Audit of campaign panel unlikely
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
A Senate resolution calling for an investigation of the state Campaign Spending Commission appears to be dead, with a key senator saying she will not hold a hearing on it.
Senate President Robert Bunda, D-22nd (North Shore, Wahiawa), introduced a resolution requesting the state auditor to investigate the Campaign Spending Commission's operations, including whether it enforces the law fairly or engages in "bounty hunting." Six other senators, including the rest of the Senate leadership, co-sponsored the resolution.
Senate Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa, who co-signed the resolution, said yesterday the resolution will be referred to her committee but that she will not hold a hearing on it.
Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), said the audit is not necessary and that "the choice of the words (in the resolution) may not have been as carefully done as it should have been because of the outcry that we hear."
"All in all, in order for it to have an impact with the auditor, it has to be passed by both houses, and I doubt very much that the House, with this outcry, will support a resolution like that anyway," she said. "And I think the more important and pressing issue is really whether or not the Campaign Spending Commission is properly placed."
Hanabusa said she intended to use the resolution as a vehicle to request a study on whether the commission is placed appropriately in the state Department of Accounting and General Services.
Hanabusa also said she will not hear two bills introduced by Sen. Cal Kawamoto last month that would allow the Senate to fire the Campaign Spending Commission executive director without cause and to appoint members of the commission.
Bunda did not respond to requests for comment.
Kawamoto, who is under investigation by the commission and also co-signed the resolution, said, "There's a concern out there that needs to be addressed as far as the process in which investigations are being done" and whether the commission has "gone beyond their boundaries."
He also questioned how investigators for the commission are being paid.
Commission executive director Robert Watada has said the commission received a citizen complaint last year about charitable contributions made by Kawamoto's political campaign and how the campaign was reporting contributions it received for an annual Waipahu community picnic event it sponsored.
The contributions from individuals and companies were listed not as contributions to the campaign but as donations by the campaign to the community event, Watada said.
The commission uses money in the $5 million Hawaii Election Campaign Fund to hire and pay investigators on an hourly basis, plus pay for any additional costs of the investigation such as subpoenas, according to Watada.
Sources of money for the fund include $2 tax refund checkoff donations, fines and fees collected by the commission and interest generated from the fund, he said.
In addition to investigations, the campaign fund also pays for the commission's operations and public financing of campaigns, Watada said.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 21 requests that the state auditor investigate and review the operations of the commission, its staff, and any agency or person who assists the commission.
The audit would include the financing and recordkeeping of the commission and its electronic filing system. The resolution also calls for the audit to determine "whether, and how, the commission ensures equal treatment under the law" and "whether the commission or any of its staff engage in activity that could be considered to be a form of 'bounty hunting.'"
Others who co-signed the resolution are Senate Vice President Donna Mercado Kim, D-14th (Halawa, Moanalua, Kamehameha Heights); Majority Caucus Leader Shan Tsutsui, D-4th (Kahului); Sen. Melodie Aduja, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku); and Sen. Norman Sakamoto, D-15th (Waimalu, Airport, Salt Lake).
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
