House leaders MAJOR CHANGES on how the state deals with campaign contributions and elections are not dead yet, say House majority and minority leaders.
hope to resurrect
campaign reform
It seems there's always a way
to keep a bill alive until the close
of the legislative sessionBy Pat Omandam
Star-BulletinHouse Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro (D, Wahiawa) said the Senate killed
two major House bills on campaign finance and on election reform last week -- key issues supported by House Democrats this year. This has prompted House leaders to consider gutting Senate bills and replacing them with these measures so it can be discussed by a joint conference committee, Oshiro said.
House and Senate conferees battled over a campaign reform bill last year but could not agree on a compromise.
"I think we'll probably look at that," Oshiro said yesterday. "At this point in time, we just finished the first lateral so we'll probably look at what bills we have available. The normal course is to look for some kind of vehicle to take to conference committee."
Already, House Minority Leader Galen Fox (R, Waikiki) said Republicans are ready to give it a go.
"It would be particularly good if we had some indication there was some Democratic support for that," Fox said. "I think if there was, they'd get a lot of support from us."
The House Majority Caucus earlier this year pledged to support campaign finance and election reform to promote government efficiency, and, with bi-partisan support, passed out two major reform bills earlier this month. Those measures, however, died last week in the Senate when three committees deferred action on them. The delay caused the bills to miss a crucial legislative deadline, which effectively killed them. But like many other issues before the state Legislature, they remain alive until the end of the session.
One of those House bills would have, among other things, cut in half the current contribution limits to state candidates and limit qualifying campaign contributions made by individuals. It also would have banned banks, companies and labor organizations from contributing to campaigns or soliciting funds from anyone other than their stockholders, officers, members or their families.
Also, the omnibus bill would have barred campaign contributions from anyone who was awarded a recent government contract, as well as prohibited contributors from receiving government contracts.
Oshiro called the proposal one of the most comprehensive campaign finance bills he has seen in years.
The other measure backed by the House called for a public-funded pilot program for the 2002 Honolulu City Council races to encourage viable candidates to run effective public campaigns, as well as to test the an alternate system of campaign financing intended to lessen the influence of special interests in campaigns.
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