STAND. COM. REP. NO. 671

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 1713

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1713 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CAMPAIGN SPENDING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to reduce the influence of private contributions in the elections process by providing comprehensive public funding for state legislative candidates and candidates for governor and lieutenant governor who agree to abide by campaign contribution and expenditure limits and meet other criteria.

A Hawaii County Council member, Hawaii Clean Elections, League of Women Voters of Hawaii, Kokua Council, Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Interfaith Alliance Hawaii, Life of the Land, Americans for Democratic Action, Hawaii Chapter, Sestak Rehabilitation Services, and numerous concerned individuals testified in support of this bill. A concerned individual supported the intent of his measure. The Campaign Spending Commission (CSC) and the Department of Taxation opposed this bill. The Mayor of Hawaii County and the Department of Budget and Finance submitted comments.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Allowing elected officials seeking comprehensive public funding may collect three times the allowable amount in seed money, provided that the funds be applied to authorized uses for seed money only and are held in a separate account under rules established by CSC;

(2) Amending the qualifying contribution amount from $5 to $3;

(3) Adding an additional CSC staff position to enforce the comprehensive public funding program;

(4) Providing that violations of the requirements of the proposed public funding program by a candidate seeking comprehensive public funding shall result in the candidate's disqualification as a candidate or forfeiture of office;

(5) Removing provisions that would finance the proposed comprehensive public funding program by diverting general excise tax revenues and a percentage of appropriations for the construction cost element of capital improvement projects into the Hawaii Campaign Election Fund;

(6) Adding a defective date to facilitate further discussion; and

(7) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for 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 H.B. No. 1713, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1713, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

 

____________________________

SYLVIA LUKE, Chair