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By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Mike Belcher turned on his ringer and apologized as he sat down to testify. His wife was due to go into labor and he didn’t want to miss a call.

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

Nine Republican state representatives filed a bill this week that would make abortion illegal after 15 weeks. It includes exceptions for medical emergencies and fetal abnormalities that are “incompatible with life.”

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

Newly inaugurated Gov. Kelly Ayotte ran on a promise to stifle New Hampshire’s fentanyl and opioid crises by raising the mandatory minimum sentences. She may just get her wish.

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

Twelve-year-old Hunter Gebo clutched a sheet of paper and dragged his gloved index finger along the sentences, reading to a crowd of about 100 people outside the New Hampshire State House.

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

Senate conservatives are pushing a bill that would reallocate the state’s four electoral votes, splitting them up instead of allocating them completely to whichever candidate wins the popular vote.

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

Jean Slepian visits the State House anywhere from six to 10 times a year. A retired medical librarian from Stoddard and a longtime animal rights activist, she typically works on smaller bills that don’t get much attention.Now, she fears a...

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

Anthony Foote has challenged the Bow School District twice in the past two years – once over a book he believed was inappropriate for schools, and now in a lawsuit over his pink armband protest at a girls’ soccer game.In 2025, a new law could cement...

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

Each day when Courtney Eschbach walks into the New Hampshire State House, what lies ahead is anyone’s guess.She might be asked to draft election procedures and simultaneously write proposed legislation to let New Hampshire residents own pet...

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

Hundreds of students were rejected from receiving Education Freedom Accounts in 2024 because their families earned more than the program’s income limits.If Republicans have their way in the State House this session, any family, regardless of how much...

By SRUTHI GOPALAKRISHNAN

Last year, a homeless shelter in Portsmouth called Cross Roads House received a little over $65,000 in donations from charitable gaming, while the NH Coalition to End Homelessness brought in about $39,000.Both nonprofits partnered with different New...

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

Earlier this year, New Hampshire lawmakers banned transgender girls from competing on girls’ school sports teams and prohibited some gender reassignment surgeries for minors.Those efforts will continue next year as several Republicans have filed draft...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

In the political library at Saint Anselm’s Institute of Politics, James Thibault sat down to do his homework in a gray suit. Pins of both the New Hampshire flag and United States flag were fastened to the lapel, and his red, white and blue tie was...

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

On election night, Republicans in New Hampshire delivered what many thought of as a slam dunk. But outgoing Gov. Chris Sununu doesn’t see Republicans’ trifecta control of the governor’s office, the House and the Senate in Concord as a free pass.The...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Ellen Read and Joe Alexander don’t agree on much. In the primary, mailers attacked Read, a Newmarket Democrat, as the “AOC of N.H.” In his three terms in the House, Alexander, a Goffstown Republican, has quickly risen through party ranks. Both voted...

By SRUTHI GOPALAKRISHNANand CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

From a social media-famous squirrel named Peanut that’s inspiring legislative action to hot-button issues like cat declawing, hallucinogenic mushrooms and sticky rodent traps, New Hampshire’s State House docket is set to feature some quirky...

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

It’s no secret that New Hampshire’s headed toward leaner times. Outgoing Gov. Chris Sununu hoped to get ahead of the revenue problem by asking state agencies to reduce their budgets requests.Still, this year’s proposals totaled nearly $17 billion...

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

Bill Ohm, a state representative from Nashua, hopes to increase transparency in the State House by compelling his fellow lawmakers to disclose certain campaign contributions in a more timely manner.He wants legislators to report contributions of...

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

New Hampshire’s consumer advocate, which represents residents and utility customers in government decisions, could be stripped of its funding and independence in the name of efficiency.Ross Berry, a state representative from Weare, filed a draft...

By CATHERINE McLAUGHLIN

When Penacook resident Brennan Bourque heard about the new, 409-space parking garage for state lawmakers to be built in downtown Concord, he wondered: In the months when the legislature isn’t in session, would members of the public be able to park...

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

The budget ball is in Kelly Ayotte’s court.After 50 state agencies presented their budget proposals for the 2026-27 cycle, the governor-elect has about three months to piece together her draft spending plan and present it to the state Legislature.Her...