"Ayotte signs slate of bills to encourage housing construction, but not all ideas advance"

"A year after making housing a central plank of her campaign for governor, Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed 10 bills last week attempting to put limits on local zoning restrictions in order to encourage more housing construction.

The bills, many bipartisan, have been cheered on by those arguing that developers have been hampered by overly restrictive city and town zoning codes, keeping the state’s housing supply low. 

“It’s hot housing summer,” said Rep. Joe Alexander, a Goffstown Republican and the chairman of the House Housing Committee, in an interview. “We have had enormous success getting some critical pieces of housing legislation through.”

But some advocates have said lawmakers could have done more to address housing this year, noting a lack of new state funding toward housing reforms and the defeat of some bills they say could have helped.  

Here’s which bills Ayotte signed into law — and which ones did not make it out of the Legislature." Read more