HB 1579-FN – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
10Feb2010… 0299h
24Mar2010… 0913h
2010 SESSION
03/04
HOUSE BILL 1579-FN
AN ACT relative to electioneering by public employees.
COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration
This bill changes the definition of “electioneering” as it applies to public employees, modifies the applicability of the prohibition against electioneering by public employees, and permits public employees to electioneer for or against questions under specified circumstances.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10Feb2010… 0299h
24Mar2010… 0913h
10-2587
03/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to electioneering by public employees.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Electioneering by Public Employees. RSA 659:44-a is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
659:44-a Electioneering by Public Employees.
I. In this section:
(a) “Electioneer” means to act or communicate in any way a reasonable person would understand as intended to influence the vote of a voter.
(b) “Public employee” means any person employed by a public employer, but shall not include any elected official or any person appointed to office by the governor and executive council.
(c) “Public employer” means the state of New Hampshire and any political subdivision thereof; any state, county, or municipal council, commission, board, agency, or authority; the university system of New Hampshire; and the community college system of New Hampshire.
(d) “Public resources” means government-owned property, government-leased property, or services acquired by government for use by employees to fulfill their governmental duties, including, but not limited to, facilities, vehicles, uniforms, telephones, facsimile machines, photocopy machines, paper, printing supplies, computers, software, e-mail systems, signs, bulletin boards, web sites, or other means of communication paid for with government funds for governmental purposes.
(e) “Question” means any constitutional amendment, warrant article, or other issue to be voted on by voters at any election or at any annual or special meeting of the voters of the unit of government.
II. No public employee shall knowingly electioneer for or against a candidate for public office or political party using public resources at any time, or using time when that employee is being paid to be at his or her government job.
III. Elected officials and those appointed by the governor and executive council may electioneer for a candidate for public office or political party, but they shall not knowingly endorse a candidate for public office or a political party as an official act of the state of New Hampshire or any political subdivision thereof; any state, county, or municipal council, commission, board, agency, or authority; the university system of New Hampshire; or the community college system of New Hampshire.
IV.(a) Except as provided in this section, no public employee shall knowingly use public resources at any time, or time when being paid to be at his or her government job to electioneer for or against a question.
(b) This section shall not prohibit a public employee from electioneering using public resources and work time on a question concerning a matter over which the employee as part of his or her employment duties has responsibility, supervision, control, authority, or jurisdiction, or relating to a question on a statewide ballot relating to the authority, operation, or function of the political subdivision by which the individual is employed, provided such electioneering is authorized in writing by the employee’s job description or employer’s written policies, in writing by the head of the employee’s department, the town or city manager, or the town administrator, or by vote, in a public meeting and duly recorded in its minutes, of the governing body of the employer.
(c) This section shall not prohibit any public employee, authorized by the employer to attend such meeting on work time, from using time when being paid to be at his or her government job to electioneer for or against any question at any annual meeting, deliberative session, public hearing, or any public meeting of a governmental body held in conformance with RSA 91-A.
V. This section shall not prohibit the use of public facilities such as the state house lawn, town commons, meeting halls, school assembly rooms, community access television, or government-owned or operated public facilities for electioneering events held in accordance with and only to the extent permitted by the public use policies of the controlling governmental authority, provided any use for electioneering allowed be on an equal opportunity and nonpartisan access basis.
VI. Any person who knowingly violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect September 1, 2010.
LBAO
10-2587
12/02/09
HB 1579-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to electioneering by public employees.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch, the Judicial Council, and the New Hampshire Association of Counties and state this bill may increase state and county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2011 and each year thereafter. The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill may have an indeterminable fiscal impact on local expenditures. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill will amend RSA 659:444-a to change the definition of “public employee” for purposes of the statute to make it an unspecified misdemeanor for a public employee to electioneer at work or to use government property for electioneering. Misdemeanor charges can be either a class A or class B with the presumption they will be class B in accordance with RSA 625:9,IV. However, the Branch has no information to estimate how many new misdemeanors would be brought as a result of this bill or if they would be a class A or class B misdemeanors. The Branch states the cost of a class A misdemeanor case is $51.14 and the cost of a class B misdemeanor case is $36.89 in FY 2011 and each year thereafter. The possibility of appeals increases the likelihood the fiscal impact on the Branch will exceed $10,000. The Branch states for the period of 1999 through June 30, 2008, no charges were filed in any court for a violation of RSA 659:44-a, so the Branch does not anticipate this bill having a fiscal impact that exceeds $10,000.
The Judicial Council states to the extent an unspecified misdemeanor results in a misdemeanor offense where the right to counsel exists this bill may result in an indeterminable increase in general fund expenditures. The Council states if an individual is found to be indigent, the flat fee of $275 per misdemeanor is charged by a public defender or contract attorney. If an assigned counsel attorney is used the fee is $60 per hour with a cap of $1,400 for a misdemeanor charge. The Council also states additional costs could be incurred if an appeal is filed. The public defender, contract attorney and assigned counsel rates for Supreme Court appeals is $2,000 per case, with many assigned counsel attorneys seeking permission to exceed the fee cap. Requests to exceed the fee cap are seldom granted. Finally, expenditures would
increase if services other than counsel are requested and approved by the court during the defense of a case or during an appeal.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states to the extent an individual is prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to incarceration, the counties may have increased expenditures. The Association is unable to determine the number of individuals who might be detained or incarcerated as a result of this bill. The average cost to incarcerate an individual in a county facility is $35,342 a year.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states it is not able to determine the fiscal impact of this bill on local expenditures. The Association states it does not appear this bill will result in any immediate increases or decreases in local expenditures.