Medicaid
Provider spending, utilization patterns, and anomaly detection for New Hampshire.
SNAP / HR1 Compliance
Updated Feb 22, 2026State vs National PER
Projected Annual State Cost Share (effective FY2028)
Based on FY2024 SNAP Payment Error Rates. Cost sharing enacted under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-94, signed July 4, 2025), effective October 2027.
Housing Affordability
Updated Mar 30, 2026Broadband Access
Updated Mar 30, 2026Subscription Types
Drinking Water Quality
Updated Mar 30, 2026Violation Rate vs National Avg (3.6%)
Quarterly Grant Spending (FY2021-FY2025)
Top Agencies
Top Programs (CFDA)
Budget & Fiscal Health
FY2022Updated Mar 30, 2026Credit Ratings (GO Bonds)
Workforce & Employment
Updated Mar 30, 2026Unemployment Rate (24 months, seasonally adjusted)
Fastest Growing Sectors
Shrinking Sectors
State of the State: 2025 vs 2026
Kelly Ayotte (2025) to Kelly Ayotte (2026)
New Hampshire 2025 vs. 2026: Governor Kelly Ayotte's State of the State Analysis
Governor Kelly Ayotte's 2025 address was largely an aspirational inaugural blueprint, laying out broad goals for a new administration. Her 2026 address, by contrast, is a progress report that claims credit for legislative accomplishments while pivoting to new challenges. The tone shifted from "here's what we need to do" to "here's what we did, and here's what's next." In 2025, Ayotte identified housing, education, public safety, and fiscal discipline as her core pillars; in 2026, she returned to all of these but with significantly more specificity and several new priority areas layered on top.
Housing remained the centerpiece economic issue in both years, but the emphasis evolved dramatically. In 2025, Ayotte called for an "all-of-the-above strategy" and a 60-day permitting overhaul. In 2026, she celebrated that more than a dozen housing bills had passed, that the 60-day lean permitting process was implemented, and that housing production had reached its highest total in 20 years according to the Bureau of Economic Affairs. She also highlighted new tools like office-to-housing conversions and accessory dwelling units. Similarly, education shifted from announcing the cell phone ban and advocating for education freedom accounts in 2025 to celebrating both as accomplished in 2026, while pivoting to a new focus on reading and math outcomes, instructing Commissioner Davis to launch a reading initiative studying high-performing districts.
Energy policy and electric rates emerged as an entirely new priority in 2026, with Ayotte criticizing the Public Utilities Commission for siding with utilities over ratepayers and blaming neighboring states' "net zero religion" for driving up regional costs. She directed the Department of Energy to build pathways for next-generation nuclear power. Childcare also emerged as a significant new concern, with Ayotte proposing a tax credit for companies investing in childcare for their workforce and highlighting the Merrimack YMCA expansion. Highway safety became a concrete legislative priority, with Ayotte calling to double the administrative license suspension from six months to one year for refusing a breath alcohol test.
Several 2025 themes were notably absent or diminished in 2026. The Commission on Government Efficiency (COGE), which Ayotte announced with fanfare in 2025 under the leadership of Governor Craig Benson and Andy Crews, received only a passing mention in 2026. The veteran services agenda that was a prominent emotional appeal in 2025 — with veterans asked to stand and pledges to make New Hampshire the "most veteran-friendly state" — was reduced to brief acknowledgment. Ayotte's 2025 explicit veto pledge on abortion restrictions was entirely absent from the 2026 address. The 2026 speech added substantial new content on rural healthcare through the GO-NORTH initiative, featuring hundreds of millions in funding, telehealth expansion, mobile clinics, and community access points — a major programmatic addition with no 2025 precedent.
New Priorities in 2026
- +Energy policy and electric rates became a major focus, with Ayotte criticizing the PUC for favoring utilities and directing the Department of Energy to build pathways for next-generation nuclear power in New Hampshire.
- +Childcare affordability emerged as a new priority, with Ayotte proposing a tax credit for companies investing in childcare for their workforce and highlighting expanded nonprofit childcare offerings.
- +Highway safety became a concrete legislative priority, with Ayotte calling on the legislature to double the administrative license suspension from six months to one year for drivers refusing a breath alcohol test.
- +The GO-NORTH initiative was introduced to provide hundreds of millions in funding for rural healthcare, including telehealth expansion, mobile clinics, community access points through schools and libraries, and rural health workforce recruitment.
- +A new reading initiative was announced, with Commissioner Davis instructed to study districts with the highest reading proficiency and apply best practices statewide to address low math and reading scores.
- +Reforming the Hampton rest area on I-95 to showcase New Hampshire businesses rather than national brands became a symbolic priority for state marketing and economic identity.
- +Credit transfer between community colleges and universities was flagged as a new workforce development priority to remove unnecessary roadblocks for students.
Dropped from 2025
- −Ayotte's explicit veto pledge on abortion restrictions — 'if you send me legislation that further restricts access to abortion beyond our current law: I will veto it' — was entirely absent from the 2026 address.
- −The Commission on Government Efficiency (COGE), announced prominently in 2025 with named leaders Governor Craig Benson and Andy Crews, received only a brief passing mention in 2026 with no specific outcomes highlighted.
- −Veterans services, which received an extended emotional appeal in 2025 including asking veterans to stand and pledging to make New Hampshire the 'most veteran-friendly state,' was reduced to a brief mention in 2026.
- −Recruiting businesses from Canada and the North Country cross-border economic development pitch was not repeated in 2026.
- −The extended personal biographical narrative about Ayotte's family, her husband Joe's military service, and her daughter at the Air Force Academy was significantly scaled back.
Shifted Emphasis
- ↔Housing shifted from an aspirational 'all-of-the-above strategy' with a 60-day permitting goal in 2025 to celebrating over a dozen passed laws, the highest housing production in 20 years, and new tools like office-to-housing conversions and accessory dwelling units in 2026.
- ↔The cell phone ban in schools moved from a new policy announcement in 2025 to a celebrated accomplishment in 2026, with Ayotte citing specific results like increased library book checkouts at McCarthy Middle School in Nashua and reduced cyberbullying.
- ↔Education freedom accounts shifted from a call to 'strengthen and expand' the program in 2025 to celebrating the passage of universal education freedom in 2026, while adding a new emphasis on reading and math outcome accountability.
- ↔Bail reform moved from calling for further fixes in 2025 — citing a Manchester officer whose pinky was 'gnawed to the bone' — to declaring the 'failed bail reform experiment' officially ended in 2026, while citing the tragic murder of Marisol Fuentes-Huaracha in Berlin.
- ↔Fiscal discipline messaging intensified significantly, expanding from general belt-tightening language in 2025 to aggressive warnings against income and sales taxes using Connecticut and Rhode Island as cautionary tales, and directly challenging legislators who propose new taxes as a property tax solution.
- ↔Mental health care evolved from a broad call for more providers and reduced siloing of substance use and mental health treatment in 2025 to specific funded programs in 2026, including uncompensated care at Community Mental Health Centers, 988 funding preservation, and Doorways and Recovery Friendly Workplace programs.
- ↔The Massachusetts comparison shifted from a general 'cautionary tale' about spending and illegal immigration in 2025 to a more triumphant competitive narrative in 2026, boasting that six companies and 500 jobs had relocated from Massachusetts and that 'little New Hampshire has Massachusetts bragging about retaining a single company.'
- ↔Sanctuary city policy moved from a legislative request to ban sanctuary policies in 2025 to a claimed accomplishment in 2026.
- ↔Property tax concerns became more pointed in 2026, with Ayotte directly challenging local officials on fiscal responsibility and explicitly warning legislators that instituting new taxes would 'kiss the New Hampshire Advantage goodbye.'
Policy Topics Addressed
Affordability
Governor Ayotte emphasized the New Hampshire Advantage of no income or sales tax, noting the state attracted six Massachusetts companies and 500 jobs in the past year. She identified housing as the top priority, reporting the highest housing production in 20 years after passing historic housing laws. She also addressed childcare costs, proposed a tax credit for companies investing in employee childcare, and called for lowering electric rates by fostering next-generation nuclear power and holding utilities accountable.
Economy & Jobs
Governor Ayotte highlighted New Hampshire as #1 for economic opportunity, #1 for economic freedom, with the lowest tax burden in the country. She emphasized six companies moving from Massachusetts in the past year, bringing 500 jobs, and stressed the importance of housing, workforce training, and childcare as interconnected economic development priorities. She called for creating a tax credit for companies investing in childcare for their workforce.
Education
Governor Ayotte celebrated New Hampshire's top-10 school rankings, seventh-highest per-pupil funding, and the cell phone bell-to-bell ban that's already showing results — with kids checking out library books again and cyberbullying declining. She expanded education freedom with universal ESAs, made historic special education investments, and instructed Commissioner Davis to undertake a new reading initiative studying the state's highest-performing districts to apply best practices statewide.
Environment & Energy
Governor Ayotte addressed high electric rates, blaming neighboring states' net-zero policies for pushing up regional costs and criticizing the Public Utilities Commission for being too willing to accommodate utilities. She directed the Department of Energy to build pathways for next-generation nuclear power in New Hampshire and emphasized energy efficiency and accountability for ratepayers.
Government Reform
Governor Ayotte highlighted creating a Commission on Governmental Efficiency and implementing a new lean 60-day permitting process to streamline state government. She emphasized the state balanced its budget without raising taxes and called on PURA to hold utilities accountable for ratepayers rather than shareholders.
Healthcare
Governor Ayotte highlighted New Hampshire ranking #1 for healthcare and #1 for Medicaid mental health services nationally. She described the GO-NORTH initiative for rural healthcare, emphasizing telehealth expansion, prevention-first models, community access points through schools and libraries, and rural health workforce investments. She also noted the state fully funded the developmental disability waitlist and maintained strong Medicaid eligibility levels.
Housing
Governor Ayotte identified housing as "the number one area we need to succeed" and noted 2025 saw the highest housing production total in 20 years. She highlighted new laws for a 60-day permitting process, expanded ADUs, business-to-housing conversions, and energy-efficient housing development financing. She emphasized housing for seniors wanting to downsize, workers wanting to live where they work, and young people seeking their first homes.
Infrastructure
Governor Ayotte emphasized housing as the state's top infrastructure need, noting the highest housing production in 20 years following new laws to speed construction. She directed the Department of Energy to build pathways for next-generation nuclear power, highlighted broadband connectivity ranking #1 nationally, and announced support for rural healthcare infrastructure through the GO-NORTH initiative with hundreds of millions in funding.
Public Safety
Governor Ayotte emphasized New Hampshire's #1 ranking for public safety, highlighted ending the state's 'disastrous bail reform experiment,' banning sanctuary cities, and increasing penalties for human trafficking. She proposed doubling administrative license suspensions for drivers refusing breath alcohol tests and announced creation of a Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee. She also strengthened the Cold Case Unit and addressed wrong-way driving and distracted driving safety.
Social Services
Governor Ayotte highlighted fully funding the developmental disability waitlist, protecting Medicaid eligibility at New England-leading levels, and launching the GO-NORTH initiative for rural healthcare. She noted the state preserved funding for 988 crisis services and recovery programs. She also emphasized the need for more affordable child care, suggesting tax credits for companies investing in childcare for their workforce.
Tax & Budget
Governor Ayotte strongly defended New Hampshire's no-income-tax, no-sales-tax model, warning that property tax concerns should not be addressed by instituting new taxes. She highlighted the state's lowest tax burden in the country and contrasted it with neighboring states, noting that Connecticut's income tax has been raised four times since enactment while their property taxes remain third-highest nationally. She called for local governments to practice fiscal restraint and celebrated attracting six companies from Massachusetts.
Technology
Governor Ayotte celebrated New Hampshire's #1 ranking for home internet connectivity and the successful implementation of a bell-to-bell cell phone ban in schools. She reported students are checking out library books again and talking to each other in hallways. She directed the Department of Energy to build pathways for next-generation nuclear power and called for government modernization, including a requirement that agencies refund application fees if they miss processing deadlines.
Veterans & Military
Governor Ayotte recognized Edward Parker and Hubert Buchanan, former POWs from World War II and Vietnam. She highlighted restoring retirement benefits promised to first responders and announced the GO-NORTH initiative for rural healthcare, which will benefit veteran communities. She also proposed a new reading initiative and workforce programs that could benefit transitioning service members.
Public Health Outcomes
Updated Mar 30, 2026Better than national avgWorse than national avg
Education
Updated Mar 30, 2026NAEP Scores (2024 Nation's Report Card)
Infrastructure
Grade: AUpdated Mar 30, 2026Bridges (FHWA NBI 2025)
Drinking Water (EPA SDWIS)
Campaign Finance
Contributions by Party
Regulatory Reform Ideas
100 candidatesTop Easy Wins
- 1.OPLC Processing Deadline (21-Day Statutory)(OPLC / General Court)
- 2.NH APA Rule Review (5-Year Cycle / Automatic Repeal)(All agencies / General Court / JLCAR)
- 3.DES Unified Environmental Permitting Portal(DES (all bureaus) / DoIT)
- 4.OPLC Unified Professional Licensing Portal(OPLC / DoIT / General Court)
- 5.§ 404 Wetland Permitting Streamlining(DES Wetlands / Army Corps / EPA)
IT Status Report & Strategic Plan
Comprehensive IT capability assessment with 100-day and 200-day strategic initiatives.