By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD — The 2025 Legislative session ended Wednesday when Gov. Kelly Ayotte ran the table, as the House sustained every one or her 11 vetoes of House bills.
From book bans to requiring high schools to show anti-abortion videos, the votes to sustain the governor’s vetoes were not close and in some cases the House reversed itself and voted in favor of sustaining the vetoes of four bills.
The Senate met in October and sustained Ayotte’s veto of a Senate Bill.
The House made quick work of its 11 vetoes often voting without debate, while two bills garnered most of the debate, including one dealing with transgender people’s use of bathrooms, locker rooms, or competing on athletic teams or serving in prisons, and the other requiring a high-quality computer-generated or ultrasound video of the gestational development of a fetus in health classes.
Two of the vetoes were overwhelmingly supported because the bills were not needed as their content was included in the two-bill operating budget package that was approved in June.
Book Ban
House Bill 324 would have required school districts to adopt a state-approved procedure that would allow parents or anyone else to challenge material used in public schools – as well as books and other learning tools found in school libraries – as obscene or harmful to minors. The State Board of Education would be the final arbitrator if parents are not satisfied with the schools’ and school boards’ actions.
Parents also would be able to seek civil action against schools and educators with financial penalties and loss of educator credentials as possible disciplinary actions.
“Current state law appears to provide a mechanism for parents through their local school district to exercise their rights to ensure their children are not exposed to inappropriate materials,” Ayotte wrote in her veto. “Therefore, I do not believe the State of New Hampshire needs to, nor should it, engage in the role of addressing questions of literary value and appropriateness, particularly where the system created by House Bill 324 calls for monetary penalties based on subjective standards.”
She said the bill would open up the possibility of extensive civil actions including litigation from out-of-state groups.
After the vote of 183-167, which failed to meet the two-thirds majority required to override a veto, groups opposing the proposed legislature thanked Ayotte for her veto and the House for sustaining it.
“HB 324 would have handed a blunt instrument to book banners in New Hampshire,” said Jacquelyn Benson, NH Regional Leader of Authors Against Book Bans. “By sustaining Gov. Ayotte’s veto, lawmakers have stood up for the freedom to read in the Granite State. Now, let’s keep supporting our librarians and trusting our local communities by saying no to Senate Bill 33.”
The bill is similar to the one Ayotte vetoed and will come before the House in January.
The state’s two teachers unions also praised the House vote and Ayotte’s veto.
“Granite Staters have sent a clear message to elected officials: decisions about curriculum and classrooms belong in local schools, not in the State House,” said Megan Tuttle, president of NEA-New Hampshire. “While we celebrate the rejection of HB 324, we know the fight to protect the freedom to read for all students and to stop the criminalization of educators is not over.”
Deb Howes, president of American Federation of Teachers – NH, called the vote a victory for Granite State public school students and their right to a robust public education.
The House did not debate the bill.
Transgender Ban
Transgender Rep. Alice Wade, D-Dover, asked fellow House members to see the human cost of House Bill 148, which she said codifies dehumanization into law and weaponizes transgender people as scapegoats to serve a political agenda.
To help understand the human cost of the bill, Wade read the names of all the transgender people who were either killed because of their identity or committed suicide in the past year. An attempt to stop her from continuing to read the names was defeated by a vote of 228-124.
“Every debate (on this issue you should) think of those names of the transgender people,” Wade said. “This damage is not theoretical, this is our lives.”
Rep. Jim Kofalt, R-Wilton, argued the bill would allow for common sense solutions to the fear and emotional upset the current state law causes for women, school boards and municipalities.
“Our current law is one-sided,” he said, and does nothing to address the psychological and safety issues for young women.
The bill would give communities flexibility to seek a solution at the local level, Kofalt said, without fear of activist lawsuits.
The bill also would prohibit transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that do not correspond to their biological sex, or compete in sports on teams that are not for their biological sex or in detention facilities not designated for their biological sex.
While Ayotte said she has safety concerns about biological males using female locker rooms and placed in female correctional facilities, the bill is too broad and impractical to enforce.
“While I believe that the legislature should address this serious issue, it must be done in a thoughtful and narrow way that protects the privacy, safety and rights of all New Hampshire citizens,” she wrote in her veto message. “However, with House Bill 148, I have concerns about the broadness of this bill, the unintended impacts accompanying its implementation, and that it will spur a plethora of litigation against local communities and businesses.”
The 188-165 vote failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed for an override.
Fetus Film
House Bill 667 would have required school districts to show a high-quality computer generation or ultrasound video of the gestational development of a fetus in health classes.
“That is not an appropriate role for the state to be mandating such requirements,” Ayotte wrote in her veto.
Rep. Muriel Hall, D-Bow, said the bill requirements are too vague and would not stipulate the information needs to be accurate.
“Computer-generated, not necessarily accurate, narrowly targeted anti-abortion videos have no place in our schools,” she said. “This is overreach by state government seeking power, control and authority that interferes with local school board decision-making.”
But Rep. John Sellers, R-Bristol, said the video would provide teenagers with information that would allow them to make better decisions, such as not using alcohol, tobacco or drugs when they are pregnant.
Babies who suffer complications at birth have a higher risk of lifelong health issues and are less successful in life, he said. The six-minute video showing fetal development would provide information to help teenagers make decisions for themselves and their children.
The House voted 190-159 to sustain the governor’s veto.
Vaccination Exemptions
House Bill 358 would have allowed parents or legal guardians to claim an exemption from childhood immunization requirements on the basis of religious belief by providing a signed statement and not use the standard form to seek the exemption.
“Childhood immunizations play an important role in preventing the resurgence and spread of previously deadly diseases,” Ayotte wrote in her veto message. “While parents must be the final decision makers on what immunizations their child receives, the state already has an established process by which parents can claim a religious exemption, and I see no reason to change it.”
The House did not debate the bill before voting 176-175, failing to meet the needed two-thirds majority.
Youth Surveys
Under House Bill 446, parents would need to opt-in for their child to take non-academic surveys such as the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Current law allows parents to opt their child out of taking the surveys, so that if a parent does not object the child has to take the survey.
Ayotte said parents can already opt their child out of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. She said she has heard tremendous concerns about the bill from people on the front lines of addressing the youth mental health crisis and helping those with substance use disorders, including state and local public health officials, youth mental health professionals, as well as the Governor’s Commission on Addiction, Treatment and Prevention.
“Making the survey ‘opt-in’ rather than continuing to give parents the choice to opt their child out could lower participation and undermine the reliability of the data collected, jeopardizing efforts to respond to the needs of vulnerable youth in our state,” Ayotte said in her veto message. “Moreover, it could reduce the state’s eligibility to receive critical federal funding that helps us protect our most vulnerable.”
The House did not debate the bill before voting 181-170, failing to reach the two-thirds majority.
No Accessible Voting Machines
House Bill 613 would have allowed cities, towns and school districts to post notices that accessible voting machines for those with disabilities would not be available on voting day. A person would have to request the machines be available for the city, town or school district to provide accessible voting.
“This legislation impacts people with disabilities and would conflict with federal law that requires accessible voting systems be available at all polling places during federal elections,” Ayotte wrote in her veto message.
The House voted 201-150 to sustain the governor’s veto.
Default Budgets
House Bill 475 would have allowed town official to reduce the default budget in SB 2 towns by the salaries and benefits costs of unfilled positions at the time the budget is crafted.
Recruiting and retaining first responders is of the utmost paramount importance for public safety, Ayotte said, and towns and cities face enough difficulty with this already.
“This bill will make it even harder to hire police and fire personnel,” she said. “It is also an unnecessary overreach by the state into municipal affairs.”
The House voted 178-175, failing to reach the needed two-thirds majority.
Kindergarten Transportation
House Bill 319 would have no longer required school districts to provide transportation to half-day kindergarten students, which would impact about half a dozen school districts.
Ayotte called the bill a step in the wrong direction.
“Half-day kindergarten helps provide New Hampshire children with an educational foundation that sets them up for a lifetime of success,” Ayotte wrote in her veto message. “To no longer require transportation for these children to and from these schools would place an undue burden on working families. It could force working families to choose between providing (the transportation) themselves or not having their children attend kindergarten at all.”
The House voted 182-173, failing to reach the needed two-thirds majority.
Partisan School Elections
House Bill 356 would have allowed school districts to hold partisan elections. They are currently nonpartisan elections.
Ayotte said allowing partisan elections for school positions would create unnecessary division among Granite Staters.
The House voted 177-174, which failed to reach the two-thirds majority.
Continuing Resolution
Although the budget package initially was voted down last June, it eventually was passed by the House and signed by the governor.
House Bill 115 would have appropriated 45 percent of the then-current funding levels for the first six months of the new 2026 fiscal year.
The House voted 347-1 to sustain the governor’s veto.
Cellphone Ban
House Bill 781 would have required public schools to ban cellphone use from “bell-to-bell,” with some exceptions, but the state’s cellphone ban in public schools was included in the budget package approved in June.
The House voted 322-28 to sustain the governor’s veto.
The House and Senate return to Concord on Wednesday, Jan. 7, to begin the 2026 session of the General Court.
Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.