STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2005

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 212

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 212 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to increase the amount of fines that may be assessed against a noncandidate committee for violations of organizational report requirements and the amount of fines that may be assessed for violations of advertisement disclaimer requirements.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Campaign Spending Commission, Common Cause Hawaii, League of Women Voters of Hawaii, and four individuals.

Your Committee finds that campaign spending and disclosure requirements are important to the health of the electoral process. Your Committee further finds that fines and other penalties should ideally be flexible enough to be an effective deterrent to candidate and noncandidate committees of various levels of financial resources. Your Committee additionally finds that linking the maximum fine amount to the level of expenditure made by the violating committee is an effective way to accomplish that flexibility. Your Committee notes that the intent of this measure is to provide the ability to target large dollar campaign spenders rather than to go after groups spending small amounts.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that the increase in the amount of fines for violations of advertisement disclosure requirements shall be assessed against only noncandidate committees; and

(2) Inserting an effective date of July 30, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 212, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 212, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair