HB424: (New Title) prohibiting the receipt of cash gifts by elected officials.

CHAPTER 186

HB 424-FN – FINAL VERSION

30Mar2005… 0852h

15Jun2005… 1792eba

2005 SESSION

05-0356

05/10

HOUSE BILL 424-FN

AN ACT prohibiting the receipt of cash gifts by elected officials.

SPONSORS: Rep. Solomon, Graf 10

COMMITTEE: Legislative Administration

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill prohibits the receipt of cash gifts by elected state and county officials.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

30Mar2005… 0852h

15Jun2005… 1792eba

05-0356

05/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five

AN ACT prohibiting the receipt of cash gifts by elected officials.

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

186:1 Definitions. RSA 15-B:1 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

I. “Elected official” means the governor, members of the executive council, members of the general court, county commissioners, county sheriffs, county treasurers, county attorneys, registers of deeds, and registers of probate.

II. “Gift” means any money in the form of cash, check, or other negotiable instrument of any value or a thing of value received with a value in excess of $50. “Gift” shall not include contributions as defined in RSA 664; a commercially reasonable loan made in the ordinary course of business; meals and beverages consumed in the course of official business; ceremonial gifts or awards which have insignificant monetary value; unsolicited gifts of nominal value or trivial items of informational value; reasonable expenses for food, travel, and lodging for an in-state meeting at which the elected official participates in a panel or a speaking engagement; gifts of tickets or free admission extended to an elected official to attend charitable or political events, if the purpose of such gift or admission is a courtesy customarily extended to the office; gifts of money or a thing of value received by an elected official that are purely private and personal in nature and would have been received even were the individual not an elected official, including but not limited to, gifts from relatives by blood or marriage, or a member of the same household. The term “gift” does not include income received by the official in his or her regular course of employment or business or salary, mileage, or expense payments made to the official by the state or county for performance of official duties.

III. “Honorarium” means a payment in the form of cash, check, or other negotiable instrument of any value to an elected official for services on which no fee is set or legally obtainable.

186:2 New Section; Prohibition on Gifts. Amend RSA 15-B by inserting after section 1 the following new section:

15-B:1-a Prohibitions on Gifts. No elected official shall knowingly accept any gift of money in the form of cash, check, or other negotiable instrument of any value. This section shall not be construed to prevent receptions, breakfasts, luncheons, dinners, dances, or picnics or like events from being held for the sole purpose of raising political contributions, provided such contributions comply with and are reported as required by RSA 664.

186:3 Disclosure Required; Information Required. Amend RSA 15-B:2 and 2-a to read as follows:

15-B:2 Disclosure Required. Every elected state and county official, including members of the general court, shall file a statement annually with the secretary of state by June 15 showing any [income] gift or honorarium received by the official during the preceding 12 months ending June 1 [from testimonials, gifts, honorariums, donations, or any other source], when the receipt of such [income] gift or honorarium is attributable to the office held by the official. [This report shall not include campaign contributions, income received by the official in his regular course of employment or business or salary, mileage, or expense payments made to the official by the state or county for performance of official duties for the preceding 12 months.] The statement shall give in alphabetical order the full name, post office address, occupation, and principal place of business if any, of all contributors who gave an individual or an aggregate total of gifts or honorarium having a value of more than $50 [of such income] and the date each was received. The statement shall be a public record under RSA 91-A. For the purpose of this section, “[income] gift or honorarium attributable to the office held by the official” means any gift[,] or honorarium[, or testimonial income] which is received by an official in his or her official capacity, and which would not have been received by the official but for the office he or she holds.

15-B:2-a Information Required on Financial Disclosure Form.

[I.] Each elected official shall disclose any gift or honorarium the official received with a value in excess of $50 and the nature and value of such gift. [Each elected official shall disclose income received from an individual contributor through gifts and honorariums or, through gifts or honorariums which exceeds that individual contributor’s aggregate total of $50.

II. For testimonials, each elected official shall disclose the total amount of income received, the expenses of holding the testimonial, and the testimonial net income raised after paying those expenses. Each elected official shall also disclose income received from individual contributors in excess of $50, and shall follow the disclosure requirements of RSA 15-B:2.]

186:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect June 2, 2005.

(Approved: June 30, 2005)

(Effective Date: June 2, 2005)