STAND. COM. REP. NO 640

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 657

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 657 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require legislators to file a supplemental report within ten days of the conclusion of a special session of the Legislature that covers the period from the last required reporting date to the conclusion of that special session.

     Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and Campaign Spending Commission.

     Your Committee finds that heightened public interest in campaign spending issues may arise in the event of a special session of the Legislature other than a special session convened by the Senate only for the purpose of judicial confirmations pursuant to article VI, section 3, of the Hawaii State Constitution.  This measure assists in increasing transparency of candidate committee contributions by requiring legislators to file an additional supplemental report to the Campaign Spending Commission at the conclusion of a special session of the Legislature.

     Your Committee has incorporated suggestions from the Department of the Attorney General to only amend section 11‑334(a)(4), Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS).  Accordingly, this measure proposes an additional supplementary report to be filed by candidate committees within thirty calendar days after the conclusion of a special session of the full Legislature, but only if the date of conclusion of the special session is more than ninety calendar days before the next supplementary report is otherwise due under current law.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Adopting language suggested by the Department of the Attorney General that:

          (A)  Inserts a purpose section to explain the justification of adding an additional reporting requirement for legislators at the conclusion of a special session;

          (B)  Clarifies that the additional supplemental reports required of legislators under this measure apply to special sessions conducted by both houses of the Legislature;

          (C)  Deletes the new section added to chapter 11, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), and amendments to section 11-333, HRS; and

          (D)  Retains and amends section 11-334(a), HRS, to require legislators to file a supplemental report within thirty days of the conclusion of a special session of the full Legislature if the next regularly scheduled report is due more than ninety calendar days after conclusion of that special session;

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

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments 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. 657, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 657, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair