STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3023

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2982

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2982, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CAMPAIGN FINANCE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit foreign entities and foreign-influenced business entities from making contributions, expenditures, electioneering communications, or donations for election purposes;

(2) Require every business entity that contributes or expends funds in a state election to certify that the entity was not a foreign corporation or foreign-influenced business entity when the contribution or expenditure was made;

(3) Specify that if the conditions that determine whether a business entity qualifies as a foreign-influenced business entity are held unconstitutional by a final judgment, including all appeals, the Campaign Spending Commission is required to establish revised conditions that are constitutional;

(4) Require noncandidate committees making only independent expenditures to obtain a statement of certification from each top contributor required to be listed in an advertisement avowing that no funds were derived from foreign entities or foreign-influenced business entities; and

(5) Exempt entities engaged in transporting cargo and subject to section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Campaign Spending Commission, UNITE HERE! Local 5, Free Speech for People, League of Women Voters of Hawaii, and five individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from two individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that Russia, China, and other state actors have taken action to influence the United States' elections with social media campaigns, bots to circulate disinformation about candidates, and by promoting candidates who will serve their needs, rather than the American people. This measure will provide the State with a legal standard to aid efforts to prevent foreign influence directly affecting political campaigns in the State.

Your Committee notes that this measure requires that if a noncandidate committee does not receive a statement of certification from a top contributor, the advertisement must include the statement "Some of the funds used to pay for this message may have been provided by foreign corporations or foreign-influenced business entities, as no certification disclosing foreign influence was provided". This disclaimer may be read as suggesting the presence of foreign funding simply because a certification was not provided, rather than because the State has not identified any foreign source. Your Committee believes that a compelled disclaimer that could be understood as misleading may raise First Amendment concerns and could chill political participation, and therefore amendments to this measure are necessary.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Replacing the statement required to be included in an advertisement if a noncandidate committee does not receive a statement of certification from a top contributor with a statement that reads: "The following top contributor(s) did not provide certification regarding foreign influence"; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

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. 2982, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2982, S.D. 2.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair