Concord, NH - As part of the authority vested by Part II, Article 41 of the New Hampshire Constitution, Governors are entitled to issue executive orders. For years, Governors have executed this authority and these orders remain in effect unless and until a Governor rescinds them. Unfortunately, there is no record of any Governor reviewing these orders and rescinding those that are no longer necessary.

In an effort to ensure executive actions are up-to-date and active, Governor Sununu’s team completed an extensive review of all such orders over the past 20 years. This has resulted in Governor Sununu issuing Executive Order 2024-03 today which rescinds 145 Executive Orders. The following criteria was used to determine if any individual Executive Order warranted being rescinded:

• The directives in the Executive Order were placed in statute, rule, or future executive order;
• The actions have been completed or established as a regular practice within the Executive Branch;
• The Commission or Committee created is no longer active, has completed their work or mission was created under a previous governor. 

“The wide-scale review of past Executive Orders is something that has not been done before but is necessary to ensure that Governors are able to respond to the needs of the moment,” stated Chris Sununu.

Governor Sununu also issued Executive Order 2024-02, which consolidates several previous Orders that moved various municipalities to/from certain Regional Planning Commissions.

A copy of Executive Order 2024-03 can be found here and a Copy of Executive Order 2024-02 can be found here.