removing the prospective repeal of child care staffing ratios and the associated waiver system and requiring the department of health and human services to provide certain notice regarding availability of the waiver.
This bill prevents a planned 2026 repeal of child care staffing ratio requirements and the associated waiver system. It requires the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services to send annual notices to licensed child care providers about their option to request a waiver of staffing rules. The department must also report waiver applications, approvals, and denials to the legislature annually, starting in 2025. This directly affects child care providers who rely on these staffing rules and waiver options.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Apr 2026
Signed into Law
Jun 2026
Introduced Dec 17, 2025
Signed Jun 1, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Version adopted by both bodies
→
CHAPTERED FINAL VERSION
·
4 edits
MODERATE
No substantive policy changes were made between the adopted version and the final chaptered version. The changes are entirely technical: the bill was assigned Chapter 98, section numbers were updated to reflect the chapter (e.g., '1' became '98:1'), a fiscal note was removed (standard for final versions), and approval/effective dates were added. One minor comma was added in the repeal section.
TECHNICAL
Section numbers changed from plain numbers (1, 2, 3) to chapter-prefixed numbers (98:1, 98:2, 98:3) to reflect assignment as Chapter 98 of the 2026 session laws.
The fiscal note (stating no fiscal impact on state, county, and local expenditures or revenue) was removed, which is standard when a bill transitions from a legislative draft to its final chaptered form.
A comma was added in the repeal section: 'RSA 170-E:11, I(c) relative to' became 'RSA 170-E:11, I(c), relative to' for grammatical clarity.
TIMELINE
Approval date (May 28, 2026) and effective date (July 27, 2026) were added at the end of the document, confirming the governor's signature and the 60-day effective period.
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
14
Key actions
6
Committee
4
Amendments
2
Jun 1, 2026
Signed into law
Signed by Governor Ayotte 05/28/2026; Chapter 98; eff.07/27/2026
lower
May 13, 2026
Introduced
Enrolled Bill Amendment # 2026-1795e: AA VV (in recess of) 05/07/2026 HJ 12 P. 40
lower
May 13, 2026
Upper · Passed
Enrolled Bill Amendment # 2026-1795e Adopted, VV, (In recess of 05/07/2026); SJ 12
upper
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 3-0; CC; SC 13
upper
Mar 17, 2026
Introduced
Introduced 03/12/2026 and Referred to Health and Human Services; SJ 7
upper
Mar 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Ought to Pass: MA DV 331-2 03/11/2026 HJ 7 P. 66
lower
Mar 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee Report: Ought to Pass 03/03/2026 (Vote 16-0; RC) HC 10 P. 30
lower
Dec 17, 2025
Introduced
Introduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Children and Family Law HJ 1 P. 35
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor
Sponsors
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