Bill Text: NH SB586 | 2020 | Regular Session | Amended

New Hampshire Senate Bill 586 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relative to certain expenditures by candidates and candidate committees.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-09-23 - Died on Table [SB586 Detail]

Download: New_Hampshire-2020-SB586-Amended.html

SB 586-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

03/12/2020 1087s

03/12/2020 1191s

2020 SESSION

20-2729

11/03

SENATE BILL 586-FN

AN ACT relative to certain expenditures by candidates and candidate committees.

SPONSORS: Sen. Hennessey, Dist 5; Sen. Sherman, Dist 24

COMMITTEE: Election Law and Municipal Affairs

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ANALYSIS

This bill requires candidates and candidate committees to retain back-up receipts for expenditures over a certain amount made to certain persons.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/12/2020 1087s

03/12/2020 1191s 20-2729

11/03

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty

AN ACT relative to certain expenditures by candidates and candidate committees.

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

1 New Paragraph; Political Expenditures and Contributions; Reporting by Political Committee. Amend RSA 664:6 by inserting after paragraph IX the following new paragraph:

X. Any political committee with expenditures totaling more than $1,000 from the political committee to a candidate or his or her immediate family shall retain back-up receipts.

2 Political Expenditures and Contributions; Reporting by Candidates. Amend RSA 664:7 to read as follows:

664:7 Reporting by Candidates. Each candidate at the primary or general election for governor, councilor, state senator, representative to general court, or county officer, who has expenditures exceeding $500, shall file statements before and after an election in like manner and detail as prescribed in RSA 664:6, II, II-a, III, IV, and V, excepting, however, the expenditures of political committees of the party to which the candidate belongs in elections other than primaries. Each candidate with expenditures totaling more than $1,000 to himself or herself or to his or her immediate family shall retain back-up receipts for 90 days after the final reporting period.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2021.

LBAO

20-2729

Amended 6/16/20

SB 586-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE (AMENDMENT #2020-1087s and #2020-1191s)

AN ACT relative to certain expenditures by candidates and candidate committees.

FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ X ] County [ ] Local [ ] None


	Estimated Increase / (Decrease)
STATE:	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023
Appropriation	$0	$0	$0	$0
Revenue	$0	$0	$0	$0
Expenditures	$0	Indeterminable	Indeterminable	Indeterminable
Funding Source:	[ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other

COUNTY:
Revenue	$0	$0	$0	$0
Expenditures	$0	Indeterminable	Indeterminable	Indeterminable

METHODOLOGY:

This bill contains penalties that may have an impact on the New Hampshire judicial and correctional systems. There is no method to determine how many charges would be brought as a result of the changes contained in this bill to determine the fiscal impact on expenditures. However, the entities impacted have provided the potential costs associated with these penalties below.

Judicial Branch	FY 2021	FY 2022
Class B Misdemeanor	$54	$56
Class A Misdemeanor	$77	$79
Simple Criminal Case	$300	$314
Routine Criminal Felony Case	$484	$498
Appeals	Varies	Varies
It should be noted that average case cost estimates for FY 2021 and FY 2022 are based on data that is more than ten years old and does not reflect changes to the courts over that same period of time or the impact these changes may have on processing the various case types. An unspecified misdemeanor can be either class A or class B, with the presumption being a class B misdemeanor.
Judicial Council
Public Defender Program	Has contract with State to provide services.	Has contract with State to provide services.
Contract Attorney – Felony	$825/Case	$825/Case
Contract Attorney – Misdemeanor	$300/Case	$300/Case
Assigned Counsel – Felony	$60/Hour up to $4,100	$60/Hour up to $4,100
Assigned Counsel – Misdemeanor	$60/Hour up to $1,400	$60/Hour up to $1,400
It should be noted that a person needs to be found indigent and have the potential of being incarcerated to be eligible for indigent defense services. The majority of indigent cases (approximately 85%) are handled by the public defender program, with the remaining cases going to contract attorneys (14%) or assigned counsel (1%).
Department of Corrections
FY 2019 Average Cost of Incarcerating an Individual	$44,400	$44,400
FY 2019 Annual Marginal Cost of a General Population Inmate	$5,071	$5,071
FY 2019 Average Cost of Supervising an Individual on Parole/Probation	$576	$576
NH Association of Counties
County Prosecution Costs	Indeterminable	Indeterminable
Estimated Average Daily Cost of Incarcerating an Individual	$105 to $120	$105 to $120

Many offenses are prosecuted by local and county prosecutors. When the Department of Justice has investigative and prosecutorial responsibility or is involved in an appeal, the Department would likely absorb the cost within its existing budget. If the Department needs to prosecute significantly more cases or handle more appeals, then costs may increase by an indeterminable amount.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Judicial Branch, Departments of Corrections and Justice, Judicial Council, and New Hampshire Association of Counties