Local welfare serves as the last resort safety net for New Hampshire residents facing crisis, helping with emergency shelter, food, and medicine when all other options are exhausted. This program is critical for older adults, who experience poverty and homelessness at higher rates than other age groups.1,2 Many live on fixed incomes that don't stretch to cover rising costs for housing, health care, and other basic needs. When an older Granite Stater on a fixed income faces an unexpected crisis, like a sudden rent increase, a medical emergency, or the loss of a spouse, local welfare can mean the difference between keeping a roof over their head and sleeping in their car.
HB 348 would significantly restrict access to local welfare at a time when more older adults and families need it most.
Email Your Senator
Need help? Contact Martha McLeod (Vice President of Community Engagement) for help taking action or Judith Jones (Healthy Aging Policy Director) with policy questions.
About the Bill
HB 348 would create two major barriers to getting help through local welfare:
- Residency Requirement: It would require unhoused individuals to prove residency with documents like leases or utility bills—documents that someone sleeping in their car or temporarily staying with friends wouldn't have.
- Limit on Assistance: It would cap monthly assistance at just $652—an amount that doesn’t even cover one month’s rent and would only pay for about one week in an emergency motel. For a 75-year-old facing homelessness in winter, this could mean just one week of help before being left without shelter for the rest of the month.
Rather than restricting access to emergency assistance, we need systemic solutions that ensure our safety net works for all of us as we move through life. HB 348 would undermine this critical protection for people across our communities who have nowhere else to turn.
Bill Status
Next: The Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee will hold a pubilc hearing on the bill to receive input from the public.
January 8, 2026: The House of Representatives passed HB 348 in a 190-157 vote, advancing it to the Senate.
2025: HB 348 was retained during the 2025 legislative session to be worked on further in the 2026 session.
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References
- NH Coalition to End Homelessness (2025). The State of Homelessness in New Hampshire: 2025 Edition. https://www.nhceh.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-Edition-9.pdf
- New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. (2025, March 3). Who is Experiencing Poverty in the Granite State? https://nhfpi.org/resource/who-is-experiencing-poverty-in-the-granite-state
