Washington, D.C. – Club for Growth Foundation released its 2025 New Hampshire State Economic Scorecard, assessing how each lawmaker in the Live Free or Die State approached limited government policies.
The Scorecard analyzes policies and votes to assign an Economic Growth Score from 0 to 100, with 100 representing the highest support for pro-growth policies. In 2025, the Foundation’s study examined over 550 floor votes and, in the end, included 18 New Hampshire House votes and 10 New Hampshire Senate votes.
“New Hampshire lawmakers could have done more to limit government in 2025,” said Club for Growth Foundation President David McIntosh. “While legislators blocked a massive tax hike package, capped municipal spending growth, and expanded the state’s Education Freedom Account program to all families regardless of income, too many of these wins were squandered. The State’s budget agreement increases total spending by 4.6% to $15.9 billion, tacking on nearly $42 million in new pension spending and restoring a $50 million cut to Medicaid reimbursements. Lawmakers also created a new carbon tax scheme disguised as a timber levy and blocked right-to-work protections that would have shielded workers from union coercion. If New Hampshire wants to live up to its ‘Live Free or Die’ motto, legislators must continue to prioritize liberty without bloating government.
Click here to view the full 2025 New Hampshire State Economic Scorecard from the Club for Growth Foundation.
Key Highlights from the 2025 New Hampshire Scorecard:
New Hampshire House:
- Average Republican Score: 89%
- Average Democratic Score: 19%
- Highest Rated Republican(s): Reps. Steven Bogert (Belknap 5), Richard Brown (Carroll 8), Darrell Louis (Grafton 1), Donald Selby (Rockingham 9), and Steven Smith (Sullivan 3): 100%
- Highest Rated Democrat(s): Rep. Dale Girard (Sullivan 6): 47%
- Lowest Rated Republican(s): Rep. Nicholas Bridle (Rockingham 29): 34%
- Lowest Rated Democrat(s): Reps. Seth Miller (Strafford 21) and John Stone (Strafford 12): 0%
New Hampshire Senate:
- Average Republican Score: 75%
- Average Democrat Score: 9%
- Highest Rated Republican(s): Sen. Kevin Avard (SD-12): 90%
- Highest Rated Democrat(s): Sen. Debra Altschiller (SD-24): 18%
- Lowest Rated Republican(s): Sens. Sharon Carson (SD-14), Mark McConkey (SD-03), Tim McGough (SD-11), Keith Murphy (SD-16), Howard Pearl (SD-17), and Victoria Sullivan (SD-18): 68%
- Lowest Rated Democrat(s): Sens. Donovan Fenton (SD-10), Patrick Long (SD-20), Rebecca Perkins Kwoka (SD-21), Suzanne Prentiss (SD-05), Tara Reardon (SD-15), Cindy Rosenwald (SD-13), David Watters (SD-04): 8%
Notable Pro-Limited Government Policies:
HB 503 – BLOCKING MASSIVE TAX HIKE PACKAGE
- This vote was a motion to block a bill that implements tax hikes on hardworking New Hampshire families and small business owners
- Requires municipalities to vote on whether all spending measures must be recorded votes rather than passed unanimously or by voice vote
- Requires towns to provide a special notation in local budgets and spending measures that informs constituents of the tax impact per $1,000 of property valuation if the spending measure is passed and implemented
SB 105 – CAPPING MUNICIPAL SPENDING
- Caps municipal spending across New Hampshire using a per-resident expenditure formula based on population, adjusted for inflation
- Requires a supermajority of the municipal body to override the appropriations cap and empowers voters, through a ballot initiative, to both adopt and rescind these spending caps
SB 295 – TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNT BILL
- Eliminates the household income threshold for eligibility for New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account program, making it available to all families and students in the state
- Allow tax dollars (roughly $4,419 per year) to follow students to a school of their parents’ or guardians’ choice for educational expenses
Notable Anti-Limited Government Legislation:
HB 1 – MISSED OPPORTUNITY BUDGET AGREEMENT
- Appropriates $15.9 billion in total spending for the FY2026-27 biennium, a 4.6% increase from the previous biennium
- Anti-growth appropriations: Nearly $42 million in increased pension spending, reinstates a $50 million cut to Medicaid reimbursement payments, restores previously eliminated government agencies like the Housing Appeals Board, implements a new business tax credit to fund government art programs, and adopts multiple new Medicaid service expansions
- Includes some pro-growth measures: Funds the universal ESA program and reduces spending in higher education
HB 123 – CARBON TAX SCHEME
- Creates a new tax under a current tax by expanding the definition of the existing timber yield tax beyond timber-cutting yields to include carbon sequestration efforts on New Hampshire timberland
HB 238 – BLOCKING RIGHT TO WORK PROTECTIONS
- This vote was a motion to block a bill that protects workers against union coercion
- Prohibits employers from conditioning employment on participation in a union, payment of fees or dues to unions, or union recommendation or referral
- Imposes penalties for violations of these provisions and provides injunctive relief to those harmed by violations of right-to-work protections