All bills

HB 1134

relative to the town meeting form of local governance.

Filed 2026 · Referred for interim study · Municipal and County Government · Municipalities

Official record at gencourt.state.nh.us ↗

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On the record

Quoted from the General Court bill status page, not worked out from the docket.

StatusSENATE
In the HousePASSED/ADOPTED WITH AMENDMENT
In the SenateINTERIM STUDY
Introduced1/7/2026
Floor date3/5/2026
LSR number2296
Local government impactno
Committee codeH18

Bill text (PDF) ↗

Where it stands

House: PASSED/ADOPTED WITH AMENDMENT · Senate: INTERIM STUDY

Every floor vote on this bill was a voice or division vote, so there is no record of how individual legislators voted.

A bill goes on the consent calendar when the committee vote was unanimous or nearly so, and any members who dissented did not object to placing it there. It then passes without floor debate. Ten members may file a petition to pull a bill off the consent calendar and have it debated and voted on separately.

In practice this often ends a bill's progress for the term.

Sponsors

Pauer, Diane(R) Hills 36, Ammon, Keith(R) Hills 42, Avard, Kevin(R) Hills 12, Berezhny, Lex(R) Graf 11, DeRoy, Susan(R) Straf 3, Erf, Keith(R) Hills 28, Granger, Michael(R) Straf 2, Harvey-Bolia, Juliet(R) Belk 3, Lascelles, Richard(R) Hills 14, Litchfield, Melissa(R) Rock 32, Murphy, Keith(R) Hills 16, Nalevanko, Rich(R) Ches 9
Prime sponsor in bold. From the General Court sponsor file.

What happened

Every action recorded in the official docket, in order. Each line ends with the journal or calendar that recorded it; where we have the document, that citation links to it.

Votes

Roll call tallies and individual votes from the General Court roll call files. Presiding, excused and absent are shown separately: one member presides over each House roll call and does not vote except to break a tie.

Lay HB1134 on Table (Rep. Maggiore)

March 5, 2026 · House · 154–167, adopted

Decided on a division vote. Only the outcome was recorded — there is no count of how any member voted.

Ought to Pass with Amendment 2026-0204h

March 5, 2026 · House · 168–156, adopted

Decided on a division vote. Only the outcome was recorded — there is no count of how any member voted.

Refer to Interim Study

April 9, 2026 · Senate · None–None, adopted

Decided on a voice vote. Only the outcome was recorded — there is no count of how any member voted.

Committee reports

Reproduced from the House Calendar in the committee’s own words.

Majority — OUGHT TO PASS WITH AMENDMENT

Rep. Diane Pauer

This bill makes technical and clarifying changes to RSA 40, which governs the conduct of town meetings and the consideration of warrant articles. The bill addresses ambiguities in current law that have caused confusion for moderators, governing bodies, and voters, particularly regarding voting procedures and the accumulation of appropriations under statutory spending limits. Specifically, the bill clarifies that when a warrant article is required by statute to be voted on by ballot, the moderator must conduct a clear yes-no ballot vote. It also provides guidance on how appropriations are accumulated for purposes of tax caps, budget caps, or the 10% expenditure limitation under municipal budget committees. For traditional town meetings, appropriations accumulate in the order in which articles are taken up. For municipalities using official ballot meetings or operating under a charter, appropriations accumulate first in the order in which articles are approved at the meeting and then in the order in which they appear on the official ballot. These provisions promote consistency, predictability, and transparency in municipal budgeting. This bill also clarifies RSA 40:13 XIII, affirming that approval of some warrant articles are by a 3/5 majority, a long overdue correction. The bill, as amended, incorporates a reference to RSA 40:7, ensuring that all provisions for debate are satisfied before any vote is taken. Importantly, this guarantees that every warrant article receives proper consideration and discussion, preserving the deliberative nature of town meetings while reinforcing voter participation and transparency. In summary, this bill with the amendment strengthens clarity, accountability, and uniformity in town meeting procedures. It ensures that debate requirements are fully met before any vote, supports informed decision-making, and reinforces compliance with statutory provisions. Vote 10-8.

Minority — INEXPEDIENT TO LEGISLATE

Rep. Eleana Colby

This bill seeks to determine the order in which total appropriations in warrant articles accumulate for the purposes of determining when a warrant article will trigger an override vote of a local tax or budget cap. To implement the proposed placement order, this bill eliminates the option for an SB2 town to amend warrant articles during the deliberative session. Specifically, the current method whereby contingency language is included to express the legislative body’s preference for handling situations where multiple articles pass, but one must be eliminated due to total 44 27 FEBRUARY 2026 HOUSE RECORD appropriations exceeding the limits set by a local tax cap or budget cap. Additionally, this bill also eliminates the local voters’ ability to address over-appropriation issues in real time at traditional town meetings. Currently, this correction involves reconsidering warrant articles and reducing appropriations for those articles as chosen by the voters. The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration already has a practice in place concerning the 10% limitation, as established in RSA 32:18: “The total amount appropriated at any annual meeting shall not exceed by more than 10 percent the total amount recommended by the budget committee for such meeting.” Therefore, the minority of the committee concluded that this bill is not only unnecessary but also inadvisable as its language strips local voters of their power to amend warrant articles and prioritize their needs at town meetings and deliberative sessions.

Hearings and recordings

Recordings are the General Court’s own, on YouTube. Start times are estimates unless stated otherwise, and the player opens early.

Page generated 2026-09-03 from data published by the New Hampshire General Court. Granite Record is an independent project, not affiliated with the General Court. The official record always takes precedence. Corrections: [email protected]