Master FIR (1988)

NOTE: As provided in LFC policy, this report is intended for use by the standing finance committees of the legislature. The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used in any other situation.

The LFC is only preparing FIRs on bills referred to the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate Ways and Means Committee, the House Appropriations and Finance Committee and the House Taxation and Revenue Committee. The chief clerks are responsible for preparing and issuing all other bill analyses.

Only the most recent FIR version, excluding attachments, is available on the Intranet. Previously issued FIRs and attachments may be obtained from the LFC office in Room 416 of the State Capitol Building.

F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR:	Kissner		DATE TYPED:	02/23/99		HB	274/aHJC
SHORT TITLE:		"Emergency" Defined				SB
					ANALYST:		Burkhart

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained		Estimated Additional Impact		Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY99	FY2000	FY99	FY2000	Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
	$ 0.0

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Department of Health

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Amendment

The House Judiciary Committee amended House Bill 274 by removing "the commission of a felony" from the listing of those occurrences that constituted an "emergency" in the bill.

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 274 changes Section 24-10-4 NMSA 1978 by re-defining emergency to mean "an unexpected occurrence of an injury or illness occurring in public or private places to a person that results from: motor vehicle accidents and collisions; acts of God; the commission of a felony; and other accidents and events of similar nature".

Significant Issues

The intent of this legislation is to broaden the definition of emergency in order to provide legal protection for individuals who try to assist victims of crimes or who come upon accidents or emergencies caused by acts of God and try to help or provide emergency care of these individuals. Good Samaritan laws have been attempted in the past to provide some legal protection for these individuals. The definition now includes the commission of a felony and the intent of this addition is likewise to provide some measure of legal protection for individuals who come to the assistance of crime victims.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Research should be done to insure that this definition of emergency is consistent with the use of the term in other state statutes.

MB/njw