House dilutes campaign measure
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Lawmakers appear to be backing away from key components of campaign finance reform legislation while moving closer to requiring automatic ballot recounts in close races.
The House yesterday floated a proposal that would ban institutional campaign contributions from banks and unions, but removed a provision that would have imposed the same restrictions on other corporations.
The proposal also would prohibit the state and counties from awarding contracts to companies where a majority owner made a political contribution but not from companies where minority owners made donations. Campaign finance reform advocates have said that provision severely weakens the bill because it would not apply to most companies.
House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee Chairman Eric Hamakawa said the House's original position was to ban corporate contributions but that some lawmakers were concerned it would penalize small, "mom-and-pop-type operations."
Banks and unions would still be able to contribute through political action committees, but requiring small companies to do so would be too much of a burden, said Senate Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations Committee Chairman Cal Kawamoto, the lead Senate negotiator in the House-Senate conference committee for Senate Bill 2431.
Larry Meacham, executive director of the government watchdog group Common Cause Hawai'i, said requiring corporations and labor organizations to contribute through political action committees would create more "transparency" in the campaign finance process.
Meacham is also concerned that the awarding of government contracts to any company or person that made a political contribution in the previous two years would be banned only if the contribution came from someone who owns at least a 50 percent interest in the company.
"If you're 50 percent, you're probably in a small company," Meacham said. "In big companies, nobody's going to have 50 percent ownership. So the big companies would still be able to contribute, and the little guys won't. It's a huge loophole."
Hamakawa, D-3rd (S. Hilo, Puna), said the House believed that the 50 percent figure "was a fair number to put in. There's nothing nefarious about it."
Kawamoto, D-19th (Waipahu, Pearl City), said the Senate wants to reduce the 50 percent provision to 25 percent. But Meacham said even that number is too big, and suggested the percentage be changed to 10 percent.
Meacham was pleased, however, with the proposed draft of House Bill 2843, which requires an automatic ballot recount when vote counts are close. The proposal would require a recount when the vote difference is one-eighth of one percent or less of the total ballots cast for statewide races or a quarter of one percent or less of the total ballots cast for other state or county races.
"Those are good reforms," Meacham said.
House-Senate conference negotiations on those bills will continue today.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
