New Hampshire Chapter Blog

2025 State House Summary

Cryptomining Priority Bill-- DECEMBER UPDATE

Senate Commerce Committee October Meeting

HB639 spent the summer sitting on the desk of the Senate Commerce Committee staff assistant. This is the bill that would give more local and state power to absentee crypto mining companies than to the residents of New Hampshire. The bill opens the doors to crypto mining facilities without local community, consumer, or taxpayer protections.

In October, the Senate Commerce Committee took up this bill and all of the other re-referred bills in the committee to vote them out of the committee to send to the full senate with their recommendations such as pass, pass with an amendment, interim study or kill. This is what happened to HB639 in the committee.

The discussion in the senate committee started with Senator Ricciardi (R-Bedford) as the lone Republican who clearly was uncomfortable passing the bill. The Republican majority tried to pass the bill but failed with a tie (Innis R-Bradford, Murphy R-Manchester and McGough R-Merrimack v Fenton D-Keene, Reardon D-Concord and Ricciardi). Senator Ricciardi was concerned with weakening local control and fraud concerns. Senator Reardon agreed with the concerns and further lifted up your voices as the reason for her opposing the passage of the bill. Senator Fenton stepped forward with the amendment to kill the bill which was tied again and failed (Sens Fenton, Reardon and Ricciardi v Innis, Murphy and McGough). Then Senator Ricciardi pushed the committee to consider a vote to ‘Interim Study’ the bill which passed (Ricciardi, McGough, Fenton and Rearden v Innis and Murphy). ‘Interim Study’ means that the bill will be sent back to the senate committee for the remainder of 2026. If the senate supports the motion for ‘Interim Study’ the bill will be ineligible for passage. 

HB639 will go to the Senate floor for one final vote with the recommendation to ‘Interim Study’ for 2026 on Jan 7, 2026 starting at 10 A.M. 

We faced many challenges in the State House in 2025, but we identified where we could have the most impact, took action, and made the difference. The two bills we worked on this year centered on local control to protect community resources, like water, sewer, roads, noise and energy demands, maintenance, and operations. 

If you would like to get involved with the Chapter, email the Chapter Director, Catherine.Corkery@SierraClub.org, today!

Cryptomining Priority Bill-- UPDATE

On Thursday, October 30th, the NH Senate Commerce Committee will be meeting to vote on the last bills in the committee, including HB639, the crypto mining bill that will unilaterally prioritize cryptomining facilities over the rights of the residents of New Hampshire. The bill was sent back to the senate committee because they could not build a majority in the senate. That bodes well for us, the opponents of the bill. There is a growing bipartisan opposition in the senate and we need your help to stop this bill. It is dangerous. It is unnecessary. Simply put the bill prohibits the state and towns from establishing any guardrails for noise, water and energy resource conservation, electronic waste and other cost saving protections to lessen local impacts from massive supercomputer facilities owned by out-of-state funders. You can do two things to communicate to the committee -- make calls and send an email:

Send an email to the Senate Commerce Committee before they vote on Thursday October 30th -- HB639, a harmful bill that will place the rights of crypto facilities above you and your neighbors in your own town. 

Background

HB639, a bill to prioritize the cryptocurrency industry over the needs of state and towns, eliminate consumer protections for digital assets, and create a specialized court for disputes, was introduced without any opposition in the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee. The Chapter jumped into action for the finance committee hearing. The support for the bill mainly came from the Libertarian leadership in the House, and it was overwhelming - using force, not facts, to pass the bill in the House. 

The State Senate was less accommodating to the bill, but not at first. Just before the Senate Hearing, over 20 volunteers attended a training session on the bill and 12 volunteers came to the Earth Day Lobby Day in April. We met with Senators and House members on both sides of the aisle. On the day of the hearing, 5 volunteers and the Chapter Director gave testimony as the only group to present their opposition. We called and emailed our members and supporters to call their Senators on the committee to oppose the bill. Over 400 emails were sent and over 30 people agreed to call their senators just before the committee voted. On the day of the committee vote, the committee was tied, three-to-three with Republican Senator Ricciardi voting with Democratic Senators Fenton and Reardon. Then, when HB639 went to the entire Senate for a vote, it was “re-refered” to the committee, meaning it did not pass but it was sent back to the committee for the remainder of the session.

After the senate failed to pass the bill, the House Libertarian Leadership was furious and added the same language of HB639 to a second totally unrelated bill, SB25 on the House floor. This devious move sent the exact same controversial language back to the Senate, forcing a second vote on the Senate floor. The Senate took up SB25 and voted it down in a voice vote, cementing the original decision to re-refer the original bill, HB639.//This is good news: the dangerous cryptocurrency bill that prevented towns from regulating this industry has been stalled and did not pass this year!! Your efforts sending emails, making calls, and conducting in-person visits to legislators were absolutely critical in preventing this harmful legislation from passing. THANK YOU for standing up for New Hampshire and our planet!

Our work is not done. Again, the original bill, HB 639, was re-referred to the Senate Commerce Committee, where the members promised to address its troublesome language. We need to stay engaged to ensure that the bill either dies or gets a true make-over. As we’ve talked about before, cryptocurrency mining has caused major disruptions to communities around the country, from incessant noise pollution to straining electric and water resources. Cities and towns must retain their ability to say NO to crypto mines if they do not have the proper guardrails in place. 

Resources:

Sierra Club and EarthJustice Energy Bomb Report on Crypto mining impacts.

Sierra Club VA Chapter Report on Data Centers insatiable energy demand, called Unconstrained Demand.

Off-Road Vehicle on State Roads in More Counties Bill

HB 683, a bill allowing ATVs on state roads in 5 new counties, was introduced in the House Resources Committee where it faced strong opposition after the Chapter’s outreach and contact with legislators. We worked with local activists and members in Gorham who have experienced ATVs on their roads. Over 4 people and other advocacy groups gave testimony,  and many more signed in online to oppose the bill at the committee hearing. The bill failed to get support in committee and died on the floor of the House.