STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1625

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 440

S.D. 1

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 Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 440, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to strengthen the campaign spending law by, among other things:

(1) Prohibiting campaign fundraising on state or county property, except for government facilities permitting political use, and providing that a violation of this prohibition is a misdemeanor;

(2) Limiting contributions from nonresident individuals and persons, including a noncandidate committee, to no more than 30 percent of the total contributions received by a candidate or candidate's committee during an election period;

(3) Repealing the Campaign Spending Commission's (CSC) authority to censure candidates who fail to comply with the code of fair campaign practices;

(4) Reducing from ten years to four years the length of time that the county clerks must keep campaign reports;

(5) Requiring candidates for the Senate, House of Representatives, and Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) to file reports electronically with the CSC, except under certain conditions;

(6) Providing that an elected official, who is seeking re-election to the same office in successive elections and has not sought election to any other office during the period between elections, is not required to file an organizational report unless the candidate is required to report a change in information under section 11-196(b), Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS);

(7) Repealing the provision allowing candidates or candidates' committees to make contributions from their campaign fund to community and charitable organizations;

(8) Reducing from $2,000 to $250, the maximum aggregate amount a person or any other entity may contribute to a candidate for a two-year office during an election period;

(9) Reducing from $6,000 to $500, the maximum aggregate amount that a person or any other entity may contribute to a candidate for a four-year office during an election period;

(10) Limiting contributions made by any person or entity to no more than $25,000 in the aggregate to any number of candidates in an election period, except for loans made to a candidate by a financial institution in the ordinary course of business;

(11) Requiring any excess contributions to be returned to the original donor within 30 days of receipt, or, if not returned to the original donor, to escheat to the Hawaii Election Campaign Fund (Campaign Fund);

(12) Reducing from $50,000 to $25,000, the maximum aggregate amount that a national political party may contribute to a political party in any two-year election period;

(13) Prohibiting government contractors from making or promising political contributions at any time between the execution and the completion of a government contract, or to knowingly solicit any contribution for any purpose during any election period;

(14) Establishing that contributions shall be used for the office sought by the candidate and not for use in an election for any other state, county, or federal office without first obtaining the donor's written consent;

(15) Prohibiting deposits of campaign contributions unless relevant information, including the amount and date of the contribution and the identity of the donor, is filed with CSC;

(16) Requiring candidates, committees, and individuals who do not file nomination papers for an election or who cease to be candidates or committees, to return all contributions by a specified time, or the contributions will escheat to the Campaign Fund;

(17) Increasing from $100 to $1,500, the maximum amount of public funds available to a candidate for OHA in any election year;

(18) Specifying that campaign contributions to qualify for receipt of public campaign funds be received from individual residents of Hawaii only;

(19) Prohibiting candidates for special elections from receiving public campaign funding;

(20) Providing that a candidate who raises qualifying campaign contributions once in an election period is entitled to receive for each election:

(A) The minimum payment of public campaign funds in an amount equal to the qualifying campaign contributions; and

(B) $2 in public campaign funds for every $1 raised in excess of the minimum amount of qualifying campaign contributions,

up to the maximum amount of public funds available to the candidate under section 11-218, HRS; and

(21) Making it a class C felony to knowingly or intentionally falsify any campaign report or to violate campaign laws relating to contributions made anonymously or under a false name.

CSC and the Hawaii State Teachers Association testified in support of this bill. The League of Women Voters of Hawaii supported the intent of this measure. The Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO, and a concerned individual opposed this bill. The Attorney General and several concerned individuals offered comments.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 440, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

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

 

____________________________

DWIGHT TAKAMINE, Chair