The House Ways and Means Committee approved an LSR that codifies the committee's revenue estimates and sent it to the clerk for assignment, and in an extended executive session recommended ITL (inexpedient to legislate) on multiple bills affecting tobacco taxes, education funding and gaming revenue.

The committee voted to accept LSR 251159 — the document that records the revenue estimates the committee adopted last week — by voice roll call, with the clerk reporting a 19-0 vote with one member absent. Representative Ullery moved to accept the house resolution referencing LSR 251159; Representative Elmi seconded.

Committee staff explained the next steps and the effect of different executive proposals on the estimates. "Once this LSR goes up to the clerk, he will assign a house resolution number to it and then, include it in the calendar for the next meeting," said Krisha, a committee staff member, describing the administrative process. Staff member Chris distributed a two-page handout comparing the governor's revenue estimates with the committee's estimates and pointed out that the governor is proposing new revenues from video lottery terminals (VLTs) that the committee has not adopted. "The governor's proposing... $10,000,000 in revenue in fiscal year 26 and $117,000,000 in '27," Chris said, noting those figures are not incorporated in the committee's baseline because the House has not voted to accept them.

Why it matters: the committee's revenue estimates feed into House Bill 1 and other budget work. Committee staff and members discussed how proposed changes to revenue splits would move money between the General Fund and the Education Trust Fund. Staff said the governor proposes changing some revenue splits (business tax, tobacco, and rent) to a 66% general fund / 34% education trust fund split for the streams named, while current business-tax splits cited by staff are approximately 59% general fund and 41% education trust fund.

During discussion before the LSR vote, Representative Schamberg registered a recorded objection on the record about the level of estimated business-tax receipts. "I do still believe that business taxes estimates are too high and should be only about in the $900,000,000 range," he said, and added he nevertheless supported moving the LSR forward for the calendar.

Executive session votes — summary and key points

The committee then opened executive session and took formal committee recommendations on a series of bills. For each bill below, the committee motion and final committee tally are shown, followed by the principal points raised in committee discussion.

- LSR 251159 (codifying committee revenue estimates): Motion to accept the house resolution referencing LSR 251159; moved by Representative Ullery, seconded by Representative Elmi. Outcome: approved; tally 19 yes, 0 no, 1 absent. (Staff: Krisha; presenter: Chris.)

- HB 669-FN (relative to requiring all revenue raised under the Statewide Education Property Tax to be deposited into the Education Trust Fund and setting up an equalized statewide tax rate): Motion ITL (inexpedient to legislate); moved by Representative Ullery, seconded by Representative Doucette. Outcome: ITL motion passed, tally reported as 12 yes, 7 no. In debate members split on whether elements of the bill should be preserved elsewhere; Representative Ullery and others argued the committee handling education funding is separate and that aspects of the bill were better considered in that venue.

- HB 290-FN (enacting increased taxes on cigarettes and electronic cigarettes and establishing a committee to study taxes on tobacco and other nicotine products): Motion ITL; moved by Representative Doucette. Outcome: ITL motion passed, 11 yes, 8 no. Committee discussion ranged from fiscal concerns to public-health considerations. Representative Doucette argued raising the cigarette tax could reduce consumption and increase revenue, and Representative Opel cited the fiscal note estimate that, as read in committee, projected roughly $87,500,000 in additional revenue in each year of the biennium; opponents warned that raising a per-pack tax could reduce taxable volume and ultimately reduce revenue and undermine the state's "low tax" advantage.

- HB 402 (education freedom accounts — whether EFA payments are taxable as income): Motion ITL; moved by Representative Murphy, seconded by Representative Soti. Outcome: ITL motion passed, 11 yes, 8 no. Debate focused on whether a state-wide statutory rule is appropriate given varying family tax situations. Representative Murphy said, "only an individual family can determine whether or not an EFA is taxable to them or not based on their individual tax situation," while Representative Elberger noted the program's current income cap (discussed in committee as roughly $135,000 for a family of four) and said that does not necessarily meet some members' sense of "low income."

- HB 483-FN (definition of a scholarship organization for the education tax credit): Motion ITL; moved by Representative Tierney. Outcome: ITL motion passed, 11 yes, 8 no. Representative Tierney cited constitutional commerce-clause concerns about requiring incorporation in New Hampshire and noted the Children's Scholarship Fund (CFSF) — described in materials — administers accounts for New Hampshire families while being incorporated elsewhere; some members said retaining or amending the bill would be preferable to killing it outright.

- HB 503-FN (amending how revenues from certain taxes are allocated to the Education Trust Fund and related tax rate changes): Motion ITL; moved by Representative Ors. Outcome: ITL motion passed, 16 yes, 3 no. Debate included competing fiscal narratives about whether prior tax reductions increased or decreased revenue; proponents said restoring some rates would direct additional resources into the Education Trust Fund, while opponents warned of tax increases on businesses and pass-through entities.

- HB 531-FN (setting caps on charitable gaming distributions to a single organization): Motion ITL; moved by Representative Doucette. Outcome: ITL motion passed unanimously in committee, 19 yes, 0 no, 1 absent. The committee noted the gaming commission or an appointed commission could address related regulatory issues.

- HB 588-FN (distribution of revenues generated from historic horse racing pari-mutuel pools): Motion ITL; moved by Representative Doucette. Outcome: ITL motion passed, 19 yes, 0 no, 1 absent. Committee members agreed the commission process could address distribution questions.

- HB 540 (historic horse racing in large facilities — tax/distribution questions and machine limits): Motion ITL; moved by Representative Doucette. Outcome: ITL motion passed, reported as 17 yes, 1 no, 2 absent. Members discussed whether the commission charged with oversight should address machine thresholds and graduated taxation rather than legislating specific machine counts in committee.

Discussion versus decision: committee members repeatedly distinguished discussion-only points, direction to other fora (for example, proposals that the gaming commission study distribution and machine-count questions), and formal committee recommendations (the ITL motions and the LSR acceptance). Several members said they planned to file minority reports on bills where the ITL motion passed.

Clarifying details from committee staff and members

- LSR reference: LSR number cited on the record as 251159.
- VLT revenue (governor's proposal): $10,000,000 in FY 2026 and $117,000,000 in FY 2027 (staff said these are governor-proposed and are not included in the committee baseline because the House had not voted to adopt them).
- Business tax splits cited by staff: current split described roughly as 59% general fund / 41% education trust fund; the governor's proposal discussed in committee would change certain splits toward a 66%/34% general/education split for specified revenue streams.
- Tobacco-tax calculation: staff said tobacco splits are more complex because some "other than tobacco products" (OTP) receipts are treated separately and flow to the general fund; committee members noted a proposed change would reduce the Education Trust Fund by roughly $4.5 million per year under the example discussed.

Next steps and procedural notes

Committee staff said, administratively, the accepted LSR will be submitted to the clerk and appear on the calendar; a house resolution number will be assigned and the LSR will be included on the next meeting calendar. Several members announced minority reports for bills where the ITL recommendation passed. The chair said the committee has eight bills remaining on its docket and discussed tentative meeting scheduling in early March for remaining work.

Ending: The committee closed its business for the day after the votes and several members arranged follow-up caucus meetings and minority-report work.