Draft of campaign finance bill criticized

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

The executive director of the state Campaign Spending Commission does not support the latest draft of a highly touted campaign finance bill, saying it doesn't go far enough in addressing the issue of corporate contributions.

Bob Watada wants Senate Bill 459 to retain language prohibiting corporations and labor unions from making direct political contributions to candidates, instead requiring them to set up political action committees that would make it easier for the public to monitor spending.

The bill will enter its third day of joint House-Senate conference committee discussions at 2 p.m. today. House conferees are trying to get their counterparts in the Senate to agree to their draft. The deadline for the two sides to agree on bills is Thursday.

Democrats have hailed the bill as an omnibus campaign finance reform measure that runs the gamut of electioneering issues.

Besides touching on corporate contributions, the latest committee draft prohibits fund-raising by the public in government buildings, clarifies that excess contributions must be returned within 30 days, and spells out that contributions are not to be used for personal use.

But Watada said it makes no sense to remove the prohibition on direct contributions from corporations and unions from the bill.

"Problems still persist because corporations are a major funnel for laundering all sorts of contributions," he said.

Under Watada's guidance, the commission has slapped dozens of companies with fines totaling almost $1 million over the past two years for illegal campaign contributions. Some of those companies had government contracts, but some did not.

House Judiciary Vice Chairman Blake Oshiro, D-33rd (Halawa, 'Aiea, Pearlridge), acknowledged that corporate contributions is an area that he and other lawmakers feel still needs to be addressed.

Oshiro said there are questions about how the PACs would work.

"We're still very leery about that process and making sure that you can have the proper safeguards on there for good disclosure, for making sure you know where the money is coming from. I think before we go down that road, we want to take a closer look at that."

Watada said he was also unhappy that the latest draft prohibits only non-bid contractors from donating to political campaigns up to 24 months after completing their contracts, but deleted language pertaining to those receiving jobs through the bidding process.

"The problem is that you have high bid and low bid, and that's where a lot of the problems are that we've seen," Watada said. "We think the ban on contractors making contributions should apply across the board."

Oshiro said lawmakers want to see if newly revamped procurement laws, which include the establishment of professional panels that make recommendations on who should receive contracts, can address concerns about undue influence in the process.

"When it comes to non-bid, that's where the concern is."

Watada also doesn't like a provision that remains from the original draft of Senate Bill 459 that increases the amount of campaign money a candidate can "donate" to community organizations after an election.

"The expectation is the contribution is going to be used for the purposes of an election," he said.

Unspent contributions should be returned to their donors or handed over to the state election fund, he said.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.