New Hampshire / State / 2026 Regular Session

Laws of New Hampshire 2026, chapter 252 Pointed the veteran benefit statutes at the RSA 21:50 discharge standard, widening several at once

Needs reviewEnactedScope changed

Signed 2026-07-02 · Takes effect 2026-08-31

A conforming act with substantive effect. Effective August 31, 2026 it replaced older discharge language with a cross-reference to the definition in RSA 21:50 across the code, touching at least RSA 72:28-b (all veterans’ tax credit), RSA 72:35 (tax credit for service-connected total disability), RSA 72:36-a (exemption for a specially adapted homestead), RSA 119:1 and 119:2 (the New Hampshire Veterans’ Home and the qualifications of its board of managers), RSA 119:6 (veteran employment preference at the home), RSA 283:4 (preference in public employment) and RSA 261:86 (special number plates for former prisoners of war, Purple Heart recipients and Pearl Harbor survivors). Because RSA 21:50, I(a)(2) reaches an honorable discharge, a general discharge under honorable conditions and an uncharacterized discharge based on a service-connected injury, illness or disability, every one of those provisions is now open to a veteran with a general discharge who was previously outside it. RSA 72:28, the standard and optional wartime credit, was not amended and still requires an honorable discharge, so the two neighbouring property tax credits now carry different discharge tests. Tracked because no published New Hampshire benefit guidance reflects the change, a veteran refused before August 31, 2026 should apply again, and because RSA 72:27-a, IV arguably requires a town that previously adopted RSA 72:28-b, 72:35 or 72:36-a to vote again before the wider eligibility applies locally, which is unresolved.