THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

167

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING A STUDY OF PRIVATE CAMPAIGN DONATIONS FOR THE 1998 AND 2000 ELECTIONS.

 

 

WHEREAS, campaign financing has been a perennial source of controversy in national, state, and local elections; and

WHEREAS, it is also alleged that some corporate donors get around the campaign spending limits by financing donations from employees and relatives; and

WHEREAS, at the heart of this controversy is the misgiving that campaign donations are quid pro quos for future favors to be rendered by grateful elected officials; and

WHEREAS, public confidence in the election process and the results would be bolstered by a determination of the facts and not just the allegations of improper influence through questionable contributions; and

WHEREAS, the Campaign Spending Commission collects and maintains data on campaign donors by amount and name; the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Business Registration Division maintains data on officers and directors of business entities; and the state and county Procurement Offices maintain records on which companies receive nonbid contracts; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to conduct a study to determine, based on the records of the Campaign Spending Commission, of:

(1) The total aggregate amount of private donations to committees of candidates for the 1998 and 2000 elections; and

(2) The number of donations that are $500 or more per individual source;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Campaign Spending Commission, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and the state and county Procurement Offices are requested to pool their information and devise a database that will link officers and directors of businesses that received one or more nonbid state or county contracts from the period of January 1, 1998 to January 1, 2002 to the amounts of money that they contributed to a successful candidate for state or county office, if the amount of the donation to a single candidate was $500 or more, and transmit that data to the Bureau by October 1, 2002; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is also requested to review local newspaper and periodical coverage from January 1, 1998 to the present to determine the extent of the public perception that private donations are made in part with the intention or expectation of a favor to be rendered later; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Bureau is requested to submit its findings to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2003; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Executive Director of the Campaign Spending Commission, the Comptroller, the State Procurement Administrator, the Director of the Department of Budget and Fiscal Services of the City and County of Honolulu, the Director of the Department of Finance of the County of Hawaii, the Director of the Department of Finance for the County of Kauai, and the Director of the Department of Finance of the County of Maui.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Campaign Spending; Donations; Public Perceptions