2020 New Hampshire Legislative Session

New Hampshire General Court
General information
Type:	State legislature
Term limits:	None
Session start:	January 8, 2020
Website:	Official General Court Page
Leadership
Senate President:	Donna Soucy (D)
House Speaker:	Stephen Shurtleff (D)
Majority Leader:	Senate: Dan Feltes (D) House: Douglas Ley (D)
Minority Leader:	Senate: Chuck Morse (R) House: Dick Hinch (R)
Structure
Members:	24 (Senate), 400 (House)
Length of term:	2 years (Senate), 2 years (House)
Authority:	Part Second, New Hampshire Constitution
Salary:	$200/two-year term
Elections
Last election:	November 6, 2018
Next election:	November 3, 2020
Redistricting:	New Hampshire General Court has control

In 2020, the New Hampshire State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 8 and adjourn on June 30.

Several state legislatures suspended their sessions or otherwise limited legislative activity in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

At the start of the 2020, New Hampshire was one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Following the 2018 election, Democrats had a 14-10 majority in the Senate and a 234-166 majority in the House. Republicans controlled the governorship, meaning neither party held a state government trifecta.

Click the links to read more about the 2020 state Senate and state House elections.
Click the links to read more about the 2018 state Senate and state House elections.

Partisan control in 2020[edit]

See also: State government trifectas

New Hampshire was one of 14 states without a state government trifectas at the start of 2020 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

New Hampshire was also one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the New Hampshire General Court in the 2020 legislative session.

New Hampshire State Senate[edit]

Between 1992 and 2020, partisan control of the New Hampshire State Senate fluctuated. Since the 2018 elections, Democrats have controlled the chamber. The table below shows the partisan history of the New Hampshire State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

Between 1992 and 2020, majority control of the state Senate changed five times. During that time, Democrats usually controlled between 5 and 14 seats, while Republicans controlled between 10 and 19 seats. Republicans controlled the chamber from 1992 until the 1998 election. In 1998, Democrats picked up four seats in the election. That Democratic majority held until the 2000 elections, when Republicans gained two seats. Republicans held that majority until the 2006 elections, when Democrats retook control of the chamber. Democrats held a 14-10 majority from the 2006 elections until the 2010 elections. The chamber returned to a Republican majority in 2010 after Republicans picked up nine seats. Republican seat totals declined from their 2010 peak over the next three elections, and the chamber flipped into Democratic control in 2018.

New Hampshire House of Representatives[edit]

Between 1992 and 2006, the New Hampshire House of Representatives was controlled by Republicans. Partisan control of the chamber fluctuated between 2006 and 2020. During the House's 2018 elections, Democrats obtained a 234-166 majority, flipping the 227-173 Republican-controlled chamber which arose after the 2016 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the New Hampshire House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

Between 1992 and 2020, majority control of the state House changed five times from large partisan swings. During that time, Democrats usually controlled between 102 and 239 seats, while Republicans controlled between 161 and 298 seats. Republicans controlled the House from 1992 until the 2006 elections. In the 2006 elections, Democrats picked up 91 seats and held a 239-161 majority. That Democratic majority held until the 2010 elections, when Republicans gained 122 seats. Republicans held that majority until the next election, when Democrats picked up 119 seats in the 2012 elections. The chamber returned to a Republican majority in 2014 after Republicans picked up 60 seats. In the 2018 elections, the chamber flipped once more to a 234-166 Democratic majority.

Leadership in 2020[edit]

New Hampshire State Senate[edit]

• Senate president: Donna Soucy (D)
• Majority leader: Dan Feltes (D)
• Minority leader: Chuck Morse (R)

New Hampshire House of Representatives[edit]

• House speaker: Stephen Shurtleff (D)
• Majority leader: Douglas Ley (D)
• Minority leader: Dick Hinch (R)

Regular session[edit]

The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2020 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2020. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

Standing legislative committees[edit]

See also: Standing committee and List of committees in New Hampshire state government

A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session, there were 41 standing committees in New Hampshire's state government, including no joint legislative committees, 12 state Senate committees, and 29 state House committees.

Senate committees[edit]

House committees[edit]

Legislatively referred constitutional amendments[edit]

In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

The methods in which the New Hampshire Constitution can be amended:

See also: Article 100 of the New Hampshire Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in New Hampshire

There are two paths to altering the New Hampshire Constitution: A legislatively referred constitutional amendment or a constitutional convention.

• Part II, Article 100 says that a legislatively referred constitutional amendment can go on the ballot if approved by a 60 percent vote in each house of the New Hampshire General Court.

• Once on the ballot, a proposed amendment must be approved by two-thirds of those voting in order to become part of the state's constitution.

• Article 100 says that a constitutional convention can also be called to propose amendments or revisions to the constitution.

• A question about whether to have a convention can be put on the ballot through a majority vote in both houses of the New Hampshire legislature.
• A question about whether to have a convention also goes on the ballot automatically every 10 years.
• In each case, the wording of the question is, "Shall there be a convention to amend or revise the constitution?"
• A majority of those voting must approve it.
• Delegates to that convention can propose amendments by a 60 percent vote.
• A two-thirds supermajority vote of qualified voters is required to adopt any such proposed amendments.

2021 measures:

See also: 2021 ballot measures

Certified:

The following measures were certified for the ballot.

No measures to list

2020 measures:

Below is a list of measures that were referred to the 2020 ballot by the legislature.

See also: 2020 ballot measures

Certified:

The following measures were certified for the ballot.

No measures to list

Historical partisan control[edit]

The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of New Hampshire.

See also[edit]

Elections	New Hampshire State Government	State Legislatures	State Politics
New Hampshire State Senate elections, 2020 New Hampshire House of Representatives elections, 2020	New Hampshire General Court New Hampshire House of Representatives New Hampshire State Senate Governor of New Hampshire New Hampshire Supreme Court	State legislative elections, 2020 State legislative special elections, 2020 State legislative elections, 2018 State legislative elections, 2016	State government trifectas State government triplexes Veto overrides in state legislatures State executives State courts Ballot measures

External links[edit]

• Search Google News for this topic
• New Hampshire General Court homepage

Footnotes[edit]

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