HB518: relative to establishing reciprocity for liability limitations on claims against the state and against foreign jurisdictions.

HB 518-FN – AS INTRODUCED

2007 SESSION

07-0383

05/04

HOUSE BILL 518-FN

AN ACT establishing reciprocity for liability limitations on claims against the state and against foreign jurisdictions.

SPONSORS: Rep. Campbell, Hills 24

COMMITTEE: Judiciary

ANALYSIS

This bill affords a foreign jurisdiction the protection of the foreign jurisdiction’s limitation on liability, if such limits are greater or equal to those provided under New Hampshire law and if the foreign jurisdiction has enacted a reciprocal statute relative to New Hampshire’s liability in that jurisdiction.

This bill was requested by the department of transportation.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

07-0383

05/04

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven

AN ACT establishing reciprocity for liability limitations on claims against the state and against foreign jurisdictions.

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

1 New Paragraph; Definition of Foreign Jurisdiction Added. Amend RSA 541-B:1 by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraph:

IV-a. “Foreign jurisdiction” means any other state, commonwealth, or territory of the United States of America, including the District of Columbia, acting directly or through any officers, trustees, officials, or employees.

2 New Section; Claims Against the State; Reciprocity; Limitations on Claims Against Foreign Jurisdictions. Amend RSA 541-B by inserting after section 14 the following new section:

541-A:14-a Reciprocity; Limitation on Claims Against Foreign Jurisdictions.

I. Claims against a foreign jurisdiction shall be brought in superior court, and any award against a foreign jurisdiction shall be limited to the foreign jurisdiction’s limitation of liability, as provided in existing statutes in that jurisdiction as may be applicable to claims or actions brought within the foreign jurisdiction, but in no case shall the limitations on recovery be less than the limits provided in RSA 541-B:14, I.

II. A foreign jurisdiction’s limitation of liability under paragraph I shall apply only to jurisdictions that have enacted, no later than the date of the incident giving rise to the claim, a statute which reciprocally limits New Hampshire’s liability in the foreign jurisdiction.

III. Except as provided in paragraphs I and II, this chapter shall govern the scope and nature of liability for claims against foreign jurisdictions.

IV. The jurisdiction of the superior court shall be extended to include all claims against foreign jurisdictions under this chapter regardless of value.

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

LBAO

07-0383

12/30/06

HB 518-FN - FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT establishing reciprocity for liability limitations on claims against the state and against foreign jurisdictions.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Department of Transportation and the Office of the Legislative Budget Assistant state this bill will have an indeterminable fiscal impact on state expenditures in FY 2008 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county and local revenue or county and local expenditures.

METHODOLOGY:

The Office of the Legislative Budget Assistant states this bill will add provisions to RSA 541-B, the claims against the State statute, to allow claims to be made in New Hampshire’s superior courts against other states and territories of the United States, and to allow the foreign jurisdiction’s limitation of liability provisions to be applied provided that they are equal to or greater than New Hampshire’s limitations and the foreign jurisdiction has a reciprocal statute enforcing New Hampshire’s liability limitations in the foreign jurisdiction.

The Judicial Branch has stated in the past that the cost to try a complex civil case such as this in the superior court is approximately $391.41 ($180.44 in judicial time plus $210.97 in clerical time) using statistics from the New Hampshire Judicial Needs Assessment study. However, it is not possible to estimate how many cases will be brought to trial to determine the increase in state expenditures, and it is not possible to estimate the amount of state expenditure savings based on New Hampshire’s lower claim limitations.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) indicates that agents of the state of New Hampshire travel to other states daily engaging in state business, and are subject to possible claims while in these other jurisdictions. The limitations per claimant in other states are typically higher than New Hampshire’s $250,000 per claimant, $2 million per incident, and therefore subject to possible higher awards. DOT states the fiscal impact is indeterminable because is not known how many legal actions will be taken against agents of the state outside of New Hampshire, and is not know how the other state’s liability limits compare to New Hampshire’s.

LBAO

07-0383

12/30/06

The Department of Administrative Services states the intent of this legislation is to establish reciprocity between New Hampshire and reciprocating states with respect to state tort claims laws. Under this legislation, New Hampshire would apply the state tort claims laws of foreign jurisdictions in the courts of this State if those foreign jurisdictions had enacted a similar reciprocal law. Based upon this interpretation, this Department is unable to estimate the fiscal impact on New Hampshire of its enactment because the Department has no knowledge of such other laws or of the pendency of claims against New Hampshire in other state courts.