FY 2023-2024 Annual Report

HAWAII CAMPAIGN SPENDING COMMISSION
ANNUAL REPORT
Fiscal Year July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024

INTRODUCTION

The Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission’s (“Commission”) mission is to maintain the integrity and transparency of the campaign finance process by enforcing the law, educating the public, administering public financing, and training campaign committees in order to encourage compliance.  The Commission is guided by a Strategic Plan to assist the organization in shaping its future, set longer term priorities, and to establish a framework to make decisions and allocate resources.  This report discusses activities as applied to the Strategic Plan that occurred in fiscal year 2024 covering the period July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 as well as documents other significant events.  It also includes a discussion of future considerations for fiscal year 2025.

STRATEGIC PLAN 

GOAL – TO IMPROVE CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS AND RULES TO INCREASE TRANSPARENCY, COMPLIANCE, AND ENSURE THE INTEGRITY OF THE CAMPAIGN FINANCE PROCESS.

  • Review existing laws as well as propose and submit legislation as needed. For the 2024 legislative session, the Commission submitted five (5) bills to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Senate for introduction.  Unfortunately, none of these bills passed.  Specifically, they were a bill that (1) increased the partial public funding program and established two full-time positions in the Commission; (2) expanded the state and county government contractor from making political contributions during the life of the contract to state and county grants-in-aid recipients and their officers and immediate family members of the government contractor/grantee; (3) eliminated the use of campaign funds to purchase up to 2 tickets for an event or fundraiser held by another candidate or committee; (4) prohibited elected officials from accepting and soliciting contributions during legislative session; and (5) escheated any excess cash contribution over $100 to the Hawaii Election Campaign Fund if not returned to the contributor within 30 days.  Notably, the first four bills were previously introduced in the 2023 legislative session.  The Commission will continue its efforts to advocate for these bills in the future.

Two bills that passed this session that were not Commission bills, but the Commission supported because they increased transparency and accountability in campaign finance were:

Act 16 (H.B. 2072, HD 1, SD 1) – RELATING TO CAMPAIGN FINANCE

Effective May 3, 2024, candidate and noncandidate committees are prohibited from soliciting contributions that refer to a disaster that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the contribution would be used to benefit persons directly affected by the disaster unless the solicitation contains an explicit disclosure that:  (1) it is subject to the campaign finance laws; (2) it may be used to influence a candidate’s election to office or the outcome of a ballot issue; and (3) persons affected by the disaster may not necessarily benefit from the contribution.  A violation of this statute is a class C felony.

Act 191 (S.B. 2687, SD 1, HD 2, CD 1) – RELATING TO ELECTIONS

Effective July 3, 2024, a person is prohibited from recklessly distributing, or entering into an agreement to distribute, between the first working day in February to the general election in an even-numbered year, “materially deceptive media” in reckless disregard of the risk of harming the reputation or electoral prospects of a candidate or changing the voting behavior of voters in an election, unless the media contains a disclaimer that:  (1) the media has been manipulated by technical means; and (2) depicts appearance, speech, or conduct that did not occur.  Notably, the disclaimers must appear throughout the entirety of the video (or at the beginning and end of the audio), be clearly visible and readable, be in letters at least as large as the largest size of any text communication, be in the same language used in the media, & be in a pitch that can be easily heard.  This includes political advertising so a disclaimer is required (i.e., person who paid for the advertisement, address, done with or without support from the candidate).

“Materially deceptive media” means any information, including video, image, or audio, that: (1) is an advertisement (disclaimer laws); (2) depicts an individual engaging in speech or conduct which the individual did not in fact engage; (3) would cause a reasonable viewer/listener to believe the speech or conduct; and (4) was created by:  (a) generative adversarial network techniques; (b) artificial intelligence; or (c) digital technology.

Provides for a private cause of action for general or special damages for falsely depicted individuals.  A violation of this statute ranges from a petty misdemeanor to a Class C felony as well as civil remedies.

Other bills that were introduced by other parties which did not get signed into law concerned contributions, political advertising, concerns over foreign influences, permitting use of campaign funds for child/dependent care, and comprehensive or full public funding.

o    Review existing rules and procedures as well as propose administrative rules as needed.  There were no changes to the Commission’s administrative rules and procedures during this fiscal year.

GOAL – TO PROVIDE TRAINING, EDUCATION, AND ACCESS TO COMMITTEES FOR PURPOSES OF COMPLIANCE WITH, AND INCREASING AWARENESS OF, CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS AND RULES.

  • Offer and provide training on campaign finance laws and rules. In anticipation of the 2024 election, Commission staff offered candidate and noncandidate committee in-person training on all islands in May 2024.  Unfortunately, there was not enough interest in Hilo and Kauai so staff had to cancel the training.  Staff had candidate committee training on Maui on May 28, 2024 for 7 attendees and on Oahu on May 30th for 17 attendees.  On Oahu, on May 30th, staff also hosted a noncandidate committee training for 10 attendees.

Additional training occurred for Pacific Resource Partnership’s cohort training for potential new candidates on November 17, 2023 for 30 attendees and staff also appeared as a panelist on PBS Insights on April 11, 2024 to address campaign finance issues.

Cyber-learning training was take off-line on the Commission’s website due to enhancements in the electronic filing systems which required the trainings to be revamped.  Committee guidebooks and manuals were updated as a result of the numerous HRS changes and posted on the Commission’s website for 24-hour remote access.

  • Provide educational and informational materials on how to comply with campaign finance laws and rules. In preparation for the 2024 election, the Commission reviewed and revised its training modules which are all available on the Commission’s website (i.e., guidebooks, manuals, cyber-learning videos, and powerpoint presentations).  The Commission continues to publish a bi-annual newsletter for distribution by email in January and July to inform the committees, public, and anyone else who has signed up for our email distribution of reminders, new laws going into effect, tips, and other relevant topics on compliance and Commission matters.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of and explore (and implement as needed) new methods of training, education, and communication of information. Current efforts to communicate with committees have been successful – especially, our website, e-blasts, and X posts.  The Commission will continue to identify other mechanisms to communicate with multi-generational audiences and employ such tools as needed or if appropriate.

The Commission continues to work with the Office of Elections and county clerks in providing informational packets to give to candidates who file their nomination papers.  When candidates file their nomination papers, Office of Elections has included on their Candidate Profile worksheet a section that the candidate initials acknowledging that he/she understands that they need to register with the Commission and file reports.  This has been very beneficial.  Prior to each election, the Commission meets with Office of Elections and county clerks to address any new concerns/issues as well as to ensure that the process of certifying candidates’ compliance with campaign finance laws is operating properly so that the winning candidates are able to be sworn into office.

Direct the committees to the Commission’s website and continue to improve web-based information as well as other social media applications. For purposes of transparency, much of the Commission’s operations, business, and finances are posted on the Commission’s website including Commissioners’ biographies, meeting agendas and minutes, newsletters, advisory opinions, Hawaii Election Campaign Fund (“HECF”) trust fund information, annual reports, campaign finance statistics, and the Strategic Plan.  We continue to evaluate our website and update it to include new links for First Time Candidates, commonly asked FAQs (election and non-election year), a payment link to pay fines, and election summaries.  Information of current interest is constantly identified and posted on the Commission’s website including statute and rule changes, legislation, reporting deadlines, enforcement issues, and new informational and technological tools.  There are also links for viewing reports, filing reports, seeking guidance including cyber-learning presentations, forms, guidebooks, and qualifying for public funding.  Based on the results of our annual online survey, we understand that our website continues to be our strongest resource in providing stakeholders and interested parties with campaign finance information.  As such, we continue to fine-tune our website with a focus on building more efficient and user-friendly navigation tools which includes a searchable database of all the campaign finance data filed by committees.  We have also included a section on our home page for our latest X posts and highlighted the candidate and noncandidate committee data visualization apps.  These updates are done at zero cost to the Commission.  During this period, we had 253,148 “hits” or event counts to our website.

The Commission regularly uses e-blasts as well as Facebook and X posts to inform and educate committees and the public on campaign finance topics.  We have found the e-blasts to be especially effective in sending out time sensitive information such as reporting deadline reminders and changes in the law.  It also permits us to notify interested parties about registering for training classes, publication of new educational tools, and other campaign finance information.  Efforts to not overuse the email system and reserve it for distribution of important announcements is always a consideration.  During this period, the CSC email system was employed 125 times and we have 1,162 total subscribers.  Notably, subscribers are separated into three groups – candidates (506 subscribers), noncandidate committees (258 subscribers), and the public (398 subscribers), thereby permitting us to target relevant audiences with the e-blast.

Since July 2011, we have been employing social media tools such as Meta (formerly known as Facebook) and X (formerly known as Twitter) to leverage our capabilities to increase, enhance, and supplement our communication efforts to inform the public of important and time sensitive campaign finance information.  During this fiscal year, we issued 320 X posts with a total tally of over 36,830 impressions or times a post has been seen.

Furthermore, the Commission has an ongoing partnership with the State of Hawaii’s Office of Enterprise Technology Services (“ETS”) to improve the Commission’s two statutorily required electronic filing systems for candidate committees and noncandidate committees which provides us with the campaign spending data that we use to provide transparency in elections to the public.

The candidate committee dashboard app was launched at the end of fiscal year 2018 which consolidated campaign spending data filed by candidates and provided for better comparative analyses of the data by office, party, and reporting period, continues to be very helpful and was viewed 21,456 times during this period.  Its success helped the Commission to seek funding to build the noncandidate committee dashboard counterpart which we launched on March 18, 2020, and was viewed 425 times during this period.  This dashboard app is a powerful addition to the candidate dashboard app which consolidates campaign spending data filed by noncandidate committees including Super PACs and provides for better analyses of the data.  This particular app will permit the public to see in a more visually engaging and interactive way how noncandidate committees are stacking up against one another in the area of contributions received, contributions made to candidates, expenditures and independent expenditures made. 

  • Encourage the committees to contact the Commission and/or visit the Commission’s office to assist in compliance with campaign finance laws and rules. This position has always been emphasized.  The Commission handles numerous phone calls, walk-ins, and inquiries daily.  A computer is located in our office for committees to file their reports and to seek our assistance.  As government services were being restored as a result of COVID-19 restrictions being lifted, committees were encouraged to make appointments to visit the office and were assisted over the phone and via email. 
  • Issue advisory opinions as requested. There were no advisory opinions requested during this period.

 GOAL – TO INCREASE EDUCATION, AWARENESS, AND ACCESS FOR THE PUBLIC.

Inform and educate the public about campaign finance laws and rules. The Commission disseminates to the public information concerning campaign finance by posting anything new/interesting on our website under “What’s New,” publishing biannual newsletters, and e-blasting, and posting on X as well as Meta.  New laws, legislation, guidance, updates to the guidebooks and manuals, updates to the electronic filing systems, and new forms are examples of what the Commission e-blasts and X posts. 

  • Explore and implement improvements to the Commission’s online presence and other media applications to provide the public with campaign finance committee data and information. The Commission continues to promote its searchable database, data visualization applications, candidate committee dashboard, and noncandidate committee dashboard which are available to anyone on the Commission’s website.  The candidate committee and noncandidate committee data visualization applications permit viewers to see the data reported by over 700+ committees in a more visually attractive, user–friendly, and dynamic way for a particular election period.  These applications were conceived to provide greater transparency and accountability in political campaigns to enable the public to follow the money of candidate committees’ and noncandidate committees’ participation in Hawaii elections.  The candidate and noncandidate committee dashboards further help the public (and committees) to see contributions and expenditures from candidates and/or noncandidate committees (including Super PACs) in a comparative format.  For candidates, the format is arranged by office, party, and reporting period.  For noncandidate committees, the format is arranged by noncandidate committee type (standard, ballot issue, independent expenditure, political party) and the area, scope, or jurisdiction of a noncandidate committee.

Further, at the close of each election, election data is compiled, sorted, analyzed, and summarized in charts, top 10 lists, and cost per vote.  These election summaries are all available and posted on the Commission’s website under a designated link.

GOAL – TO EXPLORE, EXAMINE, AND IMPLEMENT TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES AND CAPACITIES TO IMPROVE ACCESS, REDUCE PAPERWORK, AND INCREASE COMPLIANCE.

  • Increase the Commission’s capability to process and analyze reported data.  During this period, the Commission continued its work with ETS on a rewrite of the Commission’s electronic filing systems using a new code generator software called ScriptCase which is a replacement to CodeCharge currently being used by ETS. This new software allows ETS to rewrite the filing systems in the most current version of the PHP language and enhance some of the system’s features such as creating a single data entry point for entering transactions into our schedules, auto filling names when data is entered, and allowing Commission staff to add reporting deadlines to reporting schedules based on a candidate or noncandidate committee’s reporting track.

In the last fiscal year, the Commission completed the rewrite of the candidate filing system in time for the 2022 election and started the rewrite of the noncandidate committee system which was completed in this fiscal year in time for the 2024 election.

The Commission continues to rely on its searchable database to run queries on various campaign finance issues.  Providing a searchable database to the public is a statutory mandate so to comply with this, the Commission has posted its candidate and noncandidate committee datasets on the State’s open data platform provided by Socrata since 2012.  Furthermore, as a result of the State phasing out the Socrata contract in August 2020 and switching to OpenGov which is the new provider of the State’s open data platform, the Commission also added its candidate and noncandidate committee datasets (searchable database) to this new site which it did with the launch of the OpenGov site on May 13, 2020.

The Commission continues to work with Socrata under its own contract to host its datasets on the Commission’s designated open data site which provides data to its dashboards through the 2024 election, and has completed the redevelopment of these dashboards on the OpenGov platform during this fiscal year as a contingency for the future of our dashboards.

  • Maintain awareness of newer technology, including electronic filing systems and hardware/software or applications, for consideration of integration and/or implementation.  The Commission works closely with ETS and as a result has benefitted from their expertise and assistance in scaling and maximizing our hardware/software applications.

The Commission continues its employment of eSign forms for committees to use as an additional and alternative way to submit forms.  The tool was made available through ETS’ commitment to employ new technology to improve government efficiency, services, and communication.  The success of eSign is tremendous especially given the COVID-19 pandemic.  During the reporting period, we have received and processed 777 eSign documents.

Effective January 2018, the Commission extended an alternative payment method for those committees fined to achieve a higher level of compliance and offer better convenience to the committees.  Specifically, committees who were assessed an administrative fine were informed that they would have the option to pay their fine not only by check, money order, or cash, but with a credit card online via PayPal using their PayPal account or a guest account.  The committees were informed that there would be no fee to use this alternative option and that the Commission opted to absorb the fee of 3.49% of the total payment plus $0.49.  The Commission however noted that if at any point in time the Commission was unable to afford these fees or the fees were approaching the state procurement threshold, it would notify the committees that it would have to stop accepting online payments.  During this fiscal year, the Commission received 73 payments via PayPal totaling $12,312, which included payments for administrative fines and escheats.

The annual COGEL conference is another source from which we learn about other campaign finance systems and technology.  During this period, there were no plans nor funding to alter our electronic filing systems; however, the Commission intends to submit a proposal to obtain funding for a new filing system in the next fiscal year in consideration of newer technology and a more sustainable future. 

  • Maintain awareness of the implications of technological changes on all aspects of campaign finance.  The annual COGEL conference has been a great venue for the Commission to learn about technological changes or advances employed by other campaign finance offices.  During this fiscal year, there were no technological changes that the Commission deemed viable for employment in Hawaii; however, we remain receptive to all new ideas, and in fact, in the next fiscal year, intend to submit a proposal for additional funding to build a new electronic filing system. 

GOAL – TO OBTAIN COMPLIANCE WITH CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS AND RULES THROUGH ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS. 

  • Develop escalating penalties for repeat and gross violations, and disseminate information about the penalties. The Commission continues to find that there are some candidate and noncandidate committees who do not file their reports.  As such, the Commission has been invoking administrative fines pursuant to HRS §11-410(a) as a means to take a stronger punitive stance to those committees who completely fail to file reports by the statutory deadline or violate campaign finance laws.  The Commission further finds that there are some candidate and noncandidate committees who do not comply with Commission orders when a campaign finance violation has been determined.  To this extent, the Attorney General’s Office – Civil Recoveries Division has been assisting the Commission to obtain judicial enforcement of Commission orders.  There were 7 referrals this fiscal year to the Civil Recoveries Division. 

The Commission filed 19 complaints this fiscal year (a non-election year) which resulted in a total of $12,200.00 in assessed administrative fines.  Of the total amount of fines assessed, $750.00 was collected from 4 committees while $5,750.00 remains outstanding due to 7 committees who failed to pay resulting in a referral to the Attorney General’s Office – Civil Recoveries Division.  The balance of 8 complaints were withdrawn due to compliance.  A summary of the complaints and their disposition are as follows – notably, although we filed 19 complaints, some of the complaints had multiple counts/violations:

  • 8 complaints yielded a preliminary determination of a campaign finance violation resulting in $5,650 in assessed administrative fines for late/unfiled report violations;
  • 7 complaints yielded a preliminary determination of a campaign finance violation resulting in $850 in assessed administrative fines for Organizational Report violations;
  • 8 complaints were withdrawn or dismissed due to compliance in paying the administrative fine concerning late report and Organizational Report violations. 

In addition to the aforementioned complaints, two (2) third-party complaints were filed in FY 2024 alleging a candidate committee and a noncandidate committee filed inaccurate Organizational Reports and sought prosecution as a remedy.  The complaints were heard at a Commission meeting in January 2024 and resulted in a preliminary determination of a campaign finance violation resulting in $50 fines and corrections to the committees’ Organizational Reports. 

Pursuant to Hawaii Administrative Rules (“HAR”) §3-160-73(d), this annual report is the means in which the Commission reports the amount of fines paid by persons thereby furthering the dissemination of information concerning the penalties.  This rule also requires that the Commission adopt a Schedule of Fines for violations which is posted on the Commission’s website and is referred to in all fine letters to the committees. 

Seek enforcement of the campaign finance laws and rules against violators.  During this fiscal year, a total of $26,816.22 was assessed in administrative fines via fine letters and $10,800 was escheated to the HECF due to campaign finance violations. There were 13 conciliation agreements resulting in reduced fines totaling $1,633.31.  Except for 1 conciliation agreement which concerned an excess contribution, the remaining 12 concerned the late filing of reports.  None of the agreements resulted in a complaint due to respondents failing to comply with the terms of the conciliation agreement. 

Most of the campaign finance violations were a result of late or unfiled reports. Specifically, there were 56 late or unfiled reports that did not involve a conciliation agreement or complaint for a total of $9,266.22 in assessed administrative fines.  There were a total of 40 candidate committees who failed to timely file 41 reports and 16 noncandidate committees who failed to timely file 16 reports. 

Other campaign finance violations that occurred during this period include:

  • 4 insufficient advertisement disclaimers resulting in $100 in fines;
  • 3 excess contributions resulting in $900 in fines;
  • 1 failure to amend the Organizational Report resulting in a $50 fine;
  • 1 failure to file the Electronic Filing Form resulting in a $50 fine;
  • 1 failure to file the Organizational Report resulting in a $100 fine;
  • 1 failure to report a contribution resulting in a $250 fine;
  • 1 failure to report an expenditure resulting in a $250 fine;
  • 6 late filed fundraiser notices resulting in $200 in fines; and
  • 1 prohibited lobbyist contribution resulting in a $500 fine;

With respect to campaign finance violations involving escheats during this period, they include:

  • 4 excess contributions to candidate committees resulting in $8,725 in escheats;
  • 1 excess contribution to a noncandidate committees resulting in $1,800 in escheats;
  • 2 lobbyist contributions in a prohibited period resulting in $2,500 in escheats; and
  • 1 foreign contribution resulting in a $4,000 escheat. 

Of notable interest is that an additional $172,387.02 was voluntarily escheated to the HECF from 8 candidate committees and 1 noncandidate committee primarily as a result of committee registration termination. 

GOAL – TO ENSURE ORGANIZATIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL SUSTAINABILITY. 

  • Monitor funding and develop proposals to stabilize funding as needed.  The Commission’s beginning balance at the close of fiscal year 2023 was $1,929,885.67.  In fiscal year 2024, a total of $349,565.71 in revenue was realized (i.e., $91,806.00 in tax check-offs; $189,412.02 in escheats of excess, false name, surplus, and anonymous contributions; $62,758.00 in interest as well as an additional $5,534.04 from the prior fiscal year; $55.65 in copies; and, $0 in refunds and reimbursements from prior fiscal year expenditures) and a total of $1,567.39 in expenditures was incurred (i.e., $1,500.00 in public funds and $67.39 in trust funds), thereby closing fiscal year 2024 with a balance of $2,277,883.99 which is a $347,998.32 increase from the last fiscal year.

Notably, this was the 7th fiscal year that the Commission’s operating expenses including salaries and administrative expenses were general funded.  It is expected that this will permit HECF trust funds to replenish and provide a healthier base to pay for public funding for qualified candidates in the upcoming elections.  That said, it was a challenging year for the Commission when the Governor restricted spending for all departments and agencies.  However, the Commission was able to successfully seek an exemption from the budgetary restrictions thereby permitting it to use most of the funds allocated for this fiscal year.  Moving forward, the Commission’s budget is likely to continue to be restricted as a result of the 2023 Maui wildfire. 

  • Provide Commissioner and staff development. Commissioners are regularly updated on any new or developing issues and provided information from annual COGEL conferences.  This year’s COGEL conference in December 2023 was held in Kansas City, Missouri, and was attended by Chair Stanley Lum, Commissioner David Chee, Executive Director Kristin Izumi-Nitao, and Associate Director Tony Baldomero. 

Executive Director Izumi-Nitao was invited to join the COGEL Program Committee to plan the December 2023 conference in Kansas City, Missouri, and will become a co-chair for the 2024 conference in Los Angeles, California.  She also participated at the State Ethics and County Ethics Commission conference in Hawaii in September 2023, the Pacific Resource Partnership cohort training in November 2023, and appeared on a panel on PBS Insights in April 2024 to address campaign finance issues. 

Associate Director Baldomero continues to participate in the annual Digital Summit which is sponsored by ETS and brings together state and county agencies to address technological advances and considerations. 

One new Commissioner was appointed this year.  Jon Itomura was appointed by Governor Green and was given an orientation by Commission staff on October 17, 2023 which was also when he was sworn into office.

  • Develop and implement plans for continuity of operations. The Commission is composed of five volunteers representing the general public who are appointed by the governor from a list of at least ten nominees submitted by the judicial council as well as five staff members.  In September 2023, the Commission had to hire a new Administrative Assistant who had been hired in June 2023.  A new Administrative Assistant started in November 2023.  The transition from trust fund to general funds operations continue to go smoothly. 
  • Monitor compliance with the strategic plan and annually report to the Commission, committees, and the public. Records are organized and kept to satisfy this requirement internally.  The annual report is typically prepared and presented in a public Sunshine meeting in the fall to the Commissioners for their consideration and approval.  Once approved, the annual report is posted on the Commission’s website. 

OTHER SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

Maui Wildfire.  In August 2023, the County of Maui was devastated by a wildfire that destroyed vast portions of the island.  The Governor and the 2024 State Legislature prioritized their efforts on funding and legislation to assist Maui, and thus, the Commission’s priorities were low within the executive and legislative branches. 

Sunshine Meetings.  As a result of COVID-19, the Commission has been able to implement remote meetings effectively and efficiently to address personnel needs and obtain quorum for Commissioners traveling and/or residing on a neighbor island.  The Commission however also recognizes the importance of in-person meetings, and thus, had been offering hybrid or blended meetings where Commissioners and staff are physically at their State Office conference room and offered any interested parties access to the conference room or via Zoom video conferencing. 

FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025

FY 2026-2029 Biennium Budget.  The Commission will be requesting to add 2.00 FTE permanent positions and general funds in the amount of $200,000 for FY 2026 and $180,000 for FY 2027-2029.  The Commission has not had an increase in personnel for the past 29 years.  Act 10, Special Session 1995, was the only year that a sum of $70,000 was appropriated for one investigator for the Commission for FY 1995-1996.  And, even after that, Act 10 was sunset.  Over the years, the number of candidate committees has almost doubled from 300 to over 550 and the number of noncandidate committees has grown from 200 to over 300.  These numbers continue to increase rather than decrease with each election period.  Of significance is that with each election, there are hundreds of new candidates and noncandidate committees that do not take the time to understand how to comply with the various requirements of campaign finance law (e.g., registering; filing disclosure reports, fundraiser notices, electioneering communications, etc.; having disclaimers on advertising; reporting contributions, expenditures, loans, durable assets, etc.; terminating registration) thereby creating a lot of staff hours assisting committees over the phone, in-person, and by email as well as a number of enforcement actions for violations.  Currently, there are only 5 Commission staff members who oversee 700+ committees that have anywhere from 1-3 officers who contact the Commission for assistance.  Depending on whether it is an election year (which is in every even-numbered year), these 700+ committees file anywhere from 2-8 mandatory reports with the Commission and the number of reports will increase in specific situations (i.e., public funding, late contributions/expenditures).  Each of these reports must be reviewed and the committees must be contacted if there is a reporting problem or a violation which means the assessment and collection of a fine(s) as well as the employment of subsequent administrative proceedings/hearings for non-compliance.  Further, in the 2023 legislative session, there were 12 campaign finance bills that were enacted thereby adding to the volume and scale of duties for which the Commission seeks a new permanent position for a 1.0 FTE Elections Assistant.  Additionally, pursuant to HRS §11-314(7), one of the Commission’s duties is to investigate and hold hearings for receiving evidence of any campaign finance violations.  To this extent, the Commission has pursued enforcement actions through investigations conducted by its General Counsel as well as entered into contracts and memorandums of agreements with investigators from outside agencies because the Commission has no investigator on staff.  The Commission has found it challenging in instances where its  General Counsel is conducting the investigation because that person may be deemed a witness in the underlying proceeding.  Thus, having a new permanent position for a 1.0 FTE Investigator/Auditor will alleviate this concern and further free up the General Counsel to address other legal duties.  As noted above, the Commission has operated for the last 29 years without an investigator on staff except for a single year in FY 1995-1996.  This request essentially restores that position and makes it permanent.  The Commission will seek these additional resources to ensure that the integrity and transparency of the campaign finance process in the State of Hawaii and its counties is upheld.

Further, the Commission will be seeking an additional $2 million in funding to build a more enhanced electronic filing system for the committees.  Given updated and newer technological advances including applications of artificial intelligence, the Commission approved staff pursuing a budgetary increase for the purchase of a new electronic filing system that will help improve compliance, enforcement, user functionality and access, as well as increase transparency, accountability, and clean elections.