HB 1481-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2014 SESSION
10/08
HOUSE BILL 1481-FN
AN ACT relative to information submitted to a committee of the general court.
SPONSORS: Rep. Ulery, Hills 37; Rep. Itse, Rock 10; Rep. F. Rice, Rock 21; Rep. Baldasaro, Rock 5; Rep. L. Ober, Hills 37; Sen. Carson, Dist 14
COMMITTEE: Legislative Administration
This bill provides that oral or written information are presented to a committee of the general court under pains and penalties of unsworn falsification, and requires a notice to be posted at the entrance of each legislative meeting or committee room.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
14-2300
10/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fourteen
AN ACT relative to information submitted to a committee of the general court.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Legislative Proceedings; Submission of Information; Posting of Notice. Amend RSA 14 by inserting after section 13 the following new section:
14:13-a Submission of Information; Posting of Notice.
I. Any oral or written information submitted to any committee of the general court shall be deemed to be presented under the pains and penalties of unsworn falsification. All persons testifying, giving information, or presenting before any committee of the general court are presumed to be speaking truthfully, honestly, and in an absence of malice.
II. The speaker of the house and senate president shall provide for the posting at the entrance of each committee meeting room and hearing room or legislative committee location where a person may present information, a notice stating:
“The General Court of New Hampshire relies upon each person present to provide it with information that is true, correct, accurate, and not misleading. All such information is presented under the pains an penalties of unsworn falsification of the State of New Hampshire.”
III. Should any material information presented to a legislative committee be found to have been false, the attorney for the body to whom the information was presented shall file a complaint with the attorney general of the state of New Hampshire for prosecution.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2015.
LBAO
14-2300
11/26/13
HB 1481-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to information submitted to a committee of the general court.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch and Department of Justice state this bill, as introduced, may increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2015 and each year thereafter. There will be no impact on county and local expenditures, or state, county, and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill establishes that information submitted to a legislative committee will be “presented under the pains and penalties of unsworn falsification.” The bill further provides that if any such false information is presented to a legislative committee, the attorney for the body shall file a complaint with the attorney general for prosecution. Pursuant to RSA 641:3, unsworn falsification is an unspecified misdemeanor. The Branch states that it does not have information on which to estimate how many additional prosecutions may result from the bill. The Branch does, however, have information on the average cost of processing such cases in the trial court. The Branch projects the average cost of processing a class A misdemeanor will be $66.17 in FY 2015, and $67.64 in FY 2016, and the average cost of processing a class B misdemeanor will be $46.99 in FY 2015, and $48.08 in FY 2016. These numbers do not account for any appeals that may be undertaken following trial. All costs are estimated based on case weight information from the last needs assessment completed in 2005. Since that timeframe there have been various changes that may impact the costs, such as the creation of the circuit court, the increase in self-represented litigants, and the change to presume that an unspecified misdemeanor be treated as a class B misdemeanor.
The Department of Justice states that the bill’s fiscal impact is indeterminable, since it has no basis on which to estimate how many complaints will be filed for investigation and prosecution.
The Judicial Council and New Hampshire Association of Counties state this bill will have no fiscal impact.