New Hampshire’s Republican majority added several notches on its belt this week as conservative priorities crossed key checkpoints.

Lawmakers sent final proposals for a parental bill of rights, universal Education Freedom Accounts and a ban on cell phone use in schools to Gov. Kelly Ayotte for her signature. The Senate approved its version of the next state budget and passed bills that will ban gender-affirming care for minors.

Here’s what you need to know.

This past week

■Voting along party lines, the state Senate passed two bills – House Bill 377 and House Bill 712 – that would outlaw hormone treatments, puberty blockers and breast surgery for transgender minors. As Democrats argued that gender-affirming medical care can improve mental health outcomes for transgender kids, Republicans said they worry that irreversible treatments and surgeries will negatively impact those children down the line. Kids already receiving hormone treatments as of the end of 2025 would be allowed to stay on them. This provision and other changes were added by the Senate. Once the House accepts these, the bills will head to Ayotte.

■The House of Representatives approved mandatory minimum sentences on certain fentanyl-related crimes, including transporting, manufacturing or possessing with the intent to sell. Changes made in committee to Senate Bill 14 would have people convicted with more than 20 grams face at least three-and-a-half years in prison, while those convicted with 50 grams or more would get at least seven years. As Ayotte and the Republican majority push a law-and-order approach, Democrats – and a few outlying conservatives – doubted the mandatory minimums would be effective in combating New Hampshire’s fentanyl problems.

The week ahead

■The House and Senate have acted on all bills. Now, lawmakers form committees of conference, where members of the two chambers get together to hash out any remaining disagreements on policy and the state budget.

■On Thursday, June 12, both the House and Senate are scheduled to meet for session at 10 a.m.

For more information on the budget process and other inner workings of the State House, check out our 2025 Legislative Guide.

For an unpacking of weekly news from the State House, subscribe to my newsletter, Capital Beat. Please contact me if you have questions or tips about anything happening in the Legislature.

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.