The state Campaign Spending Commission yesterday chose not to call for a repeal of a restriction on Mainland political contributions and will instead urge that the law be amended to give candidates more flexibility in tracking such donations.

Barbara Wong, the commission's executive director, recommended that the commission ask state lawmakers to repeal the restriction as a possible unconstitutional violation of equal protection.

The commission went into executive session to discuss advice provided by the state attorney general's office in 2006 over whether the restriction was constitutional.

Afterward, the commission would not disclose the nature of the attorney general's advice, citing attorney-client privilege, and would not detail how much influence it had on the decision not to seek a repeal.

"I think what we're looking at here is the opinion from the attorney general and we're looking at what we can do administratively, that there might be other solutions that might address this issue of nonresident contributions," said Paul Kuramoto, the commission's chairman. "We're looking at those possibilities."

The commission did support changing the law to give candidates some time at the end of each campaign-finance reporting period to determine whether they received excess Mainland contributions. Candidates would then have a short window to return excess donations rather than face penalties.

The law, which took effect in January 2006, limits Mainland contributions to no more than 20 percent of total donations to candidates during each reporting period.

Wong told the commission yesterday that the law could be unconstitutional and cited court cases on the Mainland that rejected out-of-state campaign contribution limits. She also told the commission of court cases in Hawai'i dismissing residency requirements for state employees, arguing that those cases raise similar questions about distinguishing local from Mainland in state law.

Wong's suggestion that the law could be unconstitutional could invite a legal challenge before the 2010 elections.

Advisers to several potential candidates for governor, including U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, and Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, have said the restriction on Mainland donations presents a challenge to competitive fundraising.

State lawmakers have said they passed the law to limit the influence of Mainland money on local development, economic and social policies. Some lawmakers also wanted to limit Gov. Linda Lingle's ability to raise Mainland money during her 2006 re-election campaign.

Miriam Hellreich, who raised money for Lingle and is now fundraising for Aiona, acknowledged that the law is a challenge but said it should not be changed to suit Abercrombie or others who might now find it inconvenient.

"There was a special interest that caused it to go into effect, and now there is a special interest to try to eliminate it," Hellreich said. "I just think that this is a real mockery of the system to keep manipulating the rules and changing the rules."

"A lot of people had questions about whether or not this whole thing was constitutional in terms of freedom of speech, and whether it was the right thing to do, and they went ahead and they did it, and now they want to change it back."

Wong said none of the potential candidates for governor approached her to ask for a repeal.