Byline: Ethan DeWitt

This year, New Hampshire is considering a different approach: Medicaid. A federal program created in 2010 would automatically enroll students in free and reduced-price lunch plans using Medicaid enrollment data. That data includes families’ incomes already, eliminating the need for an application in most cases. 

When the New Hampshire Department of Education investigates a teacher for a potential code of conduct violation, they send a notice in the mail. Under a new proposed law, that teacher could also be served a subpoena. 

New Hampshire lawmakers are weighing a bill to end the state’s tradition of open primaries by requiring residents to register with a political party at least four months before the state primaries in order to vote in that primary. 

New Hampshire will receive an additional $2.5 million in rental assistance funding from the U.S. Treasury, the department announced last week. But state officials say the extra money is not enough to stop the end of the state’s aid program next month. 

As New Hampshire lawmakers look ahead to a new slate of education laws next year, some are pushing to give school boards a more central role.

It was the bear hug that buried the hatchet. Moments after Gen. Don Bolduc’s speech urging unity among Republicans he leapt off the state and beelined to a surprised Gov. Chris Sununu who engulfed him in an embrace, just weeks after the two had descended to name calling.

As New Hampshire’s school boards prepare for the school year, local planning boards are facing a different action deadline: Aug. 23. That’s the day towns and cities must start adhering to a package of new zoning and planning laws passed by the Legislature this year.

On Wednesday, the Executive Council approved a request by the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery (GOFERR) to reduce the amount of money allocated to two housing stability programs and divert the dollars to rental relief.

After purchasing a house on Route 101 in March 2020, the group, the New Hope Christian Fellowship, began holding services in the living room. Attendance was modest; just 10 to 20 people participated every week, attending Bible study groups, Sunday services, and pastoral counseling. Meetings were held virtually at first, with church leaders broadcasting from the living room, but the church later moved to in-person gatherings. It began planning an extension to the house that could hold 50 people at once.

A trio of New Hampshire county sheriffs urged the state’s Department of Justice to issue guidance on a new state law barring state enforcement of federal firearms laws Thursday, such as the Gun-Free School Zones Act.

It’s a timeless dispute. For decades, residents in New Hampshire cooperative school districts have squabbled over the necessity – and financial impact – of their districts. And for decades, state lawmakers have floated ideas on how to make it easier for individual towns to pull out. 

The proposed map would move 365,703 people in total from one district to another, the group added. And the plan would be a major historical shift. The current map has scarcely changed since 1883; in the 138 years since then, lawmakers have moved a total of 22 towns between the districts, according to Open Democracy Action. Under the proposed plan, 75 towns would be transferred in one year, or 25 percent of all towns in the state.