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HB 1137 · 2026 · House · Municipal and County Government Committee

Non-voting budget committee members

AI-generated

relative to municipal budget committee membership.

Changes the governing body, school board, and village district appointed members of the municipal budget committee to non-voting ex-officio roles.AI-generated

Status

Killed in the Senate — Inexpedient to Legislate · April 3, 2026
  1. ✓Introduced
  2. ✓House
  3. ✕Senate
  4. Governor
  5. Law

Analysis

This bill changes the municipal budget committee's appointed members from the governing body, school board, and village district to be members serving in an ex-officio, non-voting capacity.

From the bill's official ANALYSIS section.

In the bill's words

Quoted verbatim from the bill as introduced. Passages chosen from the operative text.Computed by this site

“Each such member may be represented by an alternate member designated by the respective board, who shall serve, when sitting, [have] in the same ex-officio, non-voting capacity [authority] as the regular member.”
Section 1

Official record

Bill page — docket & status

gc.nh.gov · the authoritative source

Sponsors

Rep. Diane PauerRPrimeChair· Municipal and County Government
  • Rep. Joe AlexanderRChair· Housing
  • Rep. Dale GirardRVice Chair· Special Committee on COVID Response Efficacy
  • Rep. Walter SpilsburyRVice Chair· Education Funding
  • Sen. Keith MurphyRDeputy President Pro Tempore

Also: Rep. Deborah AylwardR, Rep. Jose CambrilsR, Rep. Michael GrangerR, Rep. Rosemarie RungD, Rep. Alvin SeeR, Rep. Scott BryerR, Sen. David WattersD

Public testimony

27 signed in online · 5 wrote testimony

22% support78% oppose0% neutral

In their wordsVerbatim, exactly as submitted

“In Northwood, you usually need the support of approximately 40o town-wide voters to get elected to the Budget Committee (BC). In contrast, some village district members have been elected with as few as 10 votes - by voters focused on very narrow interests.…”
— Hal Kreider, Northwoodsupports
“I support the passage of HB- 1137. This is common sense legislation that aligns an ex-officio duties To current law as it pertains to conflict between serving on two or more committees.…”
— Peter Torosian, Atkinsonsupports
“Municipal budget committee membership should be decided locally. Concord should take care of its own state business and keep out of local affairs!”
— Patricia Hunt, Franconaopposes
“Testing the UNCONFIRMED flow - this testimony should trigger the unconfirmed email with instructions to verify manually. [[MOCK_UNCONFIRMED]]”
— Alex de Geofroy, Rochesteropposes

Verbatim excerpts of submitted testimony, quoted from the testimony tool.

Read the testimony · as of Aug 12, 2026

Votes

yeanay
Starting text: Bill as introduced
  • Feb 17, 2026HouseCommittee report· regular calendar: Ought to Pass12–5
    Overall
    71% yea
  • Mar 12, 2026HouseDivisionOught to PassAdopted182–156
    Overall
    54% yea
  • Apr 9, 2026SenateCommittee report: Inexpedient to Legislate5–0
    Overall
    100% yea
  • Apr 9, 2026SenateVoice voteInexpedient to Legislateadopted

Hearings and debates

  • Jan 30, 2026Public hearingHouse Municipal and County Government2:42:17–2:48:005m 43slocated in the stream transcriptPublic Hearing
  • Feb 17, 2026Public hearingHouse Municipal and County Government4:56:03–4:59:313m 28slocated in the stream transcriptMajority Committee Report: Ought to Pass — roll call; Executive Session
  • Mar 12, 2026Floor debateHouse floor1:46:36–1:49:553m 19slocated in the stream transcriptOught to Pass — adopted, division 182-156
  • Mar 24, 2026Public hearingSenate Election Law and Municipal Affairs1:32:59–1:34:221m 23slocated in the stream transcriptHearing
  • Apr 9, 2026Floor debateSenate floorWatchnot located in the transcript — opens the full streamCommittee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate; Vote 5-0; CC; Inexpedient to Legislate — adopted, voice vote

Timestamps locate where this bill is taken up in the chamber's YouTube stream.

Legislative history

  1. Jan 7, 2026HouseIntroduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Municipal and County Government HJ 1 P. 7
  2. Jan 30, 2026HousePublic Hearing: 01/30/2026 10:10 am GP 154
  3. Feb 17, 2026HouseExecutive Session: 02/17/2026 09:00 am GP 154
  4. Feb 17, 2026HouseMajority : Ought to Pass 02/17/2026 (Vote 12-5; RC) HC 10 P. 64
  5. Feb 27, 2026HouseMinority : Inexpedient to Legislate
  6. Mar 12, 2026HouseOught to Pass: MA DV 182-156 03/12/2026 HJ 8 P. 29
  7. Mar 12, 2026SenIntroduced 03/12/2026 and Referred to Election Law and Municipal Affairs; SJ 7
  8. Mar 24, 2026SenHearing: 03/24/2026, Room 122-123, SH, 09:55 am; SC 11
  9. Apr 9, 2026Sen: Inexpedient to Legislate; Vote 5-0; CC; 04/09/2026; SC 13
  10. Apr 9, 2026SenInexpedient to Legislate, MA, VV === BILL KILLED ===; 04/09/2026; SJ 8

Coverage

No reporting linked yet.

Documents (PDF)

  • Introducedversion

Bill text & amendments link direct to gc.nh.gov; committee reports stream from the state record.