2026 Legislative Agenda

THE CHALLENGE:

27% of New Hampshire’s workforce was age 55 or older in 2024, highest among all states. Recruiting and retaining the next generation of workers is critical to continued economic success.

SOLUTIONS:

• Support efforts to foster improved alignment and collaboration of various service providers in a more systemic statewide approach to workforce development.
• Support efforts to provide higher quality, more equitable educational and training opportunities across the state.
• Support efforts to increase Career and Technical Education, work-based learning, apprenticeships, internships, credentialling and Career Pathway programs.
• Support efforts to incentive pre-and-prime working age adults to stay and come to New Hampshire, including increased financial support for the state’s university and community college systems.

THE CHALLENGE:

New Hampshire’s electricity costs for industrial users in May 2025 were 90% higher than the U.S. average and commercial user costs were 49% higher. Uncompetitive prices increase the risk of losing companies to less expensive regions of the country.

SOLUTIONS:

• Advocate for a market-based, all-of-the-above approach to energy policy aimed at creating a cost-effective, reliable, resilient and diverse energy mix.
• Support state and regional policies for system reliability and lower short- and long-term energy costs.
• Support clear, consistent and balanced state energy infrastructure siting policies.
• Support the implementation of cost-effective energy policies, such as energy efficiency, renewable energy programs, and commercial and industrial net metering.
• Oppose policies that lead to unjust or unreasonable cost-shifting to the business community.

THE CHALLENGE: With more than 9,000 childcare seats needed to meet demand, the availability and affordability of childcare is one of the most significant challenges impacting the state’s workforce.

SOLUTIONS:

• Advocate for policies that strengthen the early childhood system, including increasing access to quality, affordable childcare to allow caregivers to return to the labor force.
• Support policies that incentivize businesses to invest in childcare and grow the childcare workforce.
• Support efforts to remove barriers to entry and streamline the permitting process for new childcare providers while upholding child safety standards.

THE CHALLENGE:

New Hampshire saw a record $565,000 median sales price for single-family homes in June 2025. Lack of housing supply across the market is a key driver of the state’s workforce shortage.

SOULTIONS:

• Support land use regulation reforms that increase opportunities for housing development and affordability.
• Support procedural process reform that streamlines review, permitting, and approvals for development.
• Support funding for programs proven to provide additional housing, including affordable housing.
• Oppose efforts to roll back or repeal core opportunities to increase housing supply, including opportunities to develop smaller housing units, such as accessory dwelling units and administrative efficiencies, such as Housing Appeals Board.

THE CHALLENGE: The high cost of employee health care coverage reduces employers’ ability to grow and makes it more difficult for workers to afford health insurance.

SOLUTIONS:

• Support adequate funding for Medicaid health-care providers to reduce cost-shifting to the business community.
• Oppose new or expanded health insurance mandates.
• Support efforts that address health care cost-drivers and increase transparency.

THE CHALLENGE:

Shifting regulations and statutes create uncertainty for businesses, diminish long-term planning and increase compliance costs.

SOLUTIONS:

• Support science-based policies and rules that balance economic impact with long-term sustainability of the state’s natural resources.
• Oppose efforts to set environmental regulatory standards by statute rather than by regulatory bodies.
• Oppose efforts by state regulatory bodies to promulgate rules without first obtaining statutory authority.
• Oppose efforts to make New Hampshire’s environmental regulations and statutes more restrictive than federal environmental regulations, unless there is clear, science-based justification.
• Oppose efforts to usurp state authority to set environmental regulations in favor of local authority.
• Advocate for initiatives to streamline and expedite permitting and regulatory processes.

THE CHALLENGE:

New Hampshire must continue to develop and maintain vital infrastructure to support economic growth.

SOLUTIONS:

• Advocate for adequate and equitable investment in New Hampshire’s air, road and bridge network as well as improved local public transit opportunities.
• Support efforts to increase funding for road and bridge infrastructure.
• Support efforts to secure funding for increased investment in transportation, water, sewer and transit infrastructure that directly supports economic growth and housing development.

THE CHALLENGE: Preserving the New Hampshire Advantage - low taxes, limited regulation, and a predictable fiscal climate - is key to economic growth. At the same time, strategic public investment in infrastructure is essential to support workforce and business expansion.

SOLUTIONS:

• Oppose an income tax or sales tax.
• Oppose any proposal that increases the Business Enterprise or Business Profits tax rates.
• Support efforts to improve New Hampshire’s research and development tax credit and oppose any effort to reduce or repeal this credit.

THE CHALLENGE: New Hampshire’s economic competitiveness depends on balancing employer flexibility with workforce needs in a changing labor market. Government policies should support a dynamic, diverse, and healthy workforce without imposing undue burdens on employers.

SOLUTIONS:

• Oppose efforts that hinder or remove an employer’s ability to make sound hiring and management decisions.
• Support modernization of New Hampshire labor statutes and regulations, such as RSA 275, to ensure they are clear, consistent, and responsive to today’s workforce realities.
• Advocate for employer flexibility in designing hiring practices, workplace policies, and benefit structures—while recognizing the value of policies that enhance employee retention, well-being, and productivity.
• Oppose rule-making or legislative efforts that place disproportionate burdens on employers without corresponding benefits to workforce participation or retention.
• Support private sector right-to-work legislation in New Hampshire.
• Oppose rule-making or legislative proposals that favor organized labor interests over those of business.