REPORT TITLE: 
Campaign finance reform
DESCRIPTION:
Reduces the amount of money that a person can contribute to a
campaign during an election period.

 
HB HMIA 99-261
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                            771         
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:


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 2      SECTION 1.  Section 11-204, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 3 amended to read:
 
 4      "§11-204  Campaign contributions; limits as to persons.(a)
 
 5 No person or any other entity shall make contributions to:
 
 6      (1)  A candidate seeking nomination or election to a two-
 
 7           year office or to the candidate's committee in an
 
 8           aggregate amount greater than [$2,000] $200 during an
 
 9           election period; and
 
10      (2)  A candidate seeking nomination or election to a four-
 
11           year statewide office or to the candidate's committee
 
12           in an aggregate amount greater than [$6,000] $600
 
13           during an election period; and
 
14      (3)  A candidate seeking nomination or election to a four-
 
15           year nonstatewide office or to the candidate's
 
16           committee in an aggregate amount greater than [$4,000]
 
17           $400 during an election period. 
 
18      These limits shall not apply to a loan made to a candidate
 
19 by a financial institution in the ordinary course of business.
 

 
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 1      (b)  No person or any other entity shall make contributions
 
 2 to a noncandidate committee, in an aggregate amount greater than
 
 3 $1,000 in an election; except that in the case of a corporation
 
 4 or company using funds from its own treasury, there shall be no
 
 5 limit on contributions or expenditures to the corporation or
 
 6 company noncandidate committee.
 
 7      (c)  A candidate in making a contribution to the candidate's
 
 8 campaign shall be exempt from the above limitation, but shall be
 
 9 limited in the aggregate to [$50,000] $5,000 in any election
 
10 period.  The aggregate amount of [$50,000] $5,000 shall include
 
11 any loans made for campaign purposes to the candidate from the
 
12 candidate's immediate family.
 
13      (d)  A contribution by a dependent minor shall be reported
 
14 in the name of the minor but shall be counted against the
 
15 contribution of the minor's parent or guardian.
 
16      (e)  Any candidate or candidate's committee who receives in
 
17 the aggregate more than the applicable limits set forth in this
 
18 section in any primary, initial special, special, or general
 
19 election from a person, shall be required to transfer an amount
 
20 equal to any excess over the limits established in this section
 
21 to the Hawaii election campaign fund within thirty days of
 
22 receipt by a candidate or candidate's committee, and in any
 
23 event, no later than thirty days upon the receipt by a candidate
 

 
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 1 or candidate's committee of notification from the commission.  A
 
 2 candidate or candidate's committee who complies with this
 
 3 subsection prior to the initiation of prosecution shall not be
 
 4 subject to any penalty under section 11-228.
 
 5      (f)  All payments made by a person whose contributions or
 
 6 expenditure activity is financed, maintained, or controlled by
 
 7 any corporation, labor organization, association, political
 
 8 party, or any other person or committee, including any parent,
 
 9 subsidiary, branch, division, department, or local unit of the
 
10 corporation, labor organization, association, political party, or
 
11 any other person, or by any group of those persons shall be
 
12 considered to be made by a single person.
 
13      (g)  A contribution made by two or more corporations shall
 
14 be treated as one person when such corporations:
 
15      (1)  Share the majority of members of their boards of
 
16           directors;
 
17      (2)  Share two or more corporate officers;
 
18      (3)  Are owned or controlled by the same majority
 
19           shareholder or shareholders; or
 
20      (4)  Are in a parent-subsidiary relationship.
 
21      (h)  An individual and any general partnership in which the
 
22 individual is a partner, or an individual and any corporation in
 
23 which the individual owns a controlling interest, shall be
 

 
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 1 treated as one person.
 
 2      (i)  No committee which supports or opposes a candidate for
 
 3 public office shall have as officers individuals who serve as
 
 4 officers on any other committee which supports or opposes the
 
 5 same candidate.  No such committee shall act in concert with, or
 
 6 solicit or make contributions on behalf of, any other committee.
 
 7      (j)  No contributions may be made to a noncandidate
 
 8 committee from a corporation or other organization unless the
 
 9 noncandidate committee has been in existence continuously, as
 
10 shown on the records of the campaign spending commission, for at
 
11 least twelve months prior to the next primary election.
 
12      (k)  No contributions or expenditures shall be made to or on
 
13 behalf of a candidate or committee by a foreign corporation,
 
14 including a domestic subsidiary of a foreign corporation, a
 
15 domestic corporation that is owned by a foreign national, or a
 
16 local subsidiary where administrative control is retained by the
 
17 foreign corporation, and in the same manner prohibited under 2
 
18 United States Code section 441e and 11 Code of Federal
 
19 Regulations 110.4(a) and 110.9(a), as amended.  No foreign-owned
 
20 domestic corporation shall make contributions where:
 
21      (1)  Foreign national individuals participate in election-
 
22           related activities such as decisions concerning the
 
23           making of contributions or the administration of a
 

 
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 1           political committee; or
 
 2      (2)  The contribution funds are not domestically-derived.
 
 3      (l)  No person or any other entity shall make contributions
 
 4 to a political party in an aggregate amount greater than $50,000
 
 5 in any two-year election period."
 
 6      SECTION 2.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 7 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 8      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
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HB HMIA 99-261