CSC Newsletter – January 2013, Vol. 19, No. 1

Posted in Newsletter

REMINDER

The next report due for Candidate Committees, Noncandidate Committees, and Corporations is the Supplemental Report which must be electronically filed on your respective filing system no later than 11:59 p.m. Hawaiian standard time on January 31, 2013.

For candidates who did not run in the 2012 election, this report should cover the period July 1 through December 31, 2012.  For candidates who ran in the 2012 election as well as noncandidate committees and corporations, this report should cover the period November 7 through December 31, 2012.  Failure to file this report by the deadline may result in a fine.

NEW CAMPAIGN SPENDING COMMISSIONERS

The Commission is composed of five volunteers representing the general public who are appointed by the governor from a list of ten nominees submitted by the judicial council. Recently, Eldon Ching and Gregory Shoda were appointed to serve on the Commission.  Their terms expire on June 30, 2016.

Eldon is a graduate of Iolani School, Loyola Marymount University, and Santa Clara University School of Law.  He is a store owner and is the Vice-President/Secretary of Diamond Head Memorial Park.  He previously practiced law at Alcantara & Frame.  Eldon is also the President and Director of the Kahala Business Association and has been involved with other community and corporate boards including Na Koa Football Club, Aloha Airlines, and Nuuanu Memorial Park.

Gregory was born in Honolulu and attended Roosevelt High School.  He matriculated at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he earned a BA in English, a MA in English literature, and a Professional Diploma in secondary education.  He was drafted into the US Army and served in the field artillery in the Republic of Vietnam.  Following service, he was employed with the federal government, mainly with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  Since retiring, he has been a volunteer arithmetic tutor at Manana Elementary School.

Click here to view the bios of all five Commissioners.

APPLICATIONS TO SERVE ON THE HAWAII CAMPAIGN SPENDING COMMISSION

The Judicial Council is seeking applicants to fill future vacancies on the Commission.  Applicants must be U.S. citizens, residents of the State of Hawaii, and may not hold any other public office as well as may not participate in political campaigns or contribute to candidates or political committees.  The Governor will select the commissioners from a list of nominees submitted by the Judicial Council.  Interested persons should submit an application along with a resume and three letters of recommendation (attesting to the applicant’s character and integrity) to: Judicial Council, Hawaii Supreme Court, 417 S. King Street, Second Floor, Honolulu, HI 96813-2902.  For more information, please visit the Hawaii State Judiciary website or call the Judicial Council at 539-4702.

Click here for an application.

LEGISLATION

2013 PROPOSED LEGISLATION

For the 2013 legislative session, the Commission has submitted bills to legislative leaders for introduction in the Senate and House.  The proposed bills seek to make technical amendments, correct incorrect statutory citations, requires the identification of the candidate supported or opposed by an independent expenditure, and increases the amount of expenditures a public financed candidate for the office of the prosecuting attorney can qualify for.  The 2013 legislative session opens on Wednesday, January 16, 2013.

$3 TAX CHECK-OFF

REMEMBER TO CHECK-OFF $3 ON YOUR STATE TAX RETURN

The Commission operates from a trust fund called the Hawaii Election Campaign Fund.  This fund depends on Hawaii taxpayers checking off the box on their state income tax form which permits $3 from state funds (or $6 if married and filing a joint return) to be allocated to our trust fund.  Tax filers are informed that participation is voluntary and does not increase their tax or reduce their refund.  Monies in this campaign fund help to provide accountability, transparency and integrity by providing full and partial public funding to candidates, and paying operational expenses of the Commission.

2012 ELECTION REPORTS

2012 ELECTION SUMMARY

315 Hawaii candidates ran for State and County offices in the 2012 election.  These candidates ran for 117 seats up for election in 2012 out of the 128 seats in the State of Hawaii.  Total receipts by all candidates were $14,703,426.25 and total disbursements were $13,404,231.01.  The Commission has posted a comprehensive summary of all candidates’ receipts, disbursements, contributions received, loans and other statistical information including cost per vote information and who won or lost in the 2012 election. Also included in the 2012 Election Summary are top 10 lists of candidate activities.

INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE COMMITTEES IN THE 2012 ELECTION

16 Independent Expenditure Committees (aka Super PACs or IE Committees) registered with the Commission in the 2012 election.  Total receipts by these committees were $4,849,785.33 and total disbursements were $4,801,069.06. The top contributor to an IE Committee was the Hawaii Carpenters Market Recovery Program Fund who contributed $3,208,715.33 to the Pacific Resource Partnership PAC.  76% of the total spent by all IE Committees was for Advertisting with 9% spent on Professional Services, 6% on Surveys & Polls, and 5% on Postage & Mailing.

PUBLIC FUNDS DISBURSED IN THE 2012 ELECTION

The Commission disbursed public funding to 8 certified candidates under the Hawaii County Council Comprehensive Public Funding Program for a total of $215,344.23 in the 2012 election.  The Hawaii County Council program is a pilot program (Act 244, SLH 2008) to be run in three consecutive elections starting with the 2010 election.  The program has a cap of $300,000 for each election and requires that a minimum of $3.5 million be in the Hawaii election campaign fund as of September 1 of the year prior to the election year.  A total of $147,716.43 was disbursed in the 2010 election resulting in a total of $363,060.66 that has been disbursed since the inception of the program.

Under the Partial Public Funding Program, the Commission disbursed public funding to 22 candidates for a total of $145,696 in the 2012 election.  The partial program has been disbursing public funding to qualified candidates since the 1980 election.

COMMISSION ANNOUNCEMENTS

ANNUAL REPORT FOR FY2012

The Commission’s Annual Report for fiscal year 2012 is available by clicking here.

UPDATED REPORTING SCHEDULES

Updated reporting schedules for Candidate Committees, Noncandidate Committees, and Corporations are now available on the Commission’s website.  The reporting schedules are also available in the Candidate Filing System, Noncandidate Committee Filing System, and Corporate Reporting System for you to add reports to your on-line reporting schedule.

UPDATED 2014 AND 2016 ELECTION PERIODS

Updated 2014 and 2016 Election Period dates for candidates that ran in the 2012 election are available by clicking here.  The two or four-year election period for a candidate seeking office in the 2014 or 2016 election is the period that contributions to a candidate must be aggregated and not exceed the $2,000, $4,000 or $6,000 limit set for the office you plan to seek.  This information can also be shared with contributors to your candidate committee.

2013 MEETING SCHEDULE

Commission meetings for 2013 are scheduled for the 2nd Wednesday of each month (unless otherwise noted) at 10:30 a.m. in Conference Room 204, Leiopapa A Kamehameha Building, 235 S. Beretania Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813.

Click here to view the Commission’s 2013 Meeting Schedule.

STRATEGIC PLAN

The Commission will be updating and modifying its strategic plan to help shape the Commission’s future identity and function, set long-term priorities, and establish the foundation to make choices in the short-term to influence the future.  The Commission’s current strategic plan can be viewed by clicking here.  The current plan has 6 goals: (1) Simplify and clarify laws to improve implementation and compliance; (2) Increase public education, awareness, and access; (3) Increase technological capacity to improve access/compliance and reduce paperwork; (4) Upgrade training to better comply with laws; (5) Encourage compliance; and (6) Increase and stabilize the Commission’s institutional capacity to carry out its mission.

COMMISSION TO LAUNCH NEW WEBSITE

The Commission is in the process of redeveloping our website to improve the organization and user-friendliness of the site that was launched in 2009.  The Commission will send out an e-blast and post on our Facebook and Twitter pages to announce the launch.

FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND AUTOMATED EMAIL SYSTEM

Links to subscribe to our e-blasts and to receive our Facebook posts and/or tweets are available by clicking here: FacebookTwitterEmail.  If you are not a member of Facebook and/or Twitter, you can still view our posts and tweets because we have placed them in the public venue for all to enjoy.