HB1336 amends Hawaii’s campaign finance law governing state and county contractors by expanding existing contribution prohibitions to cover state and county grantees as well as certain related individuals. Under current law, contractors are barred from making political contributions, soliciting contributions, and engaging in related political activity during the life of a government contract. This bill extends similar restrictions to people who apply for or receive state or county grants or subsidies, and it also adds owners, officers, consultants, and joint account holders of both contractors and grantees to the list of persons subject to the ban.
The bill also broadens the prohibited conduct for contractors by expressly barring them from providing anything of value to a candidate, candidate committee, noncandidate committee, or any person for political purposes, including advertisements. It keeps the existing exception that allows other persons, not covered by the prohibition, to establish or administer noncandidate committees and solicit contributions for electoral purposes. The bill takes effect upon approval.
Impact
HB1336 would amend section 11-355 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, expanding the state’s pay-to-play and campaign contribution restrictions beyond contractors to include grantees and subsidy recipients under state and county programs. It would also create explicit restrictions for owners, officers, consultants, and joint account holders associated with those contractors and grantees, thereby broadening the set of parties subject to campaign finance compliance obligations during the relevant contract or grant period.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears to be framed as a campaign finance integrity and anti-corruption bill, with a generally regulatory and preventive purpose. There are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, so no direct evidence of support or opposition is available from the legislative record included here. The bill’s structure suggests an intent to close loopholes and strengthen existing restrictions rather than to make a controversial policy shift.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is the expansion of political contribution restrictions from contractors to grantees and to related individuals such as owners, officers, consultants, and joint account holders. Supporters would likely view this as a necessary anti-corruption safeguard to prevent influence over public spending decisions, while critics could argue that it broadens speech and association limits and may impose compliance burdens on businesses and nonprofit grantees that receive public funds. Another possible issue is the new prohibition on providing “something of value,” including advertisements, which could be read broadly and may raise questions about scope and enforcement.
Increases disclosure of political contributions by business entities with public contracts; creates uniform law for contributions by such entities; repeals local option to set contribution limits for business entities.