Campaign reform elusive still
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
The criminal investigations and violations involving political contributions in recent years have put pressure on state elected officials to reform campaign finance laws and clean up their image.
But so-called campaign finance reform has been an elusive target at the State Capitol. Gov. Linda Lingle said late last month she would veto the Legislature's campaign finance reform bill because it was flawed and could lead to constitutional challenges.
The veto will mark the latest in a string of failed attempts at campaign finance reform and is another example of the difficulties involved when politicians try to enact laws regulating themselves.
"I think it's pretty clear that people are passing a (statute) that affects themselves and none of them like what the (statute) is trying to do," said Don Clegg, a political consultant who has worked on gubernatorial and mayoral campaigns.
"So there's always extra little appendages put into the bill so the bill ends up not really keeping them from what they want to do. It's a showcase bill."
Campaign finance reform bills have run into some problems over the past few years. A campaign reform bill that initially prohibited contributions from government contractors and banned direct donations from corporations and labor unions went through several changes and political wrangling before being killed last year.
Then-Gov. Ben Cayetano vetoed a similar campaign measure because it did not prohibit such contributions to legislative candidates. Another bill in 2001 never got a hearing in the Senate.
In the meantime, the state Campaign Spending Commission has issued dozens of fines totaling nearly $1 million during the past two years for illegal contributions made by local contractors, and criminal charges have been filed.
House Majority Leader Scott Saiki, D-22nd (McCully, Pawa'a), said crafting campaign finance reform is a very complicated matter that involves specific provisions to prevent loopholes.
"I think the challenge for the Legislature is to pass — as with all laws — pass laws that are going to treat everybody fairly," he said. "And when you start to draw lines and you start to distinguish between different kinds of individuals or different kinds of organizations, you have to be very careful about first of all, why you're doing that, second, how you're going to do that."
But he also said everyone has a different approach to campaign finance reform.
"For some there's a perspective that we should do what appears to be politically feasible," Saiki said. "And then you have some on the other hand who feel that we need to make some very extreme substantive changes to campaign finance laws. So it's a matter of striking the appropriate balance in some cases."
He said lawmakers will analyze this year's bill and Lingle's reasons for rejecting it when her office sends down her veto message. He pointed out that Campaign Spending Commission officials called it a good first step and that it may have been "the most substantive bill" the Legislature has passed in 10 years.
Democratic lawmakers said they will not reconvene this summer to override Lingle's vetoes.
But House Minority Leader Galen Fox, R-23rd (Waikiki, Ala Moana, Kaka'ako), said he's not impressed with the Democrats' efforts at campaign finance reform.
"It was a tiny step forward, but it's not the real campaign reform that we need, and under the circumstances there were technical difficulties with the bill," he said.
The bill was aimed at prohibiting campaign contributions from government contractors selected in a nonbid process for contracts greater than $25,000 and contributions from out-of-state corporations and unions. The bill also made it a felony to falsify reports and contribute under a false name to circumvent the law.
State Attorney General Mark Bennett said the bill had loopholes and mistakes that would have likely led to constitutional challenges. One error, he said, was a section that wound up barring a political action committee from making contributions if it received monetary donations from at least 10 Hawai'i residents.
Saiki said that was not the lawmakers' intent.
In any case, it's unclear how much voters really care about campaign finance reform, even with regular media reports about campaign violations.
"They will cluck a little bit — say, 'Oh, that was a bad thing,' and then it goes away," said political consultant Clegg. "I think there's probably other issues that are closer to home."
Both Saiki and Fox said they don't get many, if any, calls from constituents about campaign reform. Fox said the issue of campaign finance reform alone may not interest people, but they will certainly say they want to get rid of political corruption and campaign scandals.
"We haven't cast it in terms where frankly the average person relates to it," he said.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
