AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin (January 31, 2026)

Action Needed on Union-Busting HB 1704

More votes are starting to take place in committees and next week the full House will meet to vote on bills that have already made its way through committee and notably, potentially one bill that has not (more on that below)

The complete tracker is once again provided at the end of this update with AFT-NH position for each bill.  Here are our big priorities next week.

Attack on Public Employees – Red Alert Action Needed

HB 1704, the attack on public employees’ collective bargaining rights was heard by the House Labor Committee last week and there was overwhelming opposition to this bill. Even the NH Municipal Association testified in opposition to this legislation. 807 signed in as opposed to this bill and only 21 supported this. The Committee will be voting on Tuesday, February 3rd. We need everyone to contact the committee by clicking the following link, NO TO HB 1704. While we hope the committee will see the chaos this bill would cause and they will vote no, should this bill pass the committee, this fight will be a fight of epic proportion to maintain your protections as a member of your union and preserve the protections of your contract and working conditions.  AFT-NH opposes this bill. Please take the one-click action in this paragraph.

Open Enrollment

You may have seen the news this week that Open Enrollment has passed the Senate. Open enrollment allows the parent of any child that lives in a public school district to send that child to any other public school in the state and makes the resident district pay for it.

Open enrollment has in fact passed twice. Once on  SB 101, which will now go to a House Education Committee for committee work,  and once on HB 751, which means the next stop for this bill is the full House. If the House passes it, it will go straight to the Governor. We know that Open Enrollment will send school districts scrambling, raise property taxes, and lower outcomes for students in districts that are already struggling. The House should kill this bill and if they don’t the Governor should veto.  We will keep you informed and send out necessary alerts. AFT-NH Opposes These Bills.

Attacks on Teachers

HB 1792 casts aspersions on our teachers, blatantly lies about classroom teaching, and then offers stiff penalties on educators for violating any of the sections that are vague and undefined. This bill is scheduled to be heard before the House Education Policy and Administration on February 2^nd at 2:00 pm. AFT-NH opposes this bill

Book Bans

SB 434 is another book ban bill. This bill is scheduled before the Senate Education Committee ON February 3^rd at 9:00 am.  AFT-NH opposes this bill.

Staying Informed and Taking Action.

1. Please share our legislative bulletins with others.
2. Please visit our website at https://nh.aft.org/ and sign up for the bulletins if you have not done so.
3. Do the one-click actions when an alert is sent out.
4. You can register your position on a bill directly to the House or Senate Committee hearing the bill. For instructions and the links, please see below.
5. For breaking news and other legislative information, please be sure to like us on Facebook at AFT New Hampshire or follow us on Bluesky at aftnh.bsky.social.

Please sign in and register your opinion on bills when they are scheduled for hearing. The number of people who sign in and the totals are read out loud and are part of the record. Never underestimate the power of your voice.

Thank you.

Submitting Your Position and Testimony

Here is easy access to submit your position on bills before House and Senate Committees.

Remember, if a bill is already scheduled for an Executive Session, you will not be able to submit your position.

To submit your position, click SUBMIT YOUR POSITION TO A HOUSE COMMITTEE HERE.

To submit your position, click SUBMIT YOUR POSITION TO A SENATE COMMITTEE HERE.

• Fill in your Personal Information
• Select the relevant date and committee for the hearing by clicking on it in the Meeting Schedule Calendar (make sure you are on the right week). [Select Bill # and select the date].
• In the dropbox below "Select the Committee," select committee.
• In the dropbox below "Choose the Bill," select the appropriate time and bill number.
• Select the appropriate option for the "I am" dropbox (likely "Member of the Public").
• Fill in the content box under "I'm Representing" with the business, organization, or group you are representing. If you are representing yourself only, write "myself."
• Under the “Indicate Your Position on this Bill,” check the circle stating your position on the bill. “I Oppose this Bill” or “I Support this Bill”
• After filling in all of the appropriate drop boxes, click “Submit.”
• After clicking submit, you will be brought to the next page, where you will fill in the content boxes with your first and last name, as well as your town, state, and email address.
• Press “Continue.”
• If you wish to speak during the hearing to present your testimony, you will need to attend in person at the State House, but you upload your testimony if you cannot attend.
• If you wish to submit testimony on the bill, email the relevant committee and upload the testimony file from your computer (if you need assistance in this, we are happy to help).

AFT-NH Legislative Hearings

Week of February 2, 2026