Revision: March 27, 2014, midnight
HB 1439-FN – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
19Mar2014… 0343h
2014 SESSION
03/08
HOUSE BILL 1439-FN
AN ACT relative to the attorney general’s authority in investigating combinations and monopolies.
SPONSORS: Rep. Wallner, Merr 10
This bill authorizes the attorney general to engage assistants in investigating combinations and monopolies.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
19Mar2014… 0343h
14-2326
03/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fourteen
AN ACT relative to the attorney general’s authority in investigating combinations and monopolies.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Combinations and Monopolies; Official Investigation; Assistants. Amend RSA 356:10 by inserting after paragraph V the following new paragraph:
VI. In any investigation authorized under this section, the attorney general shall have the authority to engage the services of consultants, experts, accountants, economists, analysts, and other assistants. When the investigation constitutes the review of a proposed merger of 2 or more entities and is conducted prior to the merger, the reasonable expenses related to these assistants shall be a direct charge to the parties proposing the merger. In any action to enforce this chapter pursuant to RSA 356:4-a, the expenses related to these assistants shall be added to the reasonable costs of the enforcement action and shall be recoverable as set out in RSA 356:4-b.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
14-2326
Amended 03/24/14
HB 1439-FN FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to the attorney general’s authority in investigating combinations and monopolies.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Justice states this bill, as amended by the House (Amendment #2014-0343h), may increase state revenue and expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2015 and each year thereafter. There is no fiscal impact on state expenditures, or county and local expenditures and revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Justice states this bill allows the Department to engage services of outside consultants, experts, accountants, economists, analysts, or other assistants to provide information needed by the Attorney General when reviewing mergers or proposed mergers for compliance with antitrust laws and allows the Department to recover costs of those experts by billing the entities involved with the merger or proposed merger. The Department is not able to project the number of investigations that would use the services contained in this bill or the amount of reimbursement to project an exact fiscal impact. The Department states this bill would provide a new source of revenue to reimburse its consumers protection and antitrust bureau for the use of outside professionals. If the Department does not change how it uses outside professionals for these types of cases there would be no change in state expenditures, however, any increases in the use of outside professionals as a result of this legislation would cause an increase in state expenditures and revenue.