STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2003

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2030

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2030 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to specify that the dissemination, distribution, republication, or use of campaign material, financed by any person, is not considered a contribution to a candidate if the campaign material is:

     (1)  Prepared and used by candidates for governor or lieutenant governor, or their candidate committees, supporting a co-candidate in the general election;

     (2)  Disseminated, distributed, or republished by the candidate or the candidate committee that prepared the material;

     (3)  Incorporated into an advertisement or electioneering communication advocating the defeat of the candidate that prepared that material; or

     (4)  Incorporated into a news story or editorial disseminated by any independent broadcast station or publisher of periodicals or newspapers.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Campaign Spending Commission.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

     Your Committee finds that existing law requires that the financing by any person of the dissemination, distribution, or republication of campaign materials is considered a contribution to the respective candidate, with an exception for candidates for governor or lieutenant governor supporting a co-candidate in the general election.  However, under federal regulations, there are several types of campaign materials that are exempt from constituting a contribution for the purposes of contribution limitations and reporting requirements. Modeled after federal regulations, this measure specifies that the dissemination, distribution, republication, or use of certain campaign material, financed by any person, is not considered a contribution to a candidate.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, to encourage further discussion; and

     (2)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2030, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2030, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair