REPORT TITLE: 
Campaign Expenditure Limits


DESCRIPTION:
Provides that candidates who voluntarily agree to limit campaign
expenditures and become eligible for matching funds must do so
at or before the time of filing nomination papers and may not
thereafter withdraw their agreement.  Allows unopposed
candidates to apply for matching funds.  Extends the time within
contributors must be notified that a candidate has exceeded
expenditure limits to 30 days.  Allows candidates who have
exceeded spending limitations by no more than 1% to return 25%
of, as opposed to all matching funds.  Reduces the time that
qualifying campaign contribution statements must be filed with
the commission from 60 to 30 days.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        72
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                     A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO ELECTIONS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 11-191, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended by amending the definition of "qualifying campaign
 
 3 contribution" to read as follows:
 
 4      "Qualifying campaign contribution" means [a monetary
 
 5 contribution of $100 or less, and not more than $100 of a persons
 
 6 total aggregate monetary contribution.] an aggregate monetary
 
 7 contribution of $100 or less by a person during any matching
 
 8 payment period.  Qualifying contributions do not include loans or
 
 9 in-kind contributions."
 
10      SECTION 2.  Section 11-208, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
11 amended as follows:
 
12      1. By amending subsection (a) to read:
 
13      "§11-208  Voluntary campaign expenditure limitation.(a)
 
14 Any candidate may voluntarily agree to limit the candidate's
 
15 campaign expenditures and those of the candidate's committee or
 
16 committees and the candidate's party in the candidate's behalf by
 
17 filing an affidavit with the campaign spending commission[;
 
18 provided that a candidate may withdraw the candidate's affidavit
 
19 no later than thirty days prior to a primary election.  Any
 
20 candidate withdrawing the candidate's affidavit shall notify all
 

 
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 1 contributors during the election period, in writing, that
 
 2 contributions are not tax deductible]."
 
 3      2. By amending subsection (c) to read:
 
 4      "(c)  Affidavits in compliance with this section shall be
 
 5 filed by [January 31 of the year of any primary, special, or
 
 6 general election, or on the date set for filing the candidate's
 
 7 organizational report as provided by section 11-196, whichever is
 
 8 later] the time of filing of nomination papers with the chief
 
 9 elections officer or county clerk."
 
10      SECTION 3.  Section 11-209, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
11 amended to read as follows:
 
12      "§11-209  Campaign expenditures; limits as to amounts.(a)
 
13 From January 1 of the year of any primary, special, or general
 
14 election, the total expenditures for each election for candidates
 
15 who voluntarily agree to limit their campaign expenditures [for
 
16 each election], inclusive of all expenditures made or authorized
 
17 by the candidate alone and all campaign treasurers and committees
 
18 in the candidate's behalf, shall not exceed the following amounts
 
19 expressed respectively multiplied by the number of voters in the
 
20 last preceding general election registered to vote in each
 
21 respective voting district:
 
22      (1)  For the office of governor--$2.50;
 
23      (2)  For the office of lieutenant governor--$1.40;
 

 
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 1      (3)  For the office of mayor--$2.00;
 
 2      (4)  For the offices of state senator, state representative,
 
 3           county council member, and prosecuting attorney--$1.40;
 
 4      (5)  For the offices of the board of education and all other
 
 5           offices--20 cents.
 
 6      (b)  A candidate or committee who has voluntarily agreed to
 
 7 the expenditure limits in this section and who exceeds their
 
 8 respective expenditure limits shall pay the full filing fee and
 
 9 shall notify all opponents, the chief election officer, [all
 
10 contributors,] and the commission by telephone and in writing the
 
11 day the expenditure limits are exceeded.  All contributors shall
 
12 be notified in writing within thirty days of the day on which
 
13 expenditure limits are exceeded.  Notification to contributors
 
14 shall include an announcement that tax deductions based on their
 
15 contributions are no longer available."
 
16      SECTION 4.  Section 11-217.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
17 amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
 
18      "(b)  In the event that the Hawaii election campaign fund is
 
19 close to depletion, as determined by the commission, the
 
20 commission shall determine the amounts available to qualified
 
21 candidates based on their order of eligibility in qualifying for
 
22 public funds, as determined by the date of filing of an
 
23 [affidavit] application for public funds with the commission
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D.1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 pursuant to section [11-208;] 11-222; provided that the
 
 2 [affidavit] application has been accepted by the commission."
 
 3      SECTION 5.  Section 11-218, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 4 amended as follows:
 
 5      1.  By amending subsections (a) and (b) to read:
 
 6      "(a)  The maximum amount of public funds available to a
 
 7 candidate for the office of governor, lieutenant governor, or
 
 8 mayor in any election year shall not exceed one-fifth or twenty
 
 9 per cent of the total expenditure limit for each election as
 
10 established for each office above pursuant to section 11-209.
 
11      (b)  For the office of state senator, state representative,
 
12 county council member, and prosecuting attorney, the maximum
 
13 amount of public funds available to a candidate in any election
 
14 year shall be thirty per cent of the total expenditure limit for
 
15 each election as established for each office listed in this
 
16 subsection pursuant to section 11-209."
 
17      2.  By amending subsection (d) to read:
 
18      "(d)  The total amount of public funds for a primary,
 
19 special primary, or general election to which a candidate is
 
20 entitled to receive under section 11-221 shall not exceed fifty
 
21 per cent of the maximum amount of public funds available for the
 
22 election for the candidate's respective office.  Each candidate
 
23 who qualified for the maximum amount of public funding in any
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D.1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 primary or special primary election and who is a candidate for a
 
 2 subsequent general election shall upon application with the
 
 3 commission be entitled to receive up to fifty per cent of the
 
 4 balance of public funds available to such candidate."
 
 5      SECTION 6.  Section 11-219, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 6 amended to read as follows:
 
 7      "§11-219  Qualifying campaign contributions; amounts.  As a
 
 8 condition of receiving public funds for a primary, special
 
 9 primary, or general election, a candidate shall [not be unopposed
 
10 in any election for which public funds are sought, and shall]
 
11 have filed an affidavit with the commission pursuant to section
 
12 11-208 to voluntarily limit the candidate's campaign expenditures
 
13 and shall be in receipt of the following sum of qualifying
 
14 campaign contributions for the candidates respective office for
 
15 each election:
 
16      (1)  For the office of governor--qualifying contributions
 
17           that in the aggregate, exceed $100,000;
 
18      (2)  For the office of lieutenant governor--qualifying
 
19           contributions that in the aggregate, exceed $50,000;
 
20      (3)  For the office of mayor for each respective county:
 
21           (A)  County of Honolulu--qualifying contributions that
 
22                in the aggregate, exceed $50,000;
 
23           (B)  County of Hawaii--qualifying contributions that in
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D.1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1                the aggregate, exceed $15,000;
 
 2           (C)  County of Maui--qualifying contributions that in
 
 3                the aggregate, exceed $10,000; and
 
 4           (D)  County of Kauai--qualifying contributions that in
 
 5                the aggregate, exceed $5,000; [and]
 
 6      (4)  For the office of prosecuting attorney for each
 
 7           respective county:
 
 8           (A)  County of Honolulu--qualifying contributions that
 
 9                in the aggregate, exceed $30,000;
 
10           (B)  County of Hawaii--qualifying contributions that in
 
11                the aggregate, exceed $10,000; and
 
12           (C)  County of Kauai--qualifying contributions that in
 
13                the aggregate, exceed $5,000;
 
14      (5)  For the office of county council for each respective
 
15           county:
 
16           (A)  County of Honolulu--qualifying contributions that
 
17                in the aggregate, exceed $5,000;
 
18           (B)  County of Hawaii--qualifying contributions that in
 
19                the aggregate, exceed $1,500;
 
20           (C)  County of Maui-qualifying contributions that in
 
21                the aggregate, exceed $5,000; and
 
22           (D)  County of Kauai--qualifying contributions that in
 
23                the aggregate, exceed $3,000;
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D.1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (6)  For the office of the state senator--qualifying
 
 2           contributions that, in the aggregate, exceed $2,500;
 
 3      (7)  For the office of state house of representative-
 
 4           -qualifying contributions that, in the aggregate,
 
 5           exceed $1,500; and
 
 6      (8)  For all other offices, qualifying contributions that,
 
 7           in the aggregate exceed $500."
 
 8      SECTION 7.  Section 11-222, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 9 amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
 
10      "(a)  Application forms for public funds shall be adopted by
 
11 the commission and shall provide for a sworn statement by the
 
12 candidate that the candidate has established eligibility under
 
13 section 11-220 to receive payments under section 11-217.  Each
 
14 application shall be accompanied by a qualifying campaign
 
15 contribution statement or statements, and shall be filed with the
 
16 commission no later than [sixty] thirty days after the general
 
17 election.  Upon approval by the commission of the application and
 
18 qualifying contribution statement, the commission shall direct
 
19 the comptroller to distribute matching public funds up to the
 
20 maximum of the amount of public funds to which the candidate is
 
21 entitled.
 
22      Public funds shall be distributed by the comptroller to each
 
23 eligible candidate within [ten] twenty days from the date of the
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D.1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 candidate's initial application with the commission."
 
 2      SECTION 8.  Section 11-223, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 3 amended as follows:
 
 4      1.  By amending subsection (a) to read:
 
 5      "(a)  Each candidate who accepts public campaign funds under
 
 6 this subpart shall be required to abide by the campaign spending
 
 7 limits for the candidate's respective office as set forth in
 
 8 section 11-209.  Any candidate who exceeds the spending limits
 
 9 for the candidate's respective office as set forth in section 11-
 
10 209 shall return all of the public campaign funds the candidate
 
11 has received to the Hawaii election campaign fund[; provided that
 
12 any candidate who exceeds the limits by no more than one per cent
 
13 shall return twenty-five per cent to the fund]."
 
14      2.  By amending subsection (c) to read:
 
15      "(c)  No candidate or committee authorized by a candidate
 
16 shall be entitled to receive any public funds under this subpart
 
17 unless the candidate [and at least one other candidate for the
 
18 same elective seat have] has qualified to have [their names] the
 
19 candidate's name on the election ballot in the [same] election
 
20 for which funds are sought."
 
21      3.  By amending subsection (f) to read:
 
22      "(f)  Upon the filing of a final report for any primary,
 
23 special primary, special, or general election, each candidate
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D.1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 [who has spent an amount below the expenditure limit set for the
 
 2 candidate's respective office, but who has received the maximum
 
 3 amount of public funds allowable for the candidate's respective
 
 4 office,] shall return all unexpended public funds to the Hawaii
 
 5 election campaign fund."
 
 6      SECTION 9.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 7 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 8      SECTION 10.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.