STAND. COM. REP. NO. 58

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 200

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 200 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify that candidates or other committee representatives as specified who make or receive contributions over a certain amount prior to an election are required to file a late contribution report only if the candidate is on the ballot in that election.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Campaign Spending Commission. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Common Cause Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that while contribution reporting requirements for candidate and noncandidate committees are vital to ensuring transparency and accountability in the election process, requiring candidates who are not on the ballot to file the late contributions report due on the third calendar day prior to an election is inefficient and provides negligible benefit to election integrity. Your Committee further finds that exempting candidates who are not on the ballot of an election from the requirement to file this report is consistent with the requirements under section 11-334, Hawaii Revised Statutes, for the filing of preliminary, final, and supplemental reports. Any contributions that would have been reflected on the late report will be reflected on the final or supplemental report.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 200 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

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KARL RHOADS, Chair