New Hampshire
NH lawmakers hope to save the 603: Area code nears its limit
CONCORD — By the end of 2027, New Hampshire’s iconic 603 area code may reach its limit.
There are only so many seven-number combinations that can be put after the number 603, the state’s phone area code. In 2023, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator warned it hit the maximum as soon as 2027. That could mean New Hampshire will have to add a second area code in the near future.
To delay it, state lawmakers have introduced the aptly titled Senate Bill 603, which directs the New Hampshire Department of Energy and the Public Utilities Commission to do all it legally can to adopt telephone conservation measures and maximize the number of available numbers.
“We lost the Old Man of the Mountain nearly 21 years ago. Our first-in-the-nation primary is under attack, even Daniel Webster went to Massachusetts to run for Senate. But we still have three numbers that are unique to the Granite State: 603,” said Grant Bosley, the deputy chief of staff for the New Hampshire Senate, at a public hearing in front of the House Science, Technology, and Energy Committee in April. He introduced the bill on behalf of the prime sponsor, Senate President Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro.
“603 is more than an area code. It’s an identity. We have songs and bumper stickers, and political slogans, and craft beers and T-shirts,” said Bosley. “603 is New Hampshire, and New Hampshire is 603.”
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How could New Hampshire extend life of 603?
Some ways to preserve the code are reclaiming numbers that are no longer in use and requiring providers to return assigned blocks of numbers not being used. The bill comes with a one-time cost of $100,000 to $300,000 to hire a consultant to identify the measures New Hampshire could take.
Bradley introduced the bill in part at the request of New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who issued an executive order last year that established the “Don’t Overload the Code” initiative. To extend the life of the code, it directed the Department of Energy and the Bureau of Economic Affairs to reclaim unused telephone numbers.
The state is following the example of Maine, which also acted to preserve its code when told 207 would hit its limit by 2025. By limiting robocalls and changing forecasting and block requesting practices, the state was able to extend the life of the code until 2032, according to reporting by WMTW.
New Hampshire and Maine are two of just 11 states left with a single area code. However, according to Maine’s Public Utilities Commission, the whole country may run out of area codes by 2051.
Therefore, the efforts in New Hampshire won’t prevent the need for a second area code someday, but it would move the date down the line, said Bosley. The New Hampshire Department of Energy testified it’s optimistic it can extend the 603, perhaps even until the federal government determines how to number across the country when they run out.
But that inevitability is part of the reason Rep. Thomas Cormen, D-Lebanon, wrote the bill should be voted inexpedient to legislate in the committee’s minority report.
“Whether or not we attempt to extend the life of the 603 area code, we will run out of phone numbers in the 603 area code sometime in the next few years,” wrote Cormen. “The bottom line is that this bill spends money just to kick the can down the road.”
The bill passed the Senate in March by a voice vote. The House Science, Technology and Energy Committee narrowly recommended it to pass by a vote of 10-9, and it was scheduled to go to the House for a full vote Thursday.
President Trump announces new exemptions to tariffs
President Donald Trump announced new exemptions to tariffs signing as new executive order this week. Trump insists this will help lower grocery prices for Americans.
Fox – 4 News
Support for President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy hit an all-time low in New Hampshire, according to a new poll out of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
According to the poll, released Nov. 19, only 42% of New Hampshire residents approve of his handling of the economy, while 57% disapprove. That’s the lowest his approval has been in this area in either of his terms.
Both people who approve and disapprove cite tariffs as the number one reason behind their opinion.
For those who disapprove, the next top reasons, following distantly, are because of the price of goods, because they believe Trump is self-interested or has a poor character and because of the cost of living.
Of those who approve, tariffs are followed by spending or the budget, price of goods, energy prices and because they believe him to be better than his predecessors.
While New Hampshire approval of Trump’s economic policies has fallen, his support overall has remained largely the same: 45% approve and 54% disapprove, giving him a net approval rating of -8 that is statistically unchanged since October.
The poll surveyed 1,402 New Hampshire residents between Nov. 13 and Nov. 17. The margin of error is +/- 2.6%.
How do NH residents feel about the end of the government shutdown?
The government shutdown is now over after some Senate Democrats, including New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, made a deal to reopen the government in exchange for a reversal of federal worker layoffs and a promise for a vote on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Many national Democrats opposed the deal as it didn’t guarantee an extension of the ACA tax credits that the party had demanded for weeks. In New Hampshire, half of residents support extending the subsidies, including 93% of Democrats and 53% of Independents. It perhaps follows then that 68% of Democrats and 60% of Independents oppose the deal ending the shutdown.
However, overall, 52% of Granite Staters support the deal, including 87% of Republicans, 27% of Independents and 24% of Democrats. And there is broad agreement among New Hampshire residents (95%) that all federal workers who were furloughed or who continued working during the shutdown should receive backpay.
Should Trump sink boats off Venezuela coast?
The survey also looked at approval of Trump’s handling of foreign affairs, finding that 54% disapprove and 44% approve, making a net approval rating of -10 that is statistically unchanged since October.
Half of Granite Staters disapproved of the U.S. military sinking civilian boats off the coast of Venezuela that it claimed were involved in drug trafficking. However, it is heavily split by party, with 92% of Democrats disapproving and 83% of Republicans approving.
These actions have appeared to be part of a pressure campaign aimed at Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who Trump seems to blame for drugs and gangs on American streets. While he has not yet made a decision about what he plans to do in the country, all parties in New Hampshire oppose an attempt to remove Maduro from power.
New Hampshire moved this week to foster the state’s first effort toward establishing a $100 million bitcoin bond, which would be directed by a state entity but backed by a private-sector firm, according to those involved with the effort.
The New Hampshire Business Finance Authority authorized “$100,000,000 bonds for a project to acquire and hold digital currency,” according to the description on its agenda. The NHBFA doesn’t direct state-backed bonds, but encourages private-sector entities to administer them. If that happens with this bond, the New Hampshire Executive Council will review the deal and vote on whether to approve it.
Once approved, the project will go live — the first of its kind in the nation.
The NHBFA is a self-funded, state-created organization meant to foster New Hampshire’s economic development. Proceeds from its bond projects return to the entity to help bolster its operation.
State Representative Keith Ammon, a longtime advocate for crypto policy in New Hampshire, said this first bitcoin bond effort is meant to be a template for more to come.
“Bitcoin can partially insulate our state’s runaway inflation,” he said in an interview with CoinDesk. “This is like training wheels to get to that point, protecting our state’s finances from future devaluation of the dollar.”
He said the two-year bond would be reliant on a rising value for bitcoin.
In this past year, BTC is down about 6%, after having climbed steadily for months before its sharp decline beginning last month.
New Hampshire has been in the forefront of state governments pursuing crypto policies. The New England state was the first to establish a crypto reserve earlier this year, moving much more quickly than the federal government, which is still in the planning stages.
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