HB 0648

This bill requires that certain identifying information accompany paid political phone calls. This bill also prohibits delivery of a paid political phone call to any telephone number or person on any do not call list maintained by any federal or state agency or any national marketing organization or association.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Section; Political Advertising; Paid Political Phone Calls. Amend RSA 664 by inserting after section 14 the following new section:

(1) The telephone listing number and/or name of the customer from whose telephone instrument a telephone number is dialed; or

(2) Other information that may be used to identify the specific originating number or originating location of a wire or electronic communication transmitted by a telephone instrument.

(b) "Paid political phone call" means any telephone call made by any person who is paid or otherwise compensated for making the telephone call and during which such person uses the name of any candidate.

(c) "Per-call blocking" means a telecommunications service that prevents the transmission of caller identification information to a called party on an individual call if the calling party acts affirmatively to prevent the transmission of the caller identification information.

(d) "Per-line blocking" means a telecommunications service that prevents the transmission of caller identification information to a called party on every call unless the calling party acts affirmatively to release the caller identification information.

II. No person shall deliver a paid political phone call unless, prior to the end of the phone call, the person discloses the name of the person who is paying for the phone call and, if applicable, the name of the appropriate fiscal agent.

III. No person delivering a paid political phone call shall use any method, including per-call blocking or per-line blocking, that prevents caller identification information for the telephone line used to make the phone call from being shown by a device capable of displaying caller identification information.

IV. No person shall deliver a paid political phone call to any telephone number or person on any do not call list maintained by any federal or state agency or any national marketing organization or association.

The Judicial Branch states this bill adds a section to RSA 664 to prohibit certain activity concerning paid political telephone calls. Violation of this section may, upon complaint, result in a cease and desist order from the attorney general pursuant to RSA 664:18 and an enforcement action by the attorney general in the superior court. In addition, pursuant to RSA 664:21, violations are misdemeanors if committed by a natural person, and felonies if by any other person. A class A misdemeanor carries the potential of incarceration, and therefore, the potential for de novo appeals to the superior court for a jury trial. A felony offense can involve arraignment, bail, and probable cause hearings in the district court; numerous hearings and a jury trial in the superior court; and an appeal to the supreme court. Historically, there have been no prosecutions pursuant to RSA 664. On the assumption that historical experience will continue into the future, the fiscal impact on the judicial branch will be minimal.

The Judicial Council states for the purposes of determining the fiscal impact, the Council is not concerned with offenses by those other than natural persons, since business entities are not eligible for indigent defense representation. It is assumed that any cases arising from the enactment of this law for which the Indigent Defense Fund may be liable, will, in the first instance be handled by the public defender or contract attorneys who accept these cases on a fixed fee basis of $250 per misdemeanor charged. If an assigned counsel attorney must be used, the hourly rate of $60 with a fee cap of $1,000 will apply. If a motion to exceed the fee cap is approved and/or "services other than counsel" are approved, these will also be chargeable to the Indigent Defense Fund. The Council is unable to predict the number of cases or trials that may arise as a result of the passage of this legislation.

The Department of Justice states this bill will involve the agency in additional litigation. Costs would include the production of documents, research, travel, overtime for support staff, and additional caseloads for attorneys. Exclusive of staff time, the cost of litigation averages $2,388 for civil cases and $1,351 for criminal cases. In addition, any increase in the number of complaints to the agency will increase both workload and the priority in which they are handled.

The Association of Counties state this bill expands the misdemeanor penalties of RSA 664. These penalties create a cost for the county correctional facilities. The direct impact on county expenditures will depend on the number of individuals sentenced, as well as those who are incarcerated per-trial in a county facility. The average annual cost for counties to incarcerate inmates is $21,633.

The Department of Corrections states this bill will have no fiscal impact on the Department. The average cost of incarceration is $24,866 per offender per year.

The Department of State states this bill will have no fiscal impact on the Department.