CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. 84

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 459

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

C.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 459, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

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

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 bill is to restore the integrity of the election process by:

(1) Prohibiting fundraising in buildings being used for state or county purposes;

(2) Prohibiting contributions by government contractors with contracts over $25,000, commencing with any procurement activity conducted by a purchasing agency or notice of appropriation, and ending twenty-four months after the termination of the procurement activity or completion of any government contract;

(3) Prohibiting the use of campaign contributions for personal expenditures, and limiting payments from campaign funds to $4,000 in a four-year period prior to an election in which the candidate seeks nomination or election to a four-year term office, and $2,000 in a two-year period prior to the election in which the candidate seeks nomination or election to a two-year term office;

(4) Amending the registration requirements for candidates seeking reelection;

(5) Replacing the requirement that the Campaign Spending Commission adopt a Code of Fair Campaign Practices as part of its rules with the requirement that the commission adopt a schedule of administrative fines for categories of violations incorporating the penalties that are provided by statute;

(6) Amending the campaign contributions limit to $4,000 for candidates seeking offices of four-year terms, $2,000 for candidates seeking offices of two-year terms, $2,000 for noncandidate committees in a two-year election period, $5,000 per year for a party, and a maximum limit of $25,000 in the aggregate for all contributions from an individual in a two-year election period, and clarifies that excess contributions not returned within thirty days escheat to the Hawaii Election Campaign Fund;

(7) Prohibiting campaign contributions in excess of $6,000 in the aggregate from corporations, labor organizations, member organizations, cooperatives, or corporations without capital stock;

(8) Defining the ownership interest in a corporation as twenty-five percent for purposes of campaign contribution limits by individuals;

(9) Clarifying that a person who is prosecuted and convicted of campaign violations is not subject to administrative enforcement, and provides that falsifying reports with intent to circumvent the law or deceive the commission is a class C felony;

(10) Amending the public funding provisions to require a candidate to receive a scheduled amount of qualifying contributions from individual residents of Hawaii, and eliminating public funding for special elections;

(11) Repealing §11-203, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), relating to fundraisers and fundraising activities; and

(12) Adding definitions and clarifying terms for consistency of application.

Your Committee amended the bill by:

(1) Deleting §11-B, HRS, entitled "campaign contributions; prohibited by corporations, labor organizations, member organizations, cooperatives, or corporations without capital stock";

(2) Adding a definition for "bundle" to §11-191, HRS;

(3) Amending the definition of "committee" in §11-191, HRS, to include a party;

(4) Removing the amendments to the definition of "contribution" in §11-191, HRS;

(5) Amending paragraph (4) of the definition for "expenditure" in §11-191, HRS, by adding the words "that states the purpose of the payment is to influence the nomination and election of the donor candidate. Such payments shall be made with the following designation: "This donation is made to influence the nomination and election of the donor [candidate's name]";

(6) Replacing the $1000 expenditure aggregate amount with $100 in §§11-194(d) and 11-194(e), HRS;

(7) Clarifying in §11-194(e), HRS, that the registration requirement applies to committees forming within ten days of a primary or general election;

(8) Raising the maximum campaign and surplus funds payment amount to community service or charitable organizations from $4,000 to $8,000 in a four-year period prior to an election for a four-year term of office, and from $2,000 to $4,000 in a two-year period prior to an election for a two-year term of office;

(9) Deleting §11-204(c), HRS, on page 27, lines 19-20;

(10) Replacing the words "in an election" on page 28, line 6, with the words "for the election in which the candidate seeks office";

(11) Removing the brackets and strikethrough from §11-204(g), HRS, on page 30, lines 5-12;

(12) Removing the brackets and strikethrough from §11-204(h), HRS, on page 30, line 13, for the words "an individual", and adding the words "who owns more than twenty-five per cent of the outstanding shares of a corporation or interest in a partnership, shall be treated as one person with the corporation or partnership";

(13) Deleting §11-204(m)(4), HRS, on page 32, lines 16-21;

(14) Removing the brackets and strikethrough from the words "except for subsection" in §11-204(n), HRS, on page 33, line 1;

(15) Replacing the words "for a period of time" with "at any time" in §11-205.5(a), HRS, on page 34, line 13;

(16) Deleting §11-205.5(d), HRS, on page 35, lines 7-9;

(17) Reformatting §11-205.5(e), HRS, into two paragraphs, deleting the words "less than" from paragraph (1) on page 35, line 11, and adding the words "any business that seeks or has any government contract obtained through low bid price" to form paragraph (2);

(18) Adding a new §11-205.5(e), HRS, that allows a government contractor to contribute to a candidate if the candidate holds or is seeking a public office that does not have the authority or discretion to enter into, approve, or ratify the government contract sought or held by the government contractor;

(19) Amending the definition for "government contract" in §11-205.5(f), HRS, on page 36, lines 17-20 by deleting the word "procurement" before the word "contract", and replacing the words "covered by" before the words "the Hawaii public procurement code" with the words "not excluded from the application of";

(20) Amending the definition of "government contractor" in §11-205.5(f), HRS, on page 36, line 21 – page 37, line 2, to mean any business that seeks a nonbid government contract valued in excess of $25,000 or has one or more nonbid government contracts that exceed $25,000 in the aggregate;

(21) Adding a definition for "nonbid" to §11-205.5(f), HRS;

(22) Amending §11-228(d), HRS, to require that administrative fines collected by the campaign spending commission be deposited into the general fund instead of the Hawaii Election Campaign Fund;

(23) Amending the effective date to specify that the Act's provisions shall not be applied retroactively to any contributions made prior to its effect;

(24) Conforming the purpose section to these amendments; and

(25) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity and style.

 

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. 459, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 459, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

____________________________

ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair

____________________________

COLLEEN HANABUSA, Chair

____________________________

CAL KAWAMOTO, Co-Chair