With a fast-approaching deadline, NH House votes on remaining child care bills

This week, the New Hampshire House of Representatives is expected to vote on at least 180 bills to meet the deadline for legislation that will not go to a second committee. 

The House will vote on a handful of child care-related bills, including those on the child care workforce grant program, child-to-teacher ratios, and zoning for home-based care. 

As of early Wednesday evening, here is what the Legislature has voted on. 

NH is asking the federal government about TANF money for workforce grant — again

In a consent calendar vote — a group of bills that are not debated on the floor and acted upon with a single vote — House Bill 1566 passed. 

In its amended form, HB 1566 requires the Department of Health and Human Services to go back to the federal government and ask about a waiver to use Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, funds for the child care workforce grant program, this time “with a more focused question,” according to the committee report. 

HB 1566 would originally have appropriated $15 million in state general funds to the department for a grant to improve child care workforce recruitment and retention throughout the state. 

The Bulletin previously reported on funding issues for the grant, including attempting to use federal TANF funds and the pushback from the House Finance Committee on using state funds due to the state’s tight budget. 

The bill still requires the state to provide the grant funds, extending the deadline for state funds to be provided if the federal government denies the use of TANF or fails to respond by July 1, 2026.

An identical bill to HB 1566, Senate Bill 483, was voted on last week. The Senate voted to pass the bill and then tabled it, also due to the state’s financial situation. 

State no longer on the hook to pay the full $15 million for the workforce grant

The House voted, 170-153, to pass House Bill 1515, which, in its amended form, repeals the requirement for the Department of Health and Human Services to fully fund the child care workforce grant program. 

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House Bill 2, the state’s biennial budget trailer bill, requires the department to provide the complete $15 million allocation for the child care workforce grant. HB 1515 removes that requirement, a concern for Republican House Finance Committee members as worries about the state’s financial situation increase. 

Democrat Rep. David Preece of Manchester argued to the chamber that, in addition to helping alleviate statewide child care capacity and workforce issues, the bill would require only that the department determine the exact amount of funding needed to make the program work. 

“If I know that removing that requirement makes it easier for the state to overlook a workforce storage that affects families, business, and our entire economy, I would vote against [the bill],” he said. 

On the other hand, Rep. Ken Weyler, a Kingston Republican and chair of the fiscal committee, argued that the budget bill’s current language “puts the state on the hook” for $15 million, in the event the federal government does not allow TANF funds to be used. 

As both HB 1566 and HB 1515 move forward, it is unclear if the bills impede on each other. 

Sex offender loitering bill fails due to pending lawsuit

In a floor vote, House Bill 1239 was voted “inexpedient to legislate” in a 201-134 vote due to concerns over an ongoing federal lawsuit. 

HB 1239 would prohibit tier II and tier II sex offenders from loitering or prowling within 1,000 feet of schools, child care facilities, churches, and “any area where a reasonable person would know that minor children congregate.”

During Wednesday’s floor session, Democratic Rep. Buzz Scherr of Portsmouth urged members to vote down the bill due to a pending American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit on the state’s “vague” and “unconstitutional” loitering law. 

Filed in September 2025, the ACLU of New Hampshire lawsuit alleges that the state’s current law is unconstitutional and unfairly targets homeless people because of the law’s cloudy language. 

The bill was proposed at the request of the Department of Safety after multiple child care providers complained about how local police could not arrest sex offenders who were repeatedly loitering outside of the programs due to the current state law. 

HB 1239 also has an identical bill, Senate Bill 460, that passed in the Senate in early February.