STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2333

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 2144
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No.
2144 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to:

     (1)  Clarify the level of public funds available for
          candidates for certain state and county offices;

     (2)  Add a candidate's web page and e-mail address to the
          name and address information on a candidate committee's
          organizational report;

     (3)  Remove the listing of ballot issue, which is redundant
          with other requirements for noncandidate committees,
          from the information required as part of an
          organizational report;

     (4)  Increase from five days to ten days the deadline for
          filing an organizational report after filing for
          office;

     (5)  Require candidates who cease to be candidates to return
          contributions to donors within four years; and


 
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     (6)  Provide that after the death of a candidate residual
          contributions escheat to the Hawaii election campaign
          fund.

     Your Committee finds that the proposed measure will
facilitate more efficient administration of campaign finance laws
while also ensuring strict compliance by those affected.  Your
Committee further finds that requiring candidates to eventually
run for office or repay their contributors will help prevent
abuse of the campaign contribution system.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Campaign Spending Commission, Common Cause Hawaii, and the League
of Women Voters.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by:

     (1)  Making further amendments to section 11-218, Hawaii
          Revised Statutes, regarding public funding of
          candidates, to clarify the proposed reductions in
          public funding available for certain offices;

     (2)  Clarifying that a candidate need only list an e-mail
          address and webpage on the organizational report if the
          candidate actually has an e-mail address or a webpage;
          and

     (3)  Making technical, non-substantive amendments for the
          purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
2144, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second
Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2144, S.D. 1, and
be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.


 
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                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary,



                                   ______________________________
                                   AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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