Relating To Campaign Contributions.
HB371 amends Hawaii’s campaign finance laws to expand and clarify restrictions on political contributions by state and county contractors, state and county grantees, and certain related individuals. The bill broadens the definition of “immediate family” to include a spouse or reciprocal beneficiary and specified relatives, and it prohibits covered contractors, grantees, their officers, and their immediate family members from making contributions to candidates, candidate committees, noncandidate committees, or for any political purpose during the life of the contract or grant. It also bars covered contractors and grantees from soliciting contributions during that period.
The bill adds a disclosure requirement: when a covered contract is executed, the contractor or grantee must provide the state or county office with the names of officers and immediate adult family members, and that information is to be shared electronically with the Campaign Spending Commission and made available to committees through a password-protected website. It also requires any unlawful contribution received by a candidate or committee to be returned within 30 days, or else it escheats to the Hawaii election campaign fund. The bill further clarifies the meaning of “completion of the contract” and preserves existing rights, duties, and proceedings that arose before the effective date.
HB371 would amend several provisions in Chapter 11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, governing campaign contributions and contractor/grantee political activity. It would expand the scope of prohibited contributors, require new reporting and information-sharing procedures for certain public contracts, and reinforce the remedy for unlawful contributions by mandating return or escheat to the Hawaii election campaign fund. The bill would affect state and county contractors, grantees, their officers, and immediate family members, as well as candidates, candidate committees, noncandidate committees, and the Campaign Spending Commission.
The available voting history suggests the bill was received favorably in the Senate, passing the Judiciary Committee 4-0 with amendments and the Ways and Means Committee 11-0 without further amendment. No committee transcripts were provided, so there is no recorded floor or committee debate to indicate opposition in the materials supplied. Overall, the bill appears to have broad bipartisan or at least unanimous committee support at the stages shown.
The main policy issue appears to be the breadth of the contribution ban and disclosure requirements for people connected to government contractors and grantees. Potential points of contention include whether the restrictions on officers and immediate family members are too expansive, whether the reporting of family-member information raises privacy or administrative concerns, and whether the thresholds exempting smaller procurements are sufficient. The bill’s use of a very distant effective date, July 1, 3000, may also reflect a drafting placeholder or technical issue rather than a substantive policy dispute.