HB89: relative to establishing non-amendable articles by voter petition.

2005 SESSION

05-0083

08/01

HOUSE BILL 89

AN ACT relative to establishing non-amendable articles by voter petition.

SPONSORS: Rep. Slocum, Hills 6; Rep. Boyce, Belk 5; Rep. Hawkins, Hills 18; Rep. Graham, Hills 18; Sen. Boyce, Dist 4; Sen. Roberge, Dist 9

COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government

ANALYSIS

This bill establishes non-amendable articles by voter petition.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

05-0083

08/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five

AN ACT relative to establishing non-amendable articles by voter petition.

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

1 New Paragraph; Non-amendable Articles. Amend RSA 40:13 by inserting after paragraph XVI the following new paragraph:

XVII. A petitioned warrant article shall be non-amendable upon application of 5 percent of the number of voters who voted in the most recent second session of the last annual meeting or 100 voters, whichever is less. The petition shall be presented to the governing body not later than 90 days before the day prescribed for an annual meeting, but shall otherwise adhere to the same procedure as RSA 39:3 or RSA 197:6, whichever is applicable. The governing body shall insert in the warrant for such meeting the petitioned article with only such minor non-substantive textual changes as may be required. The petitioned article shall not be subject to further amendment. If 2 substantially similar non-amendable petitioned articles are presented to the governing body pursuant to this paragraph, then the article with the most signatures shall be placed on the warrant. If 2 substantially similar petitioned articles are presented to the governing body, the article presented pursuant to this paragraph shall prevail over an article presented pursuant to RSA 39:3 or RSA 197:6. If a petition under this paragraph fails to achieve the necessary number of voter signatures, then RSA 39:3 or RSA 197:6 shall remain in effect. The ability to petition for non-amendable articles shall not be available for proposing budget warrant articles.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.