Granite State Advocacy Annual Report
August 13, 2026
Thanks to our amazing Heart Powered advocates, we wrapped up another successful year at the NH State House with 3 legislative victories. We also engaged with elected officials on other important issues in new and fun ways! Governor Ayotte joined American Heart Association volunteers on a walk after proclaiming April 1, 2026 as National Walking Day in New Hampshire. Executive Councilor John Stephen pushed for increased public education in Hands Only CPR after crediting lay rescuers with his survival from cardiac arrest. His statewide CPR Challenge netted almost 2,300 newly prepared lifesavers during EMS Week in May. We look forward to championing a policy in 2027 for all students to learn CPR prior to graduating high school.
Fiscal Year Policy Issues
We began the year, with the Governor signing our cardiac emergency response plans for school sports policy into law. All schools are now required to have evidence-based plans in place to protect student athletes and visitors to school sports events in the event of cardiac arrest. In 2027 we plan to expand this to schools campus-wide.
Along with maternal health partners, we defeated a bill which threatened NH’s Granite State Paid Family Medical Leave program by defending a family medical leave policy which provided job protections for pregnant and postpartum employees and their newborn infants needing time off for urgent medical appointments.
We defended nonprofit organizations who own property in NH by defeating a bill to permit municipalities to place a property tax on buildings assessed over $1 million. This new tax would have negatively impacted the vital services these nonprofits provide to our communities.
Supportive Policy Change
A bill passed that improved one of our policy wins last year, NH’s participation in the federal Summer EBT program. The bill fixed a state database barrier so all students receiving free and reduced-price school meals become automatically enrolled in the SUN Bucks program to benefit from nutritious breakfasts and lunches during the summer months.
Another successful bill created regulations to prevent the sales of illegal tobacco products, many of which target youth and are not FDA authorized. These products bypass the wholesalers who normally pay the state excise tax. The new law permits tobacco sales enforcers to identify and seize these products.
Policies We Continue to Champion
Session ended without passage of our priority policy to increase access to no-cost school meals. We will continue our work in 2027 to get an interim bill passed.
We engaged on legislation as an opportunity to educate lawmakers on the need to restore state funding to enable the NH Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program to continue efforts to reduce current smoking and prevent youth initiation of tobacco products. The next state budget will be addressed in 2027.