HB 607-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2005 SESSION
09/01
HOUSE BILL 607-FN
AN ACT relative to gifts to elected officials.
SPONSORS: Rep. DiFruscia, Rock 4; Rep. Weyler, Rock 8; Rep. Holden, Hills 7; Rep. Baroody, Hills 13
This bill places certain restrictions on gifts to elected officials.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
05-0085
09/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five
AN ACT relative to gifts to elected officials.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Restrictions on Gifts to Elected Officials. Amend RSA 15-B by inserting after section 6 the following new section:
15-B:7 Restrictions on Gifts to Elected Officials.
I. No political committee, as defined in RSA 664:2, III, or lobbyist or an agent of a lobbyist required to register under RSA 15 shall make a gift or honorarium as defined in RSA 15-B:1.
II. No gift accepted by an elected official shall be for personal use by the elected official or the elected official’s spouse, dependents, or household members.
III.(a) No elected official or spouse, dependent, or household member of an elected official shall knowingly accept, directly or indirectly, any gift or gifts, except for meals, in any calendar year aggregating more than $250 from any person, organization, or corporation.
(b) If an elected official or spouse, dependent, or household member of an elected official, after exercising reasonable diligence to obtain the information necessary to comply with subparagraph (a) unknowingly accepts a gift prohibited in subparagraph (a), the elected official or spouse, dependent, or household member of the elected official shall, upon learning of the nature of the gift and its source, return the gift or, if it is not possible to return the gift, reimburse the donor for the value of the gift.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2006.
LBAO
05-0085
Revised 2/28/05
HB 607 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to gifts to elected officials.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch, Association of Counties, and Department of Justice state this bill may increase state and county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2006 and each year thereafter. There will have no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenue or local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill would amend RSA 15-B dealing with gifts, testimonials, and honorariums for elected officials. The primary purpose of this legislation is to place certain restrictions on gifts to elected officials. The only potential fiscal impact to the Branch is in the already existing penalty section of the statute, RSA 15-B:5, which makes violations an unspecified misdemeanor. Unspecified misdemeanors can be charged as either a class A or B misdemeanor. The former carries the potential of incarceration, and therefor, the potential of de novo appeals to the superior court for a jury trial. Both class A and B misdemeanors can also involve appeals to the supreme court. The Branch does not anticipate a sufficient number of cases arising from this bill to have a significant fiscal impact, but state any fiscal impact to the Branch will result in increased delays in the processing of other cases.
The Association of Counties states to the extent individuals are prosecuted, the county may incur the cost of pre-trial detainment at the county department of corrections, as well as the cost of sentenced inmates under the new law. The average annual cost for counties to incarcerate inmates is $21,633.55. The Association states the total exposure to the counties would be dependent on the number of individuals convicted and sentenced under the new law, which cannot be determined at this time.
The Department of Justice states this bill would require approximately 15% of an attorney’s time to do additional review of forms required by this statute. It is possible that there would be an unknown number of misdemeanor/prosecutions by the Department. There have not been any such misdemeanor prosecutions under this statute in the past. The Department estimates benefits at 40% of salary, instead of the 44% contained in the Department of Administrative Services’ FY06-07 Budget Manual, due to the salary level of an attorney. Assuming benefits equal to 40% of salary, and annual salary increases of 3%, the estimated salary and benefits costs would total $13,650 in FY 2006, $14,060 in FY 2007, $14,481 in FY 2008, and $14,916 in FY 2009.
The Judicial Council states there is no new impact on indigent defense related expenditures. This legislation enables a person to correct an unknowing mistake and may reduce potential prosecutions under the existing statute.
The Department of State states this bill will have a minimal fiscal impact on the Department, and can be absorbed within their existing budget.