STAND. COM. REP. NO.  37

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2021

 

RE:   H.B. No. 142

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Government Reform, to which was referred H.B. No. 142 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO REIMBURSEMENTS FOR EXPENDITURES BY COMMITTEES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Require expenditures by candidate committees for reimbursements to other individuals, in addition to candidates, to be itemized in schedules filed with the reports to the Campaign Spending Commission; and

 

     (2)  Delete "candidate reimbursements" from the list of noncandidate committee expenditures that need to be itemized.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Campaign Spending Commission and Common Cause Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee finds that under existing law, only candidate reimbursements need to be itemized in reports made to the Campaign Spending Commission.  However, individuals other than the candidate are also being reimbursed for campaign costs advanced by those individuals.  This measure requires that reimbursements made to other individuals are itemized as well, which will provide more transparency in how candidate committees are spending monies.

 

     Your Committee further finds that this measure deletes the requirement that noncandidate committees report any candidate reimbursements, as noncandidate committees are already prohibited from receiving or making loans under existing law.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing its effective date to July 1, 2112, to encourage further discussion.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Government Reform that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 142, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 142, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

 

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Government Reform,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

ANGUS L.K. McKELVEY, Chair