HB248: (New Title) relative to notice requirements regarding state employee investigations and relative to legislative ethics requirements.

HB 248 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

6Mar2025... 0431h

05/01/2025 1724s

2025 SESSION

25-0209

06/05

HOUSE BILL 248

AN ACT relative to notice requirements regarding state employee investigations and relative to legislative ethics requirements.

SPONSORS: Rep. Flanagan, Hills. 45

COMMITTEE: Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services

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AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill:

I. Outlines procedures for handling the suspension of state employees by providing written notice.

II. Defines certain terms including public at large, direct benefit, and special interest for purposes of legislative ethics and recusal requirements.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

6Mar2025... 0431h

05/01/2025 1724s 25-0209

06/05

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five

AN ACT relative to notice requirements regarding state employee investigations and relative to legislative ethics requirements.

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

1 New Section; Department of Administrative Services; Personnel; Suspension Notice and Investigation Updates. Amend RSA 21-I by inserting after section 42 the following new section:

21-I:42-a Suspension Notice and Investigation Updates. If any state employee is suspended with pay from duty, they shall receive written notice detailing the reasons for the suspension within 7 days of the suspension date. This section shall not apply to employees covered under collective bargaining agreements.

2 New Paragraph; Legislative Ethics Committee; Definition of Public at Large. Amend RSA 14-B:1 by inserting after paragraph III-b the following new paragraph:

III-c. “Public at large” means any reasonably large group of individuals or organizations that is similarly situated and likely to incur similar benefits or detriments as a result of legislation, including but not limited to, professions or occupations, owners of widely held forms of property, or participants in a commercial marketplace.

3 Legislative Ethics Committee; Definition of Special Interest. Amend RSA 14-B:1, V(a) to read as follows:

(a) A financial interest exists where a legislator or household member is an employee of, or receives compensation from, an individual or organization which could stand to gain or lose anything of material value as a result of the official activity.

4 New Paragraph; Gifts, Honorariums, and Expense Reimbursement Requirements for Legislators and Legislative Employees; Definition of Direct Benefit. Amend RSA 14-C:2 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:

II-a. “Direct benefit” or “direct detriment” means a financial benefit that flows to the legislator or household member without any intervening action by an independent actor, consumer, or other instrumentality or action that is not under the control of the legislator or household member. A “direct benefit” or “direct detriment” does not include a benefit or detriment that affects a marketplace or program in which the legislator or household member participates as a member of the public at large.

5 New Paragraph; Recusal for Conflicts of Interest; Definition of Organization. Amend RSA 14-C:4-a by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:

III. For the purposes of this section:

(a) The "organization" is the client and not the person, partnership, firm, or corporation acting as lobbyist.

(b) A person who registers as a lobbyist pursuant to RSA 15:1 does not exercise substantial influence over the affairs of the organization unless he or she also satisfies the test set forth in RSA 14-C:4-c through 14-C:4-e.

6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 90 days after its passage.