HB 1237-FN-LOCAL – AS INTRODUCED
2006 SESSION
03/01
HOUSE BILL 1237-FN-LOCAL
AN ACT requiring matching expenditures when public money is paid for purposes of electioneering.
SPONSORS: Rep. O’Brien, Hills 4; Rep. Mead, Hills 4; Sen. Roberge, Dist 9
This bill requires matching expenditures when public money is paid for purposes of electioneering.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
06-2136
03/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six
AN ACT requiring matching expenditures when public money is paid for purposes of electioneering.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Public Funds Expended for Electioneering. Amend RSA 664 by inserting after section 5-c the following new section:
664:5-d Public Funds Expended for Electioneering.
I. No public entity shall make an expenditure or otherwise pay or appropriate public funds to any nonpublic entity where any part of the funds will be used for electioneering without publishing notice prior to the expenditure, payment, or appropriation. The notice shall disclose the amount and purpose of the expenditure, payment, or appropriation. The public entity shall publish the notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the relevant community and make the notice available for public inspection in the office of the clerk or other person responsible for recordkeeping for the entity.
II. Within 14 days of the publication of the notice required by paragraph I, any political committee, other than a political committee of a political party, may apply for, and the public entity shall pay, matching funds to be used exclusively for the purpose of electioneering for the opposing position. If more than one political committee applies for matching funds, each applicant shall receive a proportionate share.
III. For the purposes of this section, “electioneer” shall mean to act in any way specifically designed to influence the vote of a voter on any question or office.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2007.
LBAO
06-2136
11/3/05
HB 1237-FN-LOCAL - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT requiring matching expenditures when public money is paid for purposes of electioneering.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The New Hampshire Municipal Association and Association of Counties state this bill will increase county and local expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2007 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenue or state expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill would prohibit a public entity from expending, paying, or appropriating public funds to a non-public entity if any part of the funds will be used for electioneering, unless the public entity first publishes notice in a newspaper of general circulation disclosing the amount and purpose of the expenditure, payment, or appropriation. Upon request by a political committee within 14 days after notice is published, the public entity must pay matching funds to the political committee for the purpose of electioneering for the opposing position. The Association states to their knowledge, no municipality pays public funds to any non-public entity for the purpose of influencing voters with respect to any office. However, all municipalities pay dues to one or more organization that may, on occasion, engage in electioneering with respect to questions. These include the New Hampshire Municipal Association, the New Hampshire City and Town Clerks Association, the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Commissions, the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, the New Hampshire Fire Chiefs Association, the New Hampshire Association of Assessing Officials, the New Hampshire Tax Collectors Association, and perhaps others. One or more of these organizations might seek to influence voters on questions appearing on a statewide ballot, typically questions involving proposed constitutional amendments. If an organization to which a municipality has paid dues or other amounts engages in electioneering, this bill would require the municipality to determine how much of its payment has been, or will be, used for the purpose of electioneering. The municipality would then have to publish notice of that amount, and upon request, pay an identical amount to a political committee to support the opposing position. In the event that an organization receiving funds from a municipality does engage in electioneering, the requirement that the
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11/3/05
municipality publish notice in a newspaper and pay matching funds would result in a municipal cost. The exact fiscal impact cannot be determined at this time.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states this bill would restrict how county monies are spent for electioneering. The Association is unable to determine the fiscal impact at this time, as it is awaiting the completion of its survey of county governments to determine if these restrictions will have any impact on current county expenditures.
The Department of State states this bill will have no fiscal impact on their Department.