Budget hearings are underway in the Senate, as dozens of agencies again present their spending requests to lawmakers.

As the next phase of the budget begins, lawmakers are still processing hundreds more bills on cannabis, immigration and other issues.

Here’s what you need to know to catch you up and to look ahead.

This past week

Cannabis bills likely met their demise in the Senate this week – but not without some drama. After a split among Republicans created a 12-12 tie and briefly kept alive House Bill 53, which would allow medical marijuana patients to grow their own supply of the plant, senators later tabled it. They also tabled two other cannabis-related bills.

Self-pour alcohol may be coming to New Hampshire restaurants and bars. Republicans proposed enshrining in state law an option for restaurants and bars to operate self-serve stations with Senate Bill 79. They’d be monitored by radio frequency identification devices that a customer can scan to serve themselves up to the allowed amount.

Court delays may be on the way for New Hampshire residents as the state’s judicial branch looks to cut costs. The chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court warned that legislators’ proposed $7.9 million spending reduction could result in fewer staff and the closure of two courthouses. He’s also authorized a new committee to study more cost-saving measures.

The week ahead

■At 1 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Friday, the Senate Finance Committee will hear budget requests from dozens of state agencies.

■On Tuesday, April 22 at 10:15 a.m. the Senate will hold a public hearing on House Bill 115, which expands the Education Freedom Accounts program to universal eligibility.

■On Wednesday, April 23 at 10 a.m., the Executive Council will meet.

■Also on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., there will be public hearings on legislation that bans hormone therapy and breast surgery for transgender children: House Bill 377 and House Bill 712.

■Neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate will hold voting sessions this week.

For more information on the budget process and other inner workings of the State House, check out our 2025 Legislative Guide.

For a detailed unpacking of weekly news from the State House, subscribe to my newsletter, Capital Beat. Please contact me if you have questions or tips about anything going on in the Legislature.

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.