HB 1161 New Hampshire House · 2026 Regular Session

removing the requirement for municipalities to have an advisory board for development districts.

HB 1161 removes a mandatory requirement for New Hampshire municipalities to establish advisory boards for development districts. Currently, local governments must create these boards; the bill changes the law to make them optional. Municipalities can now decide whether to form such boards based on their specific community needs. This directly affects all cities and towns operating development districts under state law.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

Signed into Law

May 2026

Introduced Dec 1, 2025 Signed May 28, 2026

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What changed between versions

Version adopted by both bodies → CHAPTERED FINAL VERSION · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was chaptered as Chapter 83, which is the standard final step in the legislative process. The changes are almost entirely technical: section numbers were updated to include the chapter number (e.g., '1' became '83:1'), the amendment instruction was made slightly more explicit by adding 'Amend the section heading,' and approval/effective dates were appended. No substantive policy changes were made.

TECHNICAL

Section numbers were renumbered to include the chapter number (e.g., section 1 became 83:1, section 2 became 83:2) as part of the standard chaptering process.

The amendment instruction was expanded from 'Amend RSA 162-K:14, I' to 'Amend the section heading and RSA 162-K:14, I,' making explicit that the section heading is also being changed (though the new heading text was already shown in both versions).

TIMELINE

Approval date (May 22, 2026) and effective date (July 21, 2026) were added at the end of the document, consistent with the 60-day effective period already stated in the bill.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 28, 2026

Signed into law

Signed by Governor Ayotte 05/22/2026; Chapter 83; eff. 07/21/2026

lower

Apr 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Ought to Pass: MA, VV; OT3rdg; 04/09/2026; SJ 8

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee Report: Ought to Pass, 04/09/2026; Vote 4-0; CC; SC 13

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Introduced

Introduced 02/19/2026 and Referred to Election Law and Municipal Affairs; SJ 5

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

Ought to Pass: MA VV 02/19/2026 HJ 5 P. 28

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee Report: Ought to Pass 02/03/2026 (Vote 18-0; CC) HC 7 P. 17

lower

Dec 1, 2025

Introduced

Introduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Municipal and County Government HJ 1 P. 8

lower

1 primary · 3 co-sponsors