Lissa Mascio

The Office of the Child Advocate has grave concerns about HB 314 as currently drafted, due to the breadth of the stated prohibition, and the impact it would have on the OCA's statutory mandate to provide information and recommendations about the well-being and best interests of children, served by executive branch agencies and their providers, including to the Legislature, pursuant to RSA 21-V. Specifically, the language in 15:5, II "No public funds shall be used to lobby, attempt to influence legislation, participate in political activity, or contribute funds to any entity for the purpose of engaging in the same." Many of the OCA's efforts to provide information may run afoul of the prohibition to "influence legislation" as any information could be seen as to sway legislator's opinions in one direction or another. Many state agencies employ experts and legislative liaisons in order to bring that agency's perspective and expertise to the elected officials and legislators. Such a broad prohibition would negatively impact the legislators' access to necessary information, and in the case of the Office of the Child Advocate, could have disastrous consequences for child safety and improvements to the child-serving systems of NH, the very reason for the creation of our office. We urge this committee to think carefully about curtailing their access to such important information from State agencies, including the OCA.