Unless he’s already signed HB1002, the new tax on access to public records in New Hampshire is still waiting to become law. If it becomes law, many towns will consider it, but the most grotesque government offenders will implement it with extreme prejudice as soon as they are able.
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Public documents
HB1002 – Are We Punishing Everyone for The Behavior of a Few or Limiting Access to the Wealthy and Well-Connected? (Both!)
The Republican majority of the New Hampshire Legislature is on the verge of doing what Democrats do. Punish everyone for the alleged bad behavior of a few. Assuming the few are truly being cantankerous in their pursuit of public records. It is reminiscent of most, if not all, Left-Wing gun-grabbing legislation.
Hey, Stupnagel Laconia School Board Chair Aaron Hayward – IT’S NOW A PUBLIC DOCUMENT!!!
So this nitwit Bully of a School Board member thinks that he can get away with threatening another sitting School Board member – with NO PROOF at all?
Does Nashua Need Another Lawyer to Handle Public Document Requests?
Mayor Jim Donchess vented at a recent Nashua Board of Aldermen meeting to justify the new legal manager positions to process Right-to-Know requests. He came down hard on myself and another citizen who are simply requesting public documents to understand what is happening in our city government.
Information Intimidation in Franklin NH?
While public document fees are not unreasonable for the purpose of covering the cost of the materials or labor required to meet a request, at what point do these sums become an obstacle for the average citizen? When does the sum begin to limit access otherwise protected by law?
In the case of voter checklists the state defines the allowable (optional) fee of $25.00 for the first 2500 names and an additional 0.50 cents per 1000 names after that. Using this formula a city the city of Nashua would charge less than $40.00 for their voter checklist, a sum that is already beginning to exceed what most people might be willing to part with for public documents, but not unreasonable in most cases where the list is already in electronic form and available with a click of a mouse.
In such circumstances where the documents are going to be converted into electronic form anyway (like for sharing with the Secretary of State), asking for no more than a few dollars for the entire list would make it accessible to anyone at any income level. Some towns already acknowledge this need for accessibility and provide access to their entire voter checklist for free, even providing a link online that is updated when the list is.
So why would the city of Franklin, New Hampshire ask for $75.00 for a copy of their city voter checklist?
A Note On Absentee Ballots and Right to Know
New Hampshire’s Right to know Law, often referred to as 91-a, prohibits state and local officials from hiding ‘public’ documents. And while some parts of the bureaucratic machine are happy to give you what you request in a timely and even pleasant manner, others who can’t (or don’t want) be bothered by you pesky citizens will toss out responses to your queries that they think will send you packing.
Are they just too busy doing the state’s business to be interrupted by curious taxpayers with troublesome queries? Are they ignorant of the statutes that define and limit both the kinds of documents to which you are entitled access and the manner in which you may access them? Will they purposefully mislead to prevent you from seeing public documents?
A little of each, or maybe all of the above, it hardly matters–the end result is the same; they are engaging in information intimidation and breaking the law, most without fear of consequence.