HB1589: requiring businesses in the state to take cash for monetary transactions.

HB 1589-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2020 SESSION

20-2185

05/08

HOUSE BILL 1589-FN

AN ACT requiring businesses in the state to take cash for monetary transactions.

SPONSORS: Rep. St. Clair, Belk. 9

COMMITTEE: Commerce and Consumer Affairs

ANALYSIS

This bill requires sellers to accept cash as payment for goods and services offered for sale at retail. The bill makes the refusal to accept cash payments a violation of the consumer protection act.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

20-2185

05/08

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty

AN ACT requiring businesses in the state to take cash for monetary transactions.

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

1 New Paragraph; Regulation of Business Practices for Consumer Protection; Acts Unlawful; Refusal to Accept Cash Payments. Amend RSA 358-A:2 by inserting after paragraph XVII the following new paragraph:

XVIII. Refusing to accept cash as a form of payment to purchase goods or services offered for sale at retail.

(a) A person selling or offering for sale goods or services at retail shall not:

(i) Refuse to accept cash as a form of payment.

(ii) Post sign on the premises that cash payment is not accepted.

(iii) Charge a higher price to customers who pay cash than they would pay using any other form of payment.

(b) In this paragraph, "at retail" shall include any retail transaction conducted in person and shall exclude any telephone, mail, or Internet-based transaction.

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

LBAO

20-2185

12/3/19

HB 1589-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT requiring businesses in the state to take cash for monetary transactions.

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 Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Funding Source:

[ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other

COUNTY:

Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

Expenditures

$0

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

METHODOLOGY:

This bill prohibits businesses from refusing to accept cash as payment for goods and services purchased at retail, but excludes purchases made via telephone, mail or Internet. Businesses also may not post signs indicating cash payment is not accepted nor may they charge a higher price to customers who use cash rather than another form of payment.

The Department of Justice indicates the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau has exclusive jurisdiction to bring enforcement actions under RSA 358-A:2. The bill will result in an unknown increase in the number of investigations and possible prosecutions by the Department. Due to the unknown number of such possible investigations and prosecutions, the fiscal impact is indeterminable.

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

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

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