STAND. COM. REP. NO.2434

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: S.B. No. 2431

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations and Tourism and Intergovernmental Affairs and Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2431 entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purposes of this measure are to:

(1) Limit aggregate campaign contributions from any person or entity to not more than $25,000, in any calendar year;

(2) Prohibit banks from making campaign contributions, except through a separate segregated fund established for political purposes; and

(3) Prohibit contributions from government contractors for a limited time before and after the contract.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Common Cause Hawaii, League of Women Voters, and a Honolulu City Councilman. Commentary was submitted by the Campaign Spending Commission, Consulting Engineers Council of Hawaii, AIA Hawaii State Council, and American Public Workers Association – Hawaii Chapter.

Your Committees remain dedicated to accommodating the desire of the public for fairness in the campaign spending laws. Your Committees are most concerned about large entities that can afford to make large contributions that could be interpreted as influencing the elected official. Even the appearance of impropriety is too much to tolerate. This measure is intended to correct the imbalances and inequities in the current law.

Upon further consideration, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting the prohibition on campaign contributions from contractors, on the grounds that current law suffices to expose these contractors to public scrutiny and in turn bringing attention to the individual candidate receiving such contribution;

(2) Deleting the prohibition on contributions from banks, on the grounds that there is no justifiable reason for singling them out and current law limits their contributions to a reasonable amount;

(3) Deleting the class C felony;

(4) Repealing current law relating to fundraising activities;

(5) Allowing candidates to file by the current electronic filing system or by commercially available accounting software;

(6) Limiting the aggregate contribution from a candidate and the immediate family of the candidate to a combined total of $50,000; and

(7) Adding a severability clause.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations and Tourism and Intergovernmental Affairs and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2431, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2431, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations and Tourism and Intergovernmental Affairs and Judiciary,

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DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair

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CAL KAWAMOTO, Chair

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BRIAN KANNO, Chair