STAND. COM. REP. NO. 307

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 118

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 118 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish an investigator position in the Campaign Spending Commission.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Campaign Spending Commission, League of Women Voters of Hawaii, and twenty-seven individuals.

Your Committee finds that the Campaign Spending Commission, the state agency for enforcement of the State's campaign finance laws, does not have a designated investigator position. The existing five staff members perform investigative duties, as needed, including testifying in court when cases are prosecuted. Your Committee further finds that the Campaign Spending Commission has not had an increase in personnel for the past twenty-nine years, despite the number of candidate committees and noncandidate committees having doubled in size in that time. Your Committee additionally finds that the Campaign Spending Commission has a modest budget and nominal staff despite a tremendous growth in committees, an expansion in its duties and responsibilities, and enforcement mandates. This measure will maintain the integrity and transparency of the campaign finance process by increasing the Commission staff by one investigator position.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the appropriation and number of positions to unspecified amounts;

(2) Inserting an effective date of April 23, 2057, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committee notes that this measure, as amended, contains an unspecified appropriation amount.  Should your Committee on Ways and Means choose to deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that it consider inserting an appropriation amount of $125,000 for the establishment of one full-time equivalent permanent investigator position to be placed in the Campaign Spending Commission.

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. 118, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 118, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair