STAND. COM. REP. NO. 549

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 444

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 444 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ORGANIZATIONAL REPORTS OF NONCANDIDATE COMMITTEES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to repeal the requirement of reporting contributions in the organizational reports of noncandidate committees and noncandidate committees that make only independent expenditures.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Campaign Spending Commission.

     Your Committee finds that existing law requires noncandidate committees to disclose their contributions in periodic disclosure reports pursuant to sections 11-335 and 11-338, Hawaii Revised Statutes.  The Campaign Spending Commission indicated in its written testimony that the organizational report of a noncandidate committee contains only directory-type information that does not have space for a noncandidate committee to disclose contributions.  Thus, this measure deletes an unnecessary requirement.

     Your Committee notes that while this measure may appear to reduce the public availability of information concerning campaign contributions, the statutory revisions contained in this measure relate only to organizational reports and have no adverse impact on full public disclosure of campaign contributions.  This measure is intended only to address statutory redundancy and to allow the Campaign Spending Commission to process initial organizational reports more efficiently.

     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. 444 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

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GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair