Legislature’s session changes housing, child care, tax policies

The Legislature wrapped up its session last month with the passage of a wide variety of bills, some of which have already been signed into law. As the remaining bills await the Governor’s consideration, many proposed changes could affect both businesses and Granite Staters, including those struggling to afford daily living costs.

The Legislature added to the housing law overhauls approved last year, including further establishing that multifamily units must be allowed in commercially zoned areas. Cities and towns would also have less power to limit dead-end roads and street lengths, certain utility infrastructure and new construction based on the availability of parking if another bill from the Legislature becomes law. Municipalities could also create special districts to support infrastructure and raise property tax revenue only from those areas.

Proposals that passed through the Legislature also included an expansion of local property tax credits for veterans and a requirement that cities and towns put a temporary school property tax growth cap on the ballot for voters. The choice would appear on the November general election ballots in 2026 and 2028. As this limit would be imposed via ballot question with standardized language, voters may not be able to have the direct insight into the specific impacts of the revenue reductions on education services that they would at a school district meeting.

More small businesses would not be required to file Business Enterprise Tax returns under a separate bill the Legislature passed, and the Business Enterprise Tax rate could go down in the future under certain circumstances. The scenario that would trigger a rate reduction has never occurred before; before these tax rate reductions could take effect and lower state revenue, the state would be required to fill its Rainy Day Fund to the maximum amount and meet other revenue targets as well.

Another change to taxes would provide a credit to businesses that spend money to increase the supply of child care, either by working with existing providers or by offering care on-site. A bill already signed into law will enhance access to the Child Care Scholarship Program for children in a relative’s care, while another already signed by the Governor will expand where local zoning permits child care centers.

The Governor has not acted upon all of these bills yet, but those not yet signed into law will be up for consideration throughout the summer.

Phil Sletten is research director for the NH Fiscal Policy Institute. The NHFPI Policy Memo is a partnership of the NH Fiscal Policy Institute and NH Business Review.