STAND. COM. REP. NO. 44

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 399

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 399 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ORDERS OF THE CAMPAIGN SPENDING COMMISSION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Provide that certain rights shall be deemed waived if a preliminary determination of probable cause is rendered during a chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, meeting and the person fails to request a contested case hearing within 20 days of receipt of the preliminary determination; and

(2) Allow the Campaign Spending Commission to have an order confirmed as a judgment by the first circuit court, giving the order the same force and effect as any other judgment issued by the circuit courts; provided that there shall be no appeal from the judgment.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Campaign Spending Commission, Common Cause Hawaii, and League of Women Voters. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that the Campaign Spending Commission is unable to issue a fine against a person without providing the person with written notice and an opportunity to be heard at a hearing. Your Committee further finds that a person may waive these rights by written stipulation or consent. Your Committee additionally finds that the enforcement actions of the Campaign Spending Commission can be delayed if a person declines to participate in the hearing process. This measure will establish an implied waiver of a person's rights to notice and to be heard at a contested case hearing if the person fails to request a hearing within twenty days of a preliminary determination, and will allow the Commission to file orders with the First Circuit Court and enable those orders to be enforceable and collectable in the same manner as other judgments of the court.

Your Committee has amended this measure by 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 that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 399, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 399, 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