HB372 amends Hawaii’s campaign finance law to prohibit state senators and representatives from soliciting or accepting campaign contributions during any regular or special legislative session. The ban would also apply during any extension of a session and on recess days, holidays, and weekends that fall within a session period. In effect, the bill creates a “session blackout” period for fundraising by sitting legislators.
The bill also preserves existing contribution limits for candidate committees and candidates for two-year, four-year nonstatewide, and four-year statewide offices. It does not change the dollar caps themselves; instead, it adds a new restriction focused specifically on when legislators may raise money. The measure would take effect immediately upon approval and includes standard language preserving rights, duties, and proceedings that arose before the effective date.
Impact
HB372 would amend section 11-357 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, expanding campaign contribution rules by adding a prohibition on solicitation and acceptance of campaign contributions by state legislators during legislative sessions. This would directly affect sitting members of the Hawaii House and Senate, as well as donors and campaign committees interacting with them, by limiting fundraising activity during periods when lawmakers are in session or otherwise engaged in session-related recesses. The bill does not alter the existing contribution limits for candidates, but it adds a timing-based ethics and campaign finance restriction to the statute.
Sentiment
The available context suggests generally favorable or at least procedural support for the bill, as it was introduced as part of a Campaign Spending Commission package and advanced to the Judiciary and Ways and Means committees. No vote record or committee transcript is available, so there is no documented floor debate or recorded opposition in the provided materials. The bill’s framing indicates a reform-oriented approach aimed at tightening campaign finance practices for legislators.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is the restriction on lawmakers’ ability to raise money while the Legislature is in session, which could be viewed as a transparency and anti-corruption safeguard by supporters but as a burden on fundraising by opponents. Because the bill applies broadly to solicitation and acceptance during sessions, extensions, recess days, holidays, and weekends, critics may argue it is administratively restrictive or overly broad. No specific objections are documented in the provided record, but the likely divide is between ethics-focused reform advocates and legislators or campaign interests concerned about fundraising constraints.
To Amend The Law Concerning Ethics And Campaign Finance; To Amend Portions Of Initiated Act 1 Of 1990; And To Amend Portions Of Initiated Act 1 Of 1996.