House passes amendment to clarify, organize campaign finance law

Hawaii Independent Staff
The House of Representatives unanimously (51-0) passed an amendment to HB2003, HD3, Relating to Campaign Financing.

The bill primarily updates, organizes and clarifies current campaign finance law based on the recommendations of the Campaign Spending Commission's blue-ribbon re-codification committee.

The amendment today addressed three specific areas of concern:

The bill now proposes to prohibit anyone who enters into a contract with the State or County to make a contribution to a candidate committee or a non-candidate committee, or to any candidate for political purpose.

The bill prohibits a person from making a contribution to a non-candidate committee in an aggregate amount greater than $1,000 in an election. This does not apply to ballot issue committees.

The bill now clarifies the situations under which a candidate can make donations to any public school or library.


The bill takes effect on November 3, 2010, the day after the 2010 General Election, and applies to reporting periods beginning after November 2, 2010. The House will vote on the amended bill on Thursday. The bill takes effect on November 3, 2010.