Revision: March 27, 2014, midnight
HB 1571-FN-LOCAL – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
19Mar2014… 0683h
2014 SESSION
01/04
HOUSE BILL 1571-FN-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to breastfeeding.
SPONSORS: Rep. Butler, Carr 7; Rep. Walz, Merr 23; Rep. Harding, Graf 13; Rep. J. Schmidt, Hills 28; Rep. Buco, Carr 2; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 21
COMMITTEE: Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services
This bill clarifies the law relative to breastfeeding.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.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… 0683h
14-2385
01/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fourteen
AN ACT relative to breastfeeding.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Breastfeeding. RSA 132:10-d is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
132:10-d Breastfeeding. Breastfeeding a child does not constitute an act of indecent exposure and to restrict or limit the right of a mother to breast-feed her child is discriminatory. An individual shall be allowed to feed her child by bottle or her breast in any place open to the public. No person shall prohibit a mother from breastfeeding her child, direct a mother to move to a different location to breastfeed her child, direct a mother to cover her child while breastfeeding, or otherwise restrict a mother from breastfeeding her child.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2015.
LBAO
14-2385
12/13/13
HB 1571-FN–LOCAL - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to breastfeeding.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch, and the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services state this bill, as introduced, may increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2015 and each year thereafter. There will be no impact on county and local expenditures, or state, county, and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to women who are breastfeeding. In addition, the bill provides for an automatic exemption from jury duty at the request of breastfeeding women. The bill may have a fiscal impact on the Branch in the following two ways: (1) proposed RSA 132:10-e, IV provides that a person violating RSA 132:10-e is guilty of a class B misdemeanor; and (2) the same section provides that a violation of RSA 132:10-e would also constitute an unlawful discriminatory practice under RSA 354-A:7. With respect to (1), the Branch states that it does not have information on which to estimate how many additional Class B misdemeanor prosecutions may result from the bill. The Branch does, however, have information on the average cost of processing such cases in the trial court. The Branch projects the average cost of processing a class B misdemeanor will be $46.99 in FY 2015, and $48.08 in FY 2016. With respect to (2), any person aggrieved by an order of the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights may appeal that order to the superior court. Such appeals are classified as complex equity cases, and the Branch projects they will have an average cost of $668.25 in FY 2015, and $683.30 in FY 2016. These numbers do not consider the cost of any appeals that may be undertaken following trial. All costs are estimated based on case weight information from the Branch’s last needs assessment completed in 2005.
The Department of Labor states it is unclear from the bill what type of enforcement measures, if any, the Department would be responsible for taking. The Department states the type and extent of its reporting requirement is also unclear. For these reasons, the Department states the bill’s fiscal impact is indeterminable.
The Department of Health and Human Services states that the bill establishes a fine of not less than $250 for failure to comply with the bill’s terms. The Department assumes it would be responsible for enforcement of this provision, however it is unclear how such enforcement would occur since the bill does not establish the authority to create a fine schedule and lacks associated enforcement provisions.
The New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights states the bill is unlikely to have a fiscal impact. The Commission receives fewer than five breastfeeding-related discrimination charges per year, of which approximately one is related to paid or unpaid breaks as provided for in proposed RSA 132:10-e, II(b). The Commission states the bill is unlikely to add significant workload to its existing cases.