Final draft of campaign finance reform bill likely to emerge today
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Lawmakers expect today to unveil their final proposals for a bill to change the state's campaign finance law in an effort to further restrict the influence that special interests have on Hawai'i's elections.
Members of the state Campaign Spending Commission have sharply criticized earlier versions of the bill for what they said were loopholes that undermined needed reforms.
Yesterday was Day 55 of the 60-day session.
They warned last week that they would call for Gov. Linda Lingle to veto the bill if it were approved in such a form.
The House and Senate approved completely different versions of the bill, SB 459, so a conference committee is scheduled to consider updated versions this afternoon.
Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, who chairs the panel, said the final version would likely limit campaign contributions from government contractors and place a cap on the amount that candidates can pass on to community groups.
But the bill may not be as comprehensive as some have advocated, because lawmakers are trying to strike a compromise that won't be vetoed, Hanabusa said.
She said it was unclear whether a ban on direct contributions from corporations and labor unions would be included, for instance.
The campaign commission has fined dozens of companies and individual donors over the past year for making illegal campaign donations. Hanabusa said lawmakers may propose that such fines no longer go to a fund controlled by the commission.
"It takes on an appearance of being like a bounty, so there's some discussions of it going to maybe the general fund," she said.
The bill passed by the Senate would allow unlimited contributions to political action committees not directly controlled by candidates. It would also allow candidates to give more money to charities and neighborhood groups.
The House deleted the entire text of that bill and replaced it with much of the wording of a House bill that died in the Senate, HB 284. That bill banned contributions from corporations and unions, but new language was added that allowed them to give up to $6,000.
The bill would also allow contractors who own less than 25 percent of their company's stock to continue making contributions if they use their own money and not the company's.
"This creates some big holes," Campaign Spending Commission director Robert Watada said. "Policies are made and exceptions are made to the policy, and we are left to interpret that, and it appears unfair to people."
The Legislature passed a major campaign overhaul bill that Hanabusa sponsored last year, but former Gov. Ben Cayetano vetoed it after objecting to exemptions the final version contained.
Reach Johnny Brannon at 525-8070 or jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.
