July 2026 – New Hampshire legislative recap

NHMTA was involved with several pieces of legislation in 2026. A summary of the most important legislative issues NHMTA worked on is below.

SB 500 – An Act Relative to Restroom Access for Certain Commercial Vehicle Operators

NHMTA supported this legislation, which, in short, holds that a truck driver cannot be denied the right to use a restroom while picking up or delivering a load to a customer.

This bill was sponsored by Senator Regina Birdsell, who introduced it after attending the NHMTA Winter Conference and hearing from NHMTA members that drivers have been denied access to restrooms at customer facilities.

SB 500 was signed into law by Gov Kelly Ayotte on June 12, 2026, and it will take effect 60 days from that date.

SB 500 can be seen here.

HB 1252 – An act requiring the Department of Safety to only administer tests for commercial driver’s licenses in English and prohibiting the assistance of an interpreter during such tests

NHMTA supported this legislation which holds that CDL tests will only be conducted in English. Up until now, the knowledge test could be taken in seven (7) different languages.

NHMTA testified that this legislation will align with federal regulations which require CDL holders to be able to communicate in English. 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2), known as the English Language Proficiency (ELP) standard, holds that a CDL driver must be able to “read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records;”

Passage of this bill ensures that CDL holders from New Hampshire meet this standard.

HB 1252 was signed into law by Gov Kelly Ayotte on July 2, 2026, and it will take effect 60 days from that date.

HB 1252 can be seen here.

SB 569 – an act relative to the qualifications for hearings officers within the department of labor

SB 569 was introduced in response to many stakeholders’ negative experiences with the NH Department of Labor (DOL) hearings officers. NHMTA supported this legislation because the NHMTA SIG Trust for workers’ compensation had also had negative experiences with DOL hearing officers. The legislation holds that “Individuals employed as hearing officers shall have graduated from an accredited law school.  The commissioner shall give a hiring preference to licensed attorneys who have workers’ compensation experience or who have administrative adjudication experience.”

NHMTA and other supporters believe that this change should lead to more proper rulings from NH DOL hearings officers, as opposed to a number of rulings that appear to be inconsistent with what the workers’ compensation statute requires.

SB 569 was signed into law by Gov Kelly Ayotte on July 2, 2026, and it becomes effective 60 days after that date.

SB569 can be seen here.

SB 627 – Relative to toll rate adjustments and periodic inflation-based toll reviews for the New Hampshire Turnpike System to support the 2027-2036 ten-year transportation plan

NHMTA was initially involved in this legislation, because as initially written, it would have raised tolls across the board, and NHMTA would have opposed a toll increase on NHMTA members. It was quickly amended so that NH E-Z Pass holders would not face a toll increase. Furthermore, the legislation contains a provision requiring “the issuance of free transponders for a 210-day period to New Hampshire residents who open or currently maintain a New Hampshire E-Z Pass account.”

It should be noted that this bill would give the NH legislature control over raising toll rates. The current body that currently has sole jurisdiction over NH toll rates is the Governor’s Executive Council.

Governor Ayotte repeatedly stated her opposition to any form of a tolls increase. Governor Ayotte vetoed the bill on July 2, 2026.

SB 627 can be seen here.

SB 617 – An act relative to the regulation and appeal of motor vehicle towing from public highways and relative to the removal of abandoned vehicles by law enforcement

NHMTA published a longer stand-alone article on this legislation, available here.