Campaign Spending Commission

Next Reporting Deadline: February 1, 2010.  For candidate and noncandidate committees, the Supplemental Report covers the period beginning July 1, 2009 or August 8, 2009 (for Honolulu City Council, District 5 candidates and noncandidate committees participating in the District 5 Special Election) through December 31, 2009.  Remember, even if you received no contributions and made no expenditures, you are still required to file a report by the deadline.  You may file your report now as the reporting period ended on December 31, 2009.  You do not have to wait until February 1, 2010. 

2010 TRAINING CLASSES

The times, locations, and dates for Kauai, Maui and Oahu classes are as follows: 

8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. – Candidate and Candidate Committees
10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. – Partial Public Financing for Candidates
1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m. – Noncandidate Committees

KAUAI – Wednesday, February 3, 2010

State Office Bldg.
 Conference Rooms A/B/C, 2nd Floor
3060 Eiwa Street
Lihue, Hawaii

MAUI – Monday, February 8, 2010

State Office Bldg.
Conference Rooms A-B, 3rd Floor
54 South High Street
Wailuku, Hawaii

OAHU – Thursday, February 25, 2010

Leiopapa A Kamehameha Bldg.
Conference Room 204
235 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawaii

For Hilo, the schedule is:

8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. – Candidate and Candidate Committees
10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. – Partial Public Financing for Candidates
1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. – Noncandidate Committees
2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. – Hawaii County Council Comprehensive Public Funding

HILO – Friday, February 19, 2010

State Office Bldg.
Conference Rooms A/B/C
75 Aupuni Street          
Hilo, Hawaii

Certified Public Accountants may earn up to five (5) Professional Continuing Education credits on Kauai, Maui and Oahu, and up to six (6) credits in Hilo.

PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED RULES

Public Hearing for Proposed New Rules, Chapter 3-162 of the Hawaii Administrative Rules, of the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission for the Hawaii County Council Comprehensive Public Funding project pilot is scheduled for:

January 27, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.
State Office Building
Conference Rooms A/B/C
75 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawaii

Comment deadline is: January 29, 2010. The proposed rules can be viewed on our website 

2010 LEGISLATION

Two bills will be introduced for the Commission: (1) Recodification of the campaign finance law.  We will use House Bill 128 CD2 which was passed by the 2009 Legislature and vetoed by the Governor as our starting point, with a few changes made.  We are meeting with various legislators and have met with the Governor’s Office to review changes made; and (2) a bill to clarify various sections of law.

CSC Reports
Next report due for:
Candidates
Supplemental-February 1, 2010

Noncandidate Committee
Supplemental-February 1, 2010

CSC Meetings
January 13, 2010
February 10, 2010
March 10, 2010
April 14, 2010
May 12, 2010
June 9, 2010

ADVISORY OPINION SUMMARIES

09-01 – This Advisory Opinion responds to a federal elected official who asks whether the official’s Hawaii candidate committee (“Committee”) may accept funds transferred to the Committee from the official’s federal campaign committee.  The Commission responded in the negative, that the federal campaign funds were neither “surplus funds” nor the official’s “own funds.”

09-02 – This Advisory Opinion responds to a candidate who applied for partial public financing.  The candidate received a $100 qualifying contribution from an individual resident of Hawaii during a primary election matching payment period and asked whether it was permissible to receive a qualifying contribution up to $100 from the same individual during the general election matching payment period.  The Commission responded in the affirmative. 

HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL COMPREHENSIVE PUBLIC FUNDING (HPCCPF)

The HCCCPF pilot project kicked off on January 1, 2010.  The Hawaii County Clerk’s Office and the Commission worked hand-in-hand to assure a smooth transition into the project by candidates and others.  The pilot project will provide $300,000 in public funds to qualifying candidates. All candidates, both certified for the project and non-participating are subject to reporting requirements in Act 244 as well as all other required reports in the Hawaii Revised Statutes. Those making independent expenditures are also subject to reporting requirements.  See the HCCCPF Guidebook on our website at www.hawaii.gov/campaign. 

CHANGES TO CANDIDATE FILING SYSTEM

Note that on some drop down menus, you will see various reports designated as “Hawaii CC.”  These are for the Hawaii County Council Comprehensive Public Funding Project.

STATUS OF E-MAIL SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE

We purchased our Blades and Virtual Machine software to have the capacity and speed to run this program, amongst our other programs.  The State’s Information and Communications Division had to locate a rack for us to place it in.  Now, the building begins.  ICSD lost 54 people in 2009, so we have pushed back the expected start date to the end of 2010.

DISCLAIMERS REQUIRED ON AUTOMATED CALLS

All automated phone calls aka robo-calls must have disclaimers! (Paid for By, Name, Address, and with or without the approval and authority of the candidate. If the phone calls are from the candidate, the approval wording is not required).

COMMISSION SPEAKS AT ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The Commission staff were invited to speak on a panel regarding campaign enforcement issues and to present and facilitate a table topic on the general counsel’s role at the annual international conference of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws in Phoenix, Arizona, in December, 2009. The staff paid for their trips with personal funds this year.

ELECTRONIC FILING CLASSES

The times, locations, and dates for the classes are as follows:

8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m. – Noncandidate Committee Filing System (NCFS)
1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. – Candidate Filing System (CFS)
** 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Additional CFS Class for Hilo Only ** 

KAUAI – Wednesday, February 3, 2010    

IT Training Room  (5 seats available per class)
Kapule Bldg., Ste. 427
4444 Rice Street
Lihue, Hawaii

MAUI – Monday, February 8, 2010

Maui Community College  (10 seats available per class)
Laulima Bldg., Rm. 212
310 W. Kaahumanu Avenue
Wailuku, Hawaii

HILO – Thursday, February 18, 2010

University of Hawaii at Hilo  (10 seats available per class)
Mo’okini Bldg., Rm. 359
200 W. Kaiwi Street
Hilo, Hawaii

OAHU – Friday, February 26, 2010

ICSD Computer Lab  (10 seats available per class)
Keoni Ana Bldg., Rm. 305
1177 Alakea Street
Honolulu, Hawaii

Please call the Commission at (808) 586-0285 to reserve a seat for the CFS and NCFS classes.  Seating is limited and reservations will be taken on a first-come first-served basis.