Senate Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations (JGO) - chair: Taniguchi, vice chair: Takamine

Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 10:00 a,m. Conference Room 016

Testifier: Jean Aoki, LWV of Hawaii

Click here to view SB2251

Chair Taniguchi, Vice Chair Takamine, members of the JGO Committee, The League of Women Voters of Hawaii sees a great improvement in SB 2251, and with a few amendments, we would strongly support its passage. It has cleaned up language to make certain policies clearer, and reorganized the laws so that they make more sense. It should remain what it is, a reorganization of the campaign spending laws, and not a vehicle for wholesale amending of those laws. Our biggest concern is the change in the enforcement section of this bill. The current law states that failure to file reports on time or the filing of substantially deficient or defective reports shall be subject to fines. The language in this bill has been changed so that the commission “may assess a fine…” and that, “if assessed, shall not exceed $50 a day…”, etc. Doesn’t the change in the language from shall to may constitute a substantial change in policy, which this bill was not designed to do. We notice that the change is included in SB 2252 where it belongs. We do applaud the reinstatement of the “Declaration of Policy.” Thank you for this opportunity to testify on SB 2251.