Proposed small business grants would have depended on other funding

The state business department would have offered hardship grants from the proposed fund. Grants would have addressed small business hardship, including supply problems and low cash reserves. Help to prevent tariff layoffs would have covered firms meeting federal small business rules, with their main business location in New Hampshire, and committed to preventing layoffs caused by higher tariff costs. The department could have accepted gifts, grants, donations, and other money for the fund. Grants depended on money reaching the fund; a fiscal note says the planned state deposit could not occur. The proposed fund would have started January 1, 2027.

The proposal would have set aside $2.5 million for the small business grant fund. The money would have come from state treasury money not already set aside. A fiscal note says the money could not be deposited because the fund would not yet exist. The funding was for the year ending June 30, 2026; the fund would have started January 1, 2027.