Regional Policy Pulse

May 2025

Across the region, policymakers are busy trying to move legislation through as states near the end of their legislative sessions. Click the arrow next to each state name to learn more about what the Center has been tracking.

Please note that is list is not exhaustive and does not represent any position of the Center’s.

Maine
- LD. 1 – Signed into Law by Governor Mills – Three-part proposal for extreme weather preparedness. Would improve emergency communications, create funding opportunities to make homes more resilient, and establish a new State Resilience Office to address flooding and other impacts.
- LD 14 – Carried Over to Next Special or Regular Session – Would exempt members of a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe, or band in the state from being required to pay a fee for admission to any state-owned park, historic site, camping area, or beach managed by the state.
- LD 161 – Carried Over to Next Special or Regular Session – Would convene a stakeholder group to review subdivision laws and submit a report to the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry with findings and recommendations for modernizing subdivision laws that promote development in growth areas, reduce development pressures in rural areas, protect public health, safety, and welfare, advance production of affordable housing, and streamline the development review process.
- LD 435 – Carried Over to Next Special or Regular Session – Would expand the small project provisions of historic property rehabilitation tax credit, increasing the eligible percentage from 25% to 30% and expenditure cap from $250,000 to $1,000,000. Would increase the percentage of credit available for affordable housing creation to 35% for significant projects and 45% for small projects. Among other revisions.
- LD 593 – Carried Over to Next Special or Regular Session – Would extend funding for Land for Maine’s Future program. LMF provides funding for conserving land for its natural and recreational value.
- LD 785 – Carried Over to Next Special or Regular Session – Would enact the remaining recommendations of the Task Force on Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implement Act.
- LD 1870 – Would establish a climate superfund in which major fossil fuel companies would compensate the state for damages from climate change.
New Hampshire
- SB. 46 – Dead – Would enable municipalities to allow land impacted by new construction or reconstruction to be eligible for current use valuation only after a no cut, vegetated buffer is established and maintained.
- SB. 55 – Dead – Would provide temporary exemptions from the land use change tax for qualifying housing projects.
- SB. 81 – Laid on Table (Paused) – Would double the amount of money sent to the state’s affordable housing fund from the real estate transfer tax to $10 million.
- SB. 84 – Passed Senate – Would restrict the minimum lot size for single-family homes to 88,000 square feet — or about two acres — for at least 50 percent of zoned land that is not served by municipal water and sewer lines. For lots that are served by those lines, a municipality could pass lot size requirements no greater than 22,000 square feet, or about half an acre.
- SB. 231 – In Senate Committee – Would limit road frontage requirements and setbacks for wetlands and lot lines to improve housing density, ensuring these requirements do not exceed 50 feet and are consistent with existing shoreland protection and environmental standards.
- SB. 274 – Laid on Table (Paused) – Would establish a four-year pilot program with potential for statewide expansion to improve rail trails in New Hampshire through federal, state, and private funding to boost the outdoor recreation economy.
- SB. 284 – Passed Senate & House with Amendments, Now Heads Back to Senate – Would bar municipalities from requiring any more than one parking space per unit for many housing developments with fewer than 10 units.
- HB. 123 – Passed House – Amended to repeal a provision allowing taxation of land where the owner has failed to cut standing wood or timber.
- HB. 124 – Passed House & Senate with Amendments, Now Heads Back to House – Would enable a city or town forest committee to offer surplus money to the town for deposit in the city or town general fund.
- HB. 189 – Passed House – Would define “clean energy” and the Department of Energy’s 10-year state energy strategy to include new technology small-scale nuclear energy, renewable energy, and fuel diversity. Would remove references to the Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy Board.
- HB. 219 – Retained in House Committee – Over five years, would phase out the minimum electric renewable portfolio standard requirements. Beginning in 2026, the Department of Energy will determine and administer a 20% reduction in minimum percentages for renewable generation in each class from the percentages applicable in 2025.
- HB. 224 – Retained in House Committee – Would require the Department of Energy to rebate all funds from the Renewable Energy Fund – that are in excess of administration costs, funding for the office of offshore wind industry development and energy innovation, and incentive payments – to all electric ratepayers, in a manner determined by the Public Utilities Commission.
- HB. 459 – Retained in House Committee – Would disallow minimum lot size requirements for at least 50% of a town’s lots unless they follow scientific standards tied to capacity. For housing lots that don’t have sewer and water lines – lots with their individual septic and well systems – towns could not set a minimum lot size that is bigger than what the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Service requires for individual sewer systems. For those that already have sewer and water hookups, towns could not impose lot size requirements bigger than 22,000 square feet, or about half an acre.
- HB. 567 – Dead – Would repeal the state’s thermal renewable energy credit program.
- HB. 577 – Passed House – Would keep the current number of “by right” accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to one but would allow that ADU to be detached from the house. Would also require towns to allow ADUs without additional requirements beyond what would be required for a single-family dwelling without an accessory dwelling unit.
- HB. 624 – Retained in House Committee – Would establish a local river management advisory committee grant program and make an appropriation therefor.
- HB. 631 – Passed House & Senate – Would allow residential units and multi-use developments “by right” in commercial zones, overriding prohibitions set by towns for those areas. Would apply only to commercial districts located in “urban areas,” as determined by the United States Census. And it would apply only to lots served by municipal water and sewer lines.
- HB. 659 – Dead – Would establish a New Hampshire college graduate retention incentive program to retain graduates from New Hampshire higher education institutions and incentivize businesses to hire local graduates.
Vermont
- S. 56 – Passed Senate & House with Amendments, Now Heads Back to Senate – Would study the creation of an Office of New Americans. The committee would start meeting no later than Sept. 1, 2025, and submit its report by Sept. 1, 2026.
- S. 60 – Passed Senate – Would set up a relief fund to help farmers recoup losses due to extreme weather, could be accessible to loggers as well.
- S. 127 Community and Housing Infrastructure Program (CHIP) – Passed Senate – Would give municipalities the ability to invest in infrastructure that enables the development of housing, borrowing against future tax revenue rather than increasing taxes.
- H. 16 – In House Committee – Would repeal a 2023 law that set up but did not implement a Clean Heat Standard.
- H. 52 – In House Committee – Would change the greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements in the Global Warming Solutions Act to goals.
- H. 62 – In House Committee – Would repeal the Global Warming Solutions Act which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- H. 147 – In House Committee – Would commission a study led by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation and the Vermont Trails and Greenways Council to develop landowner incentives for public recreation.
- H. 289 – In House Committee – Would repeal the measure that opens the state to citizen lawsuits if it does not meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements. Would switch the method Vermont uses to count its emissions from gross accounting to a net accounting. Would require Vermont to reach “net zero” by 2035. Would change the authority, scope, and make up of Vermont’s Climate Council. Would release a Climate Action Management Plan in December 2026.
- H. 397 – Passed House – Would require the chief recovery officer to collaborate with stakeholders to develop a comprehensive statewide plan for flood preparedness, response, and recovery. Would provide financial assistance to local municipalities dealing with immediate fiscal challenges due to flood challenge. Would introduce a volunteer buy-out program for homeowners in flood prone areas. Would support rural municipalities upgrading infrastructure and improving access routes during flooding. Would direct the Agency of Natural Resources to enhance streamflow management and evaluate flood resilience efforts. Would introduce two new positions to the Division of Emergency Management. Would address communication gaps by installing surface water flood monitoring devices. And would mandate a gap assessment to identify resource limitations that state may face in implementing these measures.
- Pathway to Accelerate and Transform Housing (PATH) for Vermont – Would provide direct public investments and incentives for private capital to create opportunities for vulnerable communities, revitalize communities, foster resiliency, and grow the state’s population and workforce.
- Roll-out of Act 18 Affordable Heat Act – The Public Utilities Commission submitted a final draft of the Clean Heat Standard to the Vermont Legislature. The Legislature must pass a second law to put the Clean Heat Standard into effect.
- Roll-out of Act 121 Flood Safety Act – Implementing measures to regulate development in river corridors.
- Roll-out of Act 122 Climate Superfund Act – The Agency of Natural Resources must submit a report to the Vermont Legislature by July 1, 2025, detailing the feasibility of and progress in carrying out the program. The Treasurer’s Office must submit an assessment of the costs that climate change damages and abatement has cost residents (beginning January 1, 1995 – December 31, 2024) to the Vermont Legislature by January 15, 2026.
- Roll-out of Act 181– Implementing a tier-based system for Act 250 and temporary exemptions to spur housing development in designated growth areas while preserving conservation zones.
New York
- S5603 – Would would provide real property tax incentives to landowners who voluntarily place permanent protective easements on their forested lands.
- Development of Cap-and-Invest Program – Introduced by Governor Hochul – Will establish an economy-wide cap and invest program to support greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the state by setting a maximum allowable amount of greenhouse gas emissions by covered entities and regulating the sale or auction of greenhouse gas emissions allowances to covered entities.
- Roll-out of the Climate Change Superfund Act – Signed by Governor Hochul – Will require oil companies to pay $75 billion over the next 25 years to help support projects that increase the state’s resiliency to the effects of climate change.
- Roll-out of Short-Term Rental Law – Signed by Governor Hochul – Will develop a registry of short-term rental properties across the state and require short-term rental properties to pay the same sales and occupancy taxes as hotels.
Federal
- Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act – Signed into law on January 4, 2025.
- S. 509 Future Logging Careers Act – Would allow 16-year-olds to work in their family’s logging business under parental supervision – something already possible on farms but illegal in the logging industry. Would also ensure that use of the most dangerous equipment, such as manual chainsaws, is still prohibited until the age of 18.
- S. 811 Recreational Trails Program Full Funding Act of 2025
- S. 1094 Mass Timber Federal Buildings Act of 2025 – Would establish a two-tier contracting preference into all federal contacts. The first applies to mass timber coming from state, federal, private, and Tribal forestlands. The optional second applies to mass timber products sourced from restoration practices, fire mitigation projects, and underserved forest owners. In addition, there will be a requirement to conduct building lifecycle assessments.
- H.R. 2750 Bridging the Broadband Gap Act of 2025 – Would prioritize the affordability and expansion of broadband to rural communities through satellite and fixed-wireless broadband. Would allow states to use funds from the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program to pay for 50% of the initial cost of a satellite or fixed wireless receiver and $30 for each monthly bill for the first year of services.
- H.R. 2916 – Would ratify the land claim settlement agreement between the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, New York State, Franklin and St. Lawrence Counties, the Towns of Fort Covington and Bombay, and the New York Power Authority. It would include the return of Reservation Status of 3,500 acres as well as the opportunity for up to 14,000 total acres in the land claim areas.
- H.R. 3125 Rural Broadband Assistance Act – Would amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to provide technical assistance to expand access to broadband service in rural communities
International
- European Union Deforestation-Free Regulation – Set to take effect at the start of 2025, the regulation approved by EU government May 2023 aims to ensure that the EU’s consumption and trade of goods doesn’t contribute to deforestation or forest degradation. It includes a requirement that exporters trace the origin of their product to the plot of land it was harvested, and for timber-related products provide the contact information of the originating landowners.