HB 324 – AS INTRODUCED
2011 SESSION
05/10
HOUSE BILL 324
AN ACT relative to lawful commerce in goods and services sold, made, and retained in the state of New Hampshire.
SPONSORS: Rep. Ingbretson, Graf 5
COMMITTEE: Commerce and Consumer Affairs
This bill exempts goods and services sold, made, and retained in New Hampshire from federal law and regulation.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11-0848
05/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
AN ACT relative to lawful commerce in goods and services sold, made, and retained in the state of New Hampshire.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Legislative Declarations of Authority. The legislature declares that the authority for this act is the following:
I. The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States codifies in law that the only powers which the federal government may exercise are those that have been delegated to it in the Constitution of the United States;
II. The Ninth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees to the people rights not enumerated in the Constitution and reserves to the people of New Hampshire those rights;
III. Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the Constitution of the United States, the federal government is empowered to regulate commerce among the several states;
IV. The power to regulate intrastate commerce is reserved to the states or the people under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States;
V. During the Constitutional Convention, the founders considered a plan which would have authorized the federal government to not only regulate commerce among the several states, but also any activity having spillover effects across state lines. They rejected it in favor of a more limited federal regulatory power.
2 New Chapter; Lawful Commerce in Goods and Services. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 359-J the following new chapter:
CHAPTER 359-K
LAWFUL COMMERCE IN GOODS AND SERVICES
359-K:1 Declaration of Exemption from Federal Regulation. All goods grown, manufactured, or made in New Hampshire and all services performed in New Hampshire, when such goods or services are sold, maintained, or retained in New Hampshire shall not be subject to the authority of the Congress of the United States under its constitutional power to regulate commerce among the several states.
359-K:2 Penalty.
I. Any official, agent, or employee of the United States government or any employee of a corporation providing services to the United States government that enforces or attempts to enforce an order, law, statute, rule, or regulation of the government of the United States in violation of this chapter shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction must be punished by a fine not exceeding $2,000, or a term of imprisonment not exceeding 2 years, or both.
II. Any public officer or employee of the state of New Hampshire that enforces or attempts to enforce an act, order, law, statute, rule, or regulation of the government of the United States in violation of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding 6 months or by a fine not exceeding $500 or both such fine and imprisonment.
359-K:3 Applicability. This chapter shall apply to goods and services that are produced and retained in New Hampshire after January 1, 2012.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.