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Bar News - June 20, 2003 Senate Amends Deunification Vote Bill ON JUNE 5, the state Senate approved an amended version of HB 175, a bill that requires the New Hampshire Bar Association to hold a member referendum on its unified status. At press time, the bill was to be returned to the House for concurrence or the Legislature would attempt to reconcile the differing versions through a conference committee. Check www.nhbar.org for updates. The Senate version of the bill contains several provisions that had led the Bar’s Board of Governors to oppose the bill as it was introduced in the House. Key elements of the bill are: - Requiring the Bar to place on its annual officers election ballot the following question: "Shall membership in the New Hampshire Bar Association be required for all attorneys licensed to practice in this state?" The Senate version differs from the original bill in that it removes a requirement that if the referendum did not result in the deunification of the Bar, the question would have to be asked at least once every five years thereafter. - As long as the Bar remains mandatory, the Bar Association would be prohibited from using funds or designating any person to lobby on behalf of the Bar on any matter. - Also, members of the unified Bar would have the option "to refuse to pay that portion of the Bar Association dues that are used for political purposes." Bar leaders have said that the Legislature lacks the authority to require any private organization to conduct a vote of its members, and that the bill’s blanket prohibition on legislative activities also raises restraint of speech issues, particularly as both the U.S. Supreme Court and the NH Supreme Court have ruled that unified bars may attempt to influence legislation within specified limits. The Senate voted down an amendment that sought to eliminate the lobbying restrictions in the bill. Opinions in Bar News UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, opinions expressed in letters or commentaries published in Bar News are solely those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the policies of the New Hampshire Bar Association Board of Governors, the Bar News Editorial Advisory Board or the Bar Association staff.
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