Legislation on labor and energy — two of the highest costs when it comes to business — will be coming up to vote on Wednesday’s committee meetings and Thursday full session (with Tuesday’s committee meetings being cancelled because of the storm).
Wednesday’s committee meetings
The House Ways and Means will be voting on the major marijuana bill, House Bill 639, which will allow for legalized retail sales, cultivation and manufacturing operations regulated by the renamed liquor and cannabis commission.
The Finance Committee will be voting on three bills that will help increase school building aid (House Bill 322, HB 541 and HB 546), all high on the agenda of the construction industry. That committee will also be voting on whether to increase the Medicaid reimbursement rates for understaffed assisted living facilities.
In the afternoon, the Labor Committee will vote on HB 190, which would sharply cut the duration of jobless benefits when the unemployment rate is low, as it is now. Supporters said it would force people back into the labor force. It will probably end up with a split vote, as evidenced by the recommendations — or the lack thereof because of tie votes — in the House Calendar for Thursday’s marathon session.
When it comes to labor, those upcoming full House votes include HB 58, which would up the subminimum tipped wage (currently $3.27 per hour) to the minimum wage of $7.25 hour. Supporters argue that tips more than make up the difference in pricier restaurants, but they barely do in budget restaurants. Opponents said businesses should decide how much or how little to pay their workers.
There is also HB 125, which would bring back some of the child labor laws that were eliminated last session. It would prevent youths (ages 16 to 17) from working all night, or very late into the night during school weeks. Opponents, however, said that the employer and the teens should make that decision.
There is also a split vote on energy bills that the full House must now decide. That includes:
The Senate is expected to pass a similar bill, SB 79, to expand net metering for businesses. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee unanimously recommended it and it’s on the consent calendar, meaning that unless it is pulled, it will be passed with all the other noncontroversial bills.
SB 79 has some restrictions on it: At least a fifth of the energy has to be used in the business’s own generation.
Also on the consent calendar is a bill (SB 269) that would forbid employers from suggesting tip-sharing arrangements in an effort to protect workers from being pressured into it.
On the regular calendar, but also backed by unanimous recommendation, is a “housing champion” bill (SB 145), which rewards municipalities for policies that favor workforce housing; SB267, tightening up rulemaking for advanced recycling facilities; SB 152, encouraging workforce training; SB 86, financing healthcare workforce development; and SB 237, funding a child care scholarship program.
That doesn’t say that the Senate won’t have any contested votes on Thursday, but a lot fewer of them are in the House.
Key federal funding for New Hampshire schools has not been affected by the shutdown in Washington, Department of Education Commissioner Caitlin Davis said Thursday, Oct. 9 — at least the money that flows through the state Department of Education.
New Hampshire voters aren’t feeling much relief from their anxieties about the state’s housing crisis. The continued reduced housing inventory, which pushes home prices higher, is also dampening labor market in the Granite State, according to a pair of studies.
New Hampshire’s attorney general says no improprieties by state officials preceded the sale of a large Nashua commercial building to China’s largest water bottler. But Attorney General John Formella’s report to Gov. Kelly Ayotte dated Oct. 3 says the provisions of federal law should have taken place prior to the sale of the 337,391-square-foot building at 80 Northwest Blvd. in Nashua by a subsidiary of Nongfu Spring.
Despite a shift in policy, New Hampshire officials expect 100% of the households and businesses in the state will have access to broadband internet by 2026.
The Trump administration’s Department of Justice is suing New Hampshire Secretary of State Dave Scanlan, arguing he is illegally withholding the state’s voter file from federal officials.
Brian Gottlob uses these words to describe the state’s current economic climate: “Uncertainty rules.” The director of the New Hampshire Employment Security's Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau raised several issues — from immigration and unemployment, to housing prices and consumer spending — as reasons for both hope and concern for the economy into 2026.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte led the visit, which included a selection of policymakers as well as businesspeople representing a wide array of enterprises.
Nashua Mayor seeks funds to buy the long-vacant Daniel Webster College site from Chinese-owned Xinhua amid rising debate over foreign property ownership.
While home prices might be moderating in other parts of the country, the median price of a single-family house in New Hampshire rose to $550,000 in August, the second highest price point this current year. That price is just $3,000 more than the $547,000 recorded in July, but it is $47,500 more than January’s $502,500. The highest median price in 2025 was $569,450, recorded in June and the most ever recorded in the state.
