Revision: Jan. 25, 2010, midnight
SB 181-FN-A – AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
01/21/10 0181s
2009 SESSION
03/05
SENATE BILL 181-FN-A
AN ACT repealing the transfer of liquor enforcement to the department of safety and establishing a committee to study the administrative structure and adjudicative process at the liquor commission.
SPONSORS: Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Sen. Barnes, Jr., Dist 17; Sen. Downing, Dist 22; Sen. Kelly, Dist 10; Rep. Campbell, Hills 24; Rep. Hunt, Ches 7; Rep. Lerandeau, Ches 6; Rep. Ramsey, Hills 8
This bill repeals the transfer of liquor enforcement to the department of safety scheduled to take effect July 1, 2010. This bill also establishes a committee to study the administrative structure and adjudicative process at the liquor commission.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
01/21/10 0181s
09-0853
03/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
AN ACT repealing the transfer of liquor enforcement to the department of safety and establishing a committee to study the administrative structure and adjudicative process at the liquor commission.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Repeal. 2009, 144:163 through 144:175, relative to transferring liquor enforcement to the department of safety, are repealed.
2 Committee to Study the Administrative Structure and Adjudicative Process at the Liquor Commission.
I. There is established a committee to study the administrative structure and adjudicative process at the liquor commission.
II. The members of the committee shall be as follows:
(a) Three members of the senate, appointed by the president of the senate.
(b) Three members of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.
III. Members of the committee shall receive mileage at the legislative rate when attending to the duties of the committee.
IV. The committee shall study:
(a) Whether the liquor commission should have an executive director rather than a full-time 3-member commission;
(b) How best to ensure impartial review of appeals of licensing and enforcement decisions; and
(c) How best to ensure that the enforcement division is properly supervised, contains its function to that of a regulatory authority, and guards against overly broad interpretation of its function.
V. The members of the study committee shall elect a chairperson from among the members. The first meeting of the committee shall be called by the first-named senate member. The first meeting of the committee shall be held within 45 days of the effective date of this section. Four members of the committee shall constitute a quorum.
VI. The committee shall report its findings and any recommendations for proposed legislation to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the senate clerk, the house clerk, the governor, and the state library on or before November 1, 2010.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
LBAO
09-0853
02/03/09
SB 181-FN-A - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT repealing the transfer of liquor enforcement to the department of safety and establishing a committee to study the administrative structure and adjudicative process at the liquor commission.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Liquor Commission states this bill will decrease state general fund revenue and expenditures and increase liquor commission fund revenue and expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2010 and each year thereafter. There is no fiscal impact on county and local revenue or expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Liquor Commission states this bill makes various organizational changes to the Liquor Commission and modifies various sales and licensing restrictions relating to alcoholic beverages. This bill creates the liquor commission fund, a nonlapsing continually appropriated fund, for Liquor Commission revenue and expenditures. As a result, the Commission states general fund revenue will decrease and liquor commission fund revenue will increase by approximately $124 million in FY 2010 and $129 million in FY 2011 and state general fund expenditures will decrease and liquor commission fund expenditures will increase by $41,004,259 in FY 2010 and by $42,996,341 in FY 2011. The Commission did not estimate expenditures or revenue beyond FY 2011.
The bill will establish five unclassified director positions and as each position is filled, the Commission will report to the director of personnel classified position numbers to be abolished. The Commission assumes the unclassified positions will be group HH for the director of finance and group GG for the director of marketing, merchandise, and warehousing, director of store operations, director of administration, and director of enforcement and licensing. The Commission also assumes the current division directors will move into the new positions and assumes no cost of living increase for the five unclassified positions in FY 2011. The Commission states changing the five classified positions to unclassified positions may increase liquor commission fund expenditures by $18,172 in FY 2010 and by $22,338 in FY 2011.
This bill also establishes that any contracts or purchases less than $200,000 do not need governor and council or fiscal committee approval, allows the Commission to close any store to improve profitability and efficiency, and provides the Commission the discretion where to operate stores. The fiscal impact of these parts of the bill cannot be determined.
The Commission states the bill makes changes to existing fees or adds new fees. The Commission assumes 500 probationary licenses will be issued at $300 per license for an estimated increase in liquor commission fund revenue of $150,000. The Commission also assumes the direct ship charge will result in $1,100 licenses being issued at $120 per license for an estimated increase in liquor commission fund revenue of $132,000. The Commission is not able to determine increases in liquor commission fund revenue associated with the one-time background check processing fee of $500 for new stores or the annual license fee of $1,000 per cash register for new stores.