As specified in the New Hampshire Constitution under Part II, Article 3, the opening day of the 2025 Legislative Session, Convening Day, will be on the first Wednesday following the first Tuesday in January. In 2025, that day falls on January 8, 2025.
As is the case with every session, the Legislature faces a heavy workload of bills they will need to consider. For the 2025 Session, they will need to work through over 900 bills. Each one of those bills will receive a committee hearing and a vote before the House of Representatives or the Senate.
Adding to this workload, the Legislature will also need to pass the State Operating and Capital Improvement budgets for State Fiscal Years 2026 and 2027. That work intensifies when the Governor presents their proposed budget documents on February 15. The Legislature and Governor face a deadline of June 30 to give final approval to the next budget.
The legislative process begins when a member files a Legislative Service Request, or “LSR” for short. LSRs are simply a bare-bones description of the sponsor’s intent for the bill. Although they do not provide the bill language or even the committee to which the bill will be referred, reviewing them will give the reader a good sense of which topics will be priorities for the Legislature in the coming session.
Listed below are the issue areas that will be of interest to environmental protection, renewable energy and conservation stakeholders in New Hampshire. To view the LSRs that may be of interest to these groups, click here:
FOREST CARBON MARKETS: As we saw in 2024, focus on forest carbon markets will continue. The Legislature will consider two bills in this issue including one (2025-0100) that would enable municipalities to tax standing wood and timber on land used for carbon sequestration. A second (2025-0619) would prohibit the use of the carbon offset tax program on state, municipal, and county land.
CLIMATE CHANGE: The Legislature will debate three bills regarding what should be state policy on climate change.
ENERGY: As is the case in every session, energy will be a top focus of legislative activity. At least twenty-six bills will be heard in 2025.
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: As in 2024, the Legislature will continue in 2025 to focus on the State’s solid waste management policies. There are nine LSRs filed that relate to different aspects of this issue.
WATER RESOURCES: Five bills will be heard in 2025 that seek to increase protection for New Hampshire’s water resources.
OHRVs: Three bills will be discussed including LSR 2024-3000 that proposes to make an appropriation for OHRV trails.
OUTDOOR RECREATION: The role outdoor recreation plays in the State will be considered on two LSRs.
- To search through the list of LSRs that relate to climate, conservation and energy for the 170th Session click here: https://www.forestsociety.org/document/2025-legislative-service-requests-2025.pdf
- All LSRs are finalized with the bill language by early to mid-January. You will be able to read the actual bill language for those bills on the General Court’s website (https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/ ) when they are available.