NH Legislators Want Control of Maine’s Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

A bipartisan group of five New Hampshire state legislators put forward a bill calling on the federal government to declare the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard part of New Hampshire rather than Maine, shielding workers from Maine’s higher tax burden.

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The bill, put forward by Rep. Joseph Barton (R-Baton) and supported by four others, including Democratic Rep. Carrie Sorensen (Rockingham), officially calls on New Hampshire’s congressional delegation to introduce legislation declaring the shipyard part of Portsmouth, NH.

The state representatives also call on President Donald Trump to take executive action to support New Hampshire’s claim to the shipyard, which is currently part of Kittery, Maine.

The proposed resolution argues that, since the Piscataqua River falls under NH jurisdiction, the shipyard, located on Seavey’s Island in the river, should be part of NH.

“Complete dominion and ownership of the tidal waters and submerged lands of the whole of the Piscataqua River, including Portsmouth Harbor, are solely vested in the sovereign people of the state of New Hampshire, encumbered only by the national navigational servitude over the river and its harbor as a navigable inland waterway and arm of the sea,” says the bill.

The NH legislators cited the 2004 findings of the state’s Boundary Commission, accusing Maine of failing to patrol the area properly and claimed that this failure prevents NH from properly protecting the state’s only port of entry.

If enacted, this change in jurisdiction would likely benefit the shipyard’s NH-based workers, who would no longer have to participate in Maine’s 12-week paid family leave program for a zero percent state income tax rate. New Hampshire’s congressional could take action even without a state law requesting them to do so, but it state legislative initiative is on its own a bellwether of political will and intent.

New Hampshire has long disputed Maine’s control of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, bringing the case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2001, which dismissed the Granite State’s effort to redraw the line in its favor.

The Free State, an NH-based libertarian movement headed by former Maine State Sen. Eric Brakey (R), celebrated the proposed resolution.

“A resolution has been filed in the NH House, urging Congress to recognize that Portsmouth Harbor lies within New Hampshire — allowing Portsmouth Shipyard employees to avoid income theft from Maine. Free State > TAXationland,” said the Free State on X.