriculture Committee
- Executive Departments and Administration Committee
- Finance 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
- Judiciary 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 Childcare
- Special Committee on Commissions
- Special Committee on Housing
- Special Committee on Family Division of Circuit Court
- State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Committee
- Transportation Committee
- Ways and Means Committee
Legislation
Enacted legislation
The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2024 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 2024. This information is provided by BillTrack50.
Election administration legislation
State election laws are changing. Keeping track of the latest developments in all 50 states can seem like an impossible job. Here's the solution: Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker.
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Tracker sets the industry standard for ease of use, flexibility, and raw power. Ballotpedia's election experts provide daily updates on bills and other relevant political developments, translate complex bill text into easy-to-understand summaries written in everyday language, and, because it's from Ballotpedia, our Tracker is guaranteed to be neutral, unbiased, and nonpartisan.
The table below lists 2024 election-related legislation in New Hampshire. The following information is included for each bill:
- Bill number
- Official name or caption
- Most recent action date
- Legislative status
- Topics dealt with by the bill
Bills are organized by bill number. The table displays up to 100 results by default. To view additional results, use the arrows in the upper-right corner of the table. For more information about a particular bill, simply click the bill number. This will open a separate page with additional information.
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:
There are two paths to altering the New Hampshire Constitution: A legislatively referred constitutional amendment or a constitutional convention.
Legislature
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
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
Republicans won control of the New Hampshire State Senate in 2020. In 2022, they won a 14-10 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the New Hampshire 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 |
Historical House control
Republicans won control of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 2020. In 2022, they won a 201-199 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the New Hampshire House 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 136 | 112 | 143 | 154 | 140 | 119 | 148 | 239 | 224 | 102 | 221 | 160 | 173 | 233 | 187 | 199 |
| 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 |
See also
| Elections | New Hampshire State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
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External links
Footnotes
