2023 New Hampshire Revised Statutes › Title LV - Proceedings in Special Cases › Chapter 541-A - Administrative Procedure Act › Section 541-A:5 - Fiscal Impact Statements.

541-A:5 Fiscal Impact Statements. –
I. The agency shall provide the legislative budget assistant with adequate details of the intended action and supporting data to enable the legislative budget assistant to prepare a fiscal impact statement.
II. The legislative budget assistant shall develop a form which shall specify the details and supporting data necessary to assess the fiscal impact of the intended action. The fiscal impact of a proposed rule which was previously effective but has expired, or of a proposed rule which adopts a current agency policy, procedure, or practice as a rule for the first time, shall not be assessed as an existing rule but as a proposed rule which is not yet effective.
III. The legislative budget assistant shall establish a schedule of deadlines for submission of the fiscal impact form, and the agency shall file the completed form with the legislative budget assistant in accordance with such deadlines.
IV. The fiscal impact statement issued by the legislative budget assistant shall not be limited to dollar amounts, but shall include a discussion of the methodology used to reach any stated amounts. In addition, the fiscal impact statement shall consist of:
(a) A narrative stating the costs and benefits to the citizens of the state and to the political subdivisions of the intended action.
(b) A conclusion as to the cost or benefit to the state general fund or any state special fund of taking the intended action.
(c) An explanation of, and citation to, the federal mandate for the intended action, if there is such a mandate, and how that mandate affects state funds.
(d) A comparison of the cost of the intended action with the cost of the existing rule, if there is an existing rule, and, to the extent that the proposed rule had expired, indicating the cost of the expired rule and, if applicable, the difference in cost of any proposed change from the expired rule.
(e) An analysis of the general impact of the intended action upon any independently owned businesses, including a description of the specific reporting and recordkeeping requirements upon small businesses which employ fewer than 10 employees.
V. All agencies are directed to cooperate with the legislative budget assistant in the preparation of fiscal impact statements.
VI. Agencies shall also obtain an amended fiscal impact statement from the legislative budget assistant if as a result of notice and hearing a change has been made which affects the original fiscal impact statement or to correct an error in the original fiscal impact statement. Agencies shall file the amended fiscal impact statement as part of the final proposal pursuant to RSA 541-A:12, II.
VII. In this section, "intended action" means the proposed adoption, amendment, readoption, readoption with amendment, or repeal of a rule pursuant to RSA 541-A, as described in the drafting and procedure manual for administrative rules pursuant to RSA 541-A:8.
Source.
1994, 412:1. 2000, 288:5, 6. 2001, 110:1, eff. Aug. 25, 2001. 2015, 234:1-3, eff. Sept. 11, 2015. 2023, 191:2, eff. Oct. 3, 2023.