Campaign Spending Commission

Campaign Spending Commission
Leiopapa A Kamehameha Building, Room 204
March 14, 2012
10:00 a.m.

Commissioners Present:
Chair Michael Weaver, Tina Pedro Gomes, and G. William Snipes
Excused – Dean Robb, Mara Miller

Staff Present:
Kristin Izumi-Nitao, Tony Baldomero, Gary Kam, Ellen Kojima
Deputy Attorney General Robyn Chun

Call to Order:
Meeting convened at 10:05 a.m. with Chair Weaver presiding.

Consideration of Minutes:
Commissioner Snipes moved to approve the minutes of February 8, 2012.  Motion seconded by Commissioner Gomes.  Motion carried unanimously.

Old Business:
Legislation Update
General Counsel Gary Kam reported on the status of campaign financing bills.

HB 1756, HD 1, which is the Commission’s bill, amends the law by:  defining “matching payment period,” amending deadlines for filing of the 1^st Preliminary Primary and January Supplemental report, requiring noncandidate committees to identify the candidate supported or opposed by an independent expenditure, and restoring the amount of expenditures by a publicly funded candidate for the office of the prosecuting attorney.  HB 1756 was passed by the House and crossed over to the Senate and has been referred to the Senate Judiciary committee.

SB 2493, SD 1, companion bill to HB 1756.  This bill passed the Senate and crossed over to the House and has been referred to House Judiciary and Finance committees.

HB 1927, SD 1 is the fast track bill that amends the filing deadline for the 1^st Preliminary Primary and January Supplemental reports.  Passed by the House and crossed over to the Senate.  Senate Judiciary amended the bill by taking out the amendment to the deadline for the January Supplemental report, and on 3^rd reading the bill was recommitted to the Senate Judiciary committee.

SB 2508, SD 2 is the companion bill to HB 1927.  The Senate Judiciary Committee amended the bill by taking out the amendment to the deadline for the January Supplemental report.  The Senate passed the bill and it crossed over to the House and was referred to House Judiciary.  The House Judiciary committee heard the bill on 3/8/12, and restored the amendment regarding the January Supplemental report.  This bill will go to conference committee.

HB 2174, HD 1 requires that the Commission to maintain public records in a searchable database and amends reporting requirements for independent expenditures.  The bill passed the House and crossed over to the Senate and was referred to the Senate Judiciary committee.  Staff testified in support with the intent of the bill, but asked that it not take effect until after the 2012 elections.

SB 2648 authorizes that campaign funds may be used to award scholarships to students.  Staff took no position on this bill because candidates are already allowed to donate to schools.  Also, testified that ideally, campaign funds should be used for campaign purposes.

HB 2700, HD 1 amends Act 244 the Hawaii county council comprehensive pilot project to raise the program cap, repeals the requirement of a minimum fund amount, extends the qualifying period, clarifies access to matching funds, and it proposes a new formula to calculate the base amounts for each district.  This bill was heard by the House Judiciary Committee and referred to the House Finance committee, which has not scheduled a hearing yet.

HCR 5 and HR 5 are resolutions asking Congress to amend the US Constitution to declare that corporations are not persons. This is in response to Citizens United that held that corporations and unions can spend unlimited amounts of money from their treasuries on independent expenditures.  The House Judiciary passed the resolutions with amendments and referred it to the House Finance committee.   

New Business:
Proposed Conciliation Agreement 12-07 – In Re the Matter of IBEW Local Union 1357 Political Action Committee
The proposed agreement is offered to settle a claim regarding the late filing of a Supplemental Report for the period July 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011 which was due on January 31, 2012, in violation of HRS §11-336 and 11-340.

Executive Director Izumi-Nitao stated that the following conciliation agreement was a result of an investigation that she initiated in February 2012 pursuant to HRS §11-314(7) to determine whether there had been a violation of the Hawaii campaign spending laws.

The Respondent was notified of today’s meeting and received a copy of the proposed conciliation agreement, and waived the opportunity to explain or otherwise respond to the notice of violation.  She went through the relevant and specific facts of the matter and the relevant laws that were allegedly violated and recommended that the Commission make a preliminary determination of probable cause that a violation had been committed, waive further proceedings, and approve the settlement amount of $33, as stated in the proposed agreement.

Respondent is a noncandidate committee and acknowledges that the Supplemental Report was not filed on or before the January 31, 2012 due date.  Respondent’s Supplemental Report was filed on February 2, 2012, and they did not knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly violate HRS §§11-336(d) and 11-304(a).

Commissioner Snipes moved to make a preliminary determination of probable cause that a violation has been committed and to accept settlement as stated in the proposed conciliation agreement.  Motion seconded by Commissioner Gomes.  Motion carried unanimously.

Report from Executive Director:
Update and Report on 1/31/12 Supplemental Report
Associate Director Baldomero reported that the Supplemental Report was due on 1/31/12.  He reported the following:

20 registered Candidate Committees filed late reports. (12 filed late with no fine assessed (filed no activity report and within 4 days of the deadline), 5 filed late and paid assessed fine, and 3 terminated or will be terminating their registration)

9 registered Noncandidate Committees filed late reports. (4 filed late with no fine assessed (file no activity report and within 4 days of the deadline), 3 filed late and paid assessed fine, 1 filed late and negotiated a conciliation agreement, and 1 will be terminating its registration)

Report on Training for 2012 Elections
Executive Director Izumi-Nitao reported that candidate training was held on the neighbor islands and in Honolulu as follows:

2/16/12 Kauai Community College (3 attendees)
Course Offerings – Partial Public Funding, Candidate Committee, and Candidate     Filing System

2/21/12 Maui Community College (8 attendees)
Course Offerings – Partial Public Funding, Candidate Committee, and Candidate Filing System

2/24/12 University of Hawaii at Hilo (23 attendees)
Course Offerings – Hawaii County Council Comprehensive Public Funding, Candidate Committee, and Candidate Filing System

2/29/12 Honolulu Community College at Pacific Center for Advanced Technology
Training (PCATT) (20-25 attendees)
Course Offerings – Candidate Committee, Partial Public Funding, Candidate Filing System, and Noncandidate Committee

Evaluations for the training were in the 4-5 range, with 5 being excellent.  Staff is considering doing training again in June 2012.

Following the training sessions, she also met with the county clerks to discuss any questions or concerns with regard to the upcoming elections.

Update on Board and Commissions
Deadline to apply extended till the end of March.

Update on Treasurer’s Guidebook
Contract with Paul Kuramoto has been executed and he met the March 1 deadline – Guidebook Outline.  Next deadline is May 1 for the Guidebook Draft and the final draft is due on June 1, 2012.

Commissioner Snipes moved to convene executive session to consult with attorney.  Motion seconded by Commissioner Gomes.  Motion carried unanimously.

Public session reconvened at 11:00 a.m.

Next Meeting:
Scheduled for Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at 10:00 a.m.

Commissioner Snipes moved to adjourn meeting.  Motion seconded by Commissioner Gomes.  Motion carried unanimously.  Meeting adjourned at 11:01 a.m.