Cayetano would OK contribution ban
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief
If state lawmakers can muster the votes to pass a ban on direct political contributions by labor unions, corporations and government contractors, Gov. Ben Cayetano said he will probably sign the measure into law.
Lawmakers have three weeks to finalize such a ban, which has become the subject of a late-session lobbying push at the State Capitol by a number of government contractors.
That lobbying effort prompted some changes to the bill in the House Judiciary Committee Thursday, but Chairman Eric Hamakawa said the odds are "pretty good" the bill will be passed this year.
The biggest potential snag to overhauling the campaign finance system has been the state Senate, which has killed campaign finance reform proposals passed by the House for two years running.
But this year may be different, with the Senate Ways and Means Committee yesterday approving a measure very similar to the House proposal.
Cayetano said he probably spent more money on his last race than any other governor, dropping more than $5 million to win re-election in 1998. But he said, "The chances are I'm going to sign those bills. I've never liked the whole business of fund-raising."
The current investigation by the state Campaign Spending Commission into contributors who allegedly gave more money than was legally allowed has touched Cayetano, whose campaign received improper contributions from the engineering firm Geolabs-Hawaii and others.
Cayetano said his campaign returned money whenever it learned the contributions exceeded the legal limits, but "now we're beginning to find there are others that have bundled (multiple contributions illegally) and we didn't know about it. I don't like that kind of cloud hanging over me, because the implication is that, well, there's a quid pro quo. There is no quid pro quo."
Cayetano said he supports contribution restrictions similar to those in federal law, which prohibits unions and corporations from contributing directly to candidates and bans contributions from federal contractors.
The House proposal in Senate Bill 2431 SD2 HD1 would ban corporate, bank and union contributions to all state candidates from the company or union treasuries, although employees and union members would be free to donate with their own money.
The House is also proposing a ban on awarding state and county contracts to any company or person that made a political contribution in the previous two years. It would prohibit contract awards to companies where a majority owner made a contribution, but not companies where minority owners made donations, Hamakawa said.
Hamakawa, D-3rd (S. Hilo, Puna), said that last provision was inserted in the bill after critics of the bill lobbied lawmakers with an e-mail and letter campaign to seek changes.
A similar lobbying effort was launched in the state Senate, with architects and others contacting lawmakers seeking similar technical changes, said Senate Ways and Means Chairman Brian Taniguchi, D-11th (McCully, Mo'ili'ili, Manoa).
Taniguchi said the Senate is advancing a measure as House Bill 2844 HD1 SD2 that is similar to the House measure.
