2012 Legislature

The Commission would like to inform you of the following campaign finance bills which were passed during the 2012 legislative session and signed into law:

1.  Act 20, SLH 2012 (S.B. 2648 H.D. 1)

Governor Neil Abercrombie signed S.B. 2648 H.D. 1 into law as Act 20 on April 13, 2012.  Act 20, effective upon approval, allows candidates to use campaign funds to award scholarships to full-time students attending an institution of higher education or a vocational educational school in a program leading to a degree, certificate, or other recognized educational credential.  The total amount of all scholarships shall be no more than twice the maximum amount that one person may contribute to that candidate during the candidate’s respective election period.  Act 20 also provides that no awards shall be made from the filing deadline for nomination papers to the date of the general election.

2.  Act 118, SLH 2012 (S.B. 2508 S.D. 2 H.D. 1 C.D. 1)

Governor Neil Abercrombie signed S.B. 2508 S.D. 2 H.D. 1 C.D. 1 into law as Act 118 on June 15, 2012.  Act 118, effective upon approval, requires the 1st Preliminary Primary Report for candidates running in the 2012 elections to be electronically filed no later than 11:59 p.m. Hawaiian standard time on July 12, 2012 which is thirty (30) days before the primary election.  This is a change from the current schedule which had a deadline of July 31, 2012 for this report.  The 1st Preliminary Primary Report covers the reporting period of January 1 through June 30, 2012, which did not change.