CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 14

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2021

RE: S.B. No. 200

H.D. 2

C.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sirs:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 200, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this measure is to clarify that candidates or other committee representatives as specified who make contributions over a certain amount prior to an election are required to file a late contribution report only if the candidate is on the ballot in that election.

Your Committee on Conference finds that while contribution reporting requirements for candidate and noncandidate committees are vital to ensuring transparency and accountability in the election process, requiring candidates who are not on the ballot to file the late contributions report due on the third calendar day prior to an election is inefficient and provides negligible benefit to election integrity. Your Committee on Conference further finds that exempting candidates who are not on the ballot of an election from the requirement to file the late contributions report is consistent with the requirements under section 11-334, Hawaii Revised Statutes, for the filing of preliminary, final, and supplemental reports.

Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying the amount of contributions that trigger the requirement to file a late contribution report as $500;

(2) Making it effective upon its approval; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 200, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 200, H.D. 2, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

____________________________ ANGUS L.K. MCKELVEY Co-Chair	____________________________ KARL RHOADS Chair
____________________________ MARK M. NAKASHIMA Co-Chair