Having dealt with the Purpose of an RSA 91-A demand and showing its Constitutionality, this post bringing up Definitions. As I said in Part 2:
Next installment will talk about Definitions. While it may seem mundane and you might think “I’ll wait until Skip gets to the “meat of RSA 91-A”, Definitions MATTER. And they matter a LOT because once you change a definition of a word (as the Left keeps doing to achieve a political agenda), an entire law can mean the opposite of what it did when first written.
Yep, it IS mundane – but important. RSA 91-A:1 enumerates those definitions (emphasis mine):
91-A:1-a Definitions. –
In this chapter:
I. ” Advisory committee ” means any committee, council, commission, or other like body whose primary purpose is to consider an issue or issues designated by the appointing authority so as to provide such authority with advice or recommendations concerning the formulation of any public policy or legislation that may be promoted, modified, or opposed by such authority.
II. ” Governmental proceedings ” means the transaction of any functions affecting any or all citizens of the state by a public body.
III. ” Governmental records ” means any information created, accepted, or obtained by, or on behalf of, any public body, or a quorum or majority thereof, or any public agency in furtherance of its official function. Without limiting the foregoing, the term “governmental records” includes any written communication or other information, whether in paper, electronic, or other physical form, received by a quorum or majority of a public body in furtherance of its official function, whether at a meeting or outside a meeting of the body. The term “governmental records” shall also include the term “public records.”
IV. ” Information ” means knowledge, opinions, facts, or data of any kind and in whatever physical form kept or maintained, including, but not limited to, written, aural, visual, electronic, or other physical form.
V. ” Public agency ” means any agency, authority, department, or office of the state or of any county, town, municipal corporation, school district, school administrative unit, chartered public school, or other political subdivision.
VI. ” Public body ” means any of the following:
(a) The general court including executive sessions of committees; and including any advisory committee established by the general court.
(b) The executive council and the governor with the executive council; including any advisory committee established by the governor by executive order or by the executive council.
(c) Any board or commission of any state agency or authority, including the board of trustees of the university system of New Hampshire and any committee, advisory or otherwise, established by such entities.
(d) Any legislative body, governing body, board, commission, committee, agency, or authority of any county, town, municipal corporation, school district, school administrative unit, chartered public school, or other political subdivision, or any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto.
(e) Any corporation that has as its sole member the state of New Hampshire, any county, town, municipal corporation, school district, school administrative unit, village district, or other political subdivision, and that is determined by the Internal Revenue Service to be a tax exempt organization pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
So what does this all mean? I’m not a lawyer nor do I play one in the blogosphere. However, I DO use 91-A a lot so I have a layman’s knowledge of it. Simply put, what all of the above means is that any part of Government here in NH is subject to having to answer to 91-A demands.
By the way, in VI. (a), there is the mention of the “General Court“? That is the official name for the NH House of Representatives and the NH Senate. And with that, any committees established by them be they standing committees (like Judiciary, Municipal, et al) that are exist session after session or ad hoc ones (like the NH House’s committee on Housing that was just established by NH House Speaker Sherm Packard). It will also include any other activity that is subordinate to the House and the Senate (e.g., offices that are staffed employees that work for the House and Senate).
Also note that in the Definitions, it talks about the General Court, the Executive Council, any State Agency (think Department like DHHS (Health and Human Services), DES (Department of Environmental Services DRA (Dept of Revenue Administration), DOT (Department of Transportation) and their subsidiary entities (government is FILLED with Boards, Commissions, and other such things). Usually, these are one of the areas that people send Right To Know demands. We here at GraniteGrok have done so with the notable example of catching the a State employee that we caught surfing the ‘Net almost all day long contra his Department policy (unauthorized use of State equipment) as well as the State’s IT department who was failing to monitor such things. Ah, life can be fun! None of them were happy that we made them look like fools. Thank you, RTKs!
And then there’s the lower levels – your towns, cities, and school boards. Yes, there are others types like Gunstock Mountain Resort – and I have more coming on that), Water Districts, and the Regional Planning Commissions. All of them are ripe to demand information – like WHY are you funding this (it keeps losing money like our town’s dump Recycling Center, WHERE in your budget are you paying for THIS (not an allowed “Purpose” according to the DRA), and lately, what books do you have in your libraries? Yep, public libraries.
All of them are covered in VI (e).
It is a target rich environment. So if you think something isn’t right, it’s most likely that they are fair game. But not always – you do need to figure out if a “target” is one of the above, ask them where they have been:
- Given the Power to do what they do
- Where do they get their funding?
Translation: has this “body” or group been created by government AND is it getting tax monies. The latter is a great way to ask questions of NGOs (Non-Government Organizations or Social Agencies) in what they are doing in performance of government contracts or work done on the behalf of Government.
Oh, one last thing – let’s go back to VI (b): where it states: “executive council and the governor with the executive council“. As you may have seen here and here, the “Office of the Governor”, via its legal counselor James Scully, believes it is exempt from this law. I need to get back on this.
So isn’t rather ironic that the Government who MUST sign such bills believes it is exempt from upholding the law s/he made legal?
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