LobbyComply Blog

Gov. Green signed multiple bills related to lobbying. House Bill 413 clarifies lobbyist contributions are prohibited in periods during which both chambers are in session. House Bill 412 establishes certain presumptions regarding lobbying on behalf of private clients; makes contracts voidable when entered into in violation of the state lobbying law under certain conditions; and expands the definition of lobbying to include certain communications with government officials regarding procurement decisions. Senate Bill 289 establishes uniform provisions for the assessment of administrative penalties under the State Ethics Code and Lobbyist Law. House Bill 413 and Senate Bill 289 are effective immediately. House Bill 412 will take effect January 1, 2027.

The Hawaii Legislature adjourned sine die on May 2 after 60 days in session. During the session, lawmakers passed multiple bills related to lobbying. House Bill 413 clarifies lobbyist contributions are prohibited in periods during which both chambers are in session. House Bill 412 establishes certain presumptions regarding lobbying on behalf of private clients; makes contracts voidable when entered into in violation of the state lobbying law under certain conditions; and expands the definition of lobbying to include certain communications with government officials regarding procurement decisions. Senate Bill 289 establishes uniform provisions for the assessment of administrative penalties under the State Ethics Code and Lobbyist Law. If signed, House Bill 413 will take effect immediately and House Bill 412 will take effect January 1, 2027. Senate Bill 289 was signed by Gov. Green on April 11 and took effect upon its approval.

The third special session of the Hawaii Senate on judicial appointments adjourned sine die October 20.

The appointments considered were nominees Timothy E. Ho for District Court of the First Circuit; John Alberto Montalbano for District Family Court of the First Circuit; and James S. Kawashima for the Circuit Court of the First Circuit.

Lobbyists and lobbyist employers who engage in lobbying activities or who make expenditures for the purpose of attempting to influence legislative action considered during a special session must file a special report on or before November 19, covering the period from May 1 through October 20.

The Hawaii Senate convened a third special session on October 19 to consider and confirm judicial appointments.

The appointments being considered are nominees Timothy E. Ho for District Court of the First Circuit; John Alberto Montalbano for District Family Court of the First Circuit; and James S. Kawashima for the Circuit Court of the First Circuit.

Lobbyists and lobbyist employers who engage in lobbying activities or who make expenditures for the purpose of attempting to influence legislative action considered during a special session must file a special report within 30 days of adjournment sine die of the special session, covering the period from May 1 through adjournment sine die of the special session.

The adjournment date of the third special session has not yet been announced.

The Hawaii State Senate will convene a special session on June 20 to review judicial appointments.

Judicial appointments are for Jill M. Hasegawa and Joanna E. Sokolow to the District Family Court of the 3rd Circuit – Hawaii Island, and Gregory H. Meyers to the District Court of the 5th Circuit – Kauai.

The process will begin with a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, June 16 at 10:30 a.m.

Following the floor session on Monday, June 20 at 11 a.m., there will be a separate decision-making meeting of the Judiciary Committee at 11:30 a.m. Final Senate votes on the appointments are expected on Tuesday, June 21 at 10 a.m. This may affect lobbyist reporting.

A lobbyist and employer activity report must be filed if expenditures or contributions are made relating to legislative action considered during the special session.

Any such report would be due within 30 days of adjournment sine die of the special session covering the period from May 1 through the adjournment sine die date.

The Hawaii Legislature adjourned its regular session sine die May 5.

During the session, several bills related to campaign finance were introduced.

House Bill 1423, with its last action on March 18, was introduced but has not passed.

The bill set out to increase the fine for campaign spending law violations against a noncandidate committee making only independent expenditures and that has received at least one contribution of more than $10,000, or spent more than $10,000 in an election period.

House Bill 1423 would have allowed the campaign spending commission to order that the fine be up to three times the amount of the unlawful contribution or expenditure, and that the payment of the fine assessed against a noncandidate committee, or any portion thereof, be paid from the personal funds of an officer of the noncandidate committee.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The Honolulu Ethics Commission is proposing to lower the permissible value of gifts to city employees from $200 to $25.

Commissioners chose not to pursue a recommendation to require gift disclosure forms.

The debate comes amid increased scrutiny over ethics rules after two former Hawaii legislators pleaded guilty to accepting thousands of dollars in bribes. Federal prosecutors brought charges of honest services wire fraud after ex-Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English and ex-Rep. Ty Cullen failed to list the bribes on mandatory annual gift disclosures filed with the state.

The ethics commission plans to introduce its proposed legislation at the Honolulu City Council, giving council members the opportunity to review and possibly amend it.

The Hawaii Senate will convene for a third special session on October 28 to consider and confirm District and Circuit Court positions.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a videoconference hearing on October 27 to submit testimony. Decision-making will occur after the convening of the special session and after the measures for Circuit Court positions are formally referred to the Judiciary Committee.

The special session will only address six pending judicial appointments, including nominees for District Court of the Third Circuit, Circuit Court of the First Circuit, Circuit Court of the Second Circuit and of the Third Circuit.

Final Senate votes on the appointments are expected at 11 a.m. October 29.

A lobbyist and employer activity report must be filed if expenditures or contributions are made relating to legislative action considered during the special session. Any such report would be due within 30 days of adjournment sine die of the special session covering the period from May 1 through the adjournment sine die date.

A Senate bill in Hawaii passed affecting the reporting of electioneering communications.

Senate Bill 404 provides persons, including corporations, making expenditures for electioneering communications in an aggregate amount of $1,000 instead of $2,000 during any calendar year must file reports within 24 hours of each disclosure date.

The bill also exempts communications that are actual expenditures of an organization from being considered electioneering communications and excludes candidate and candidate committees from the disclosure requirements.

The information is effective and applicable for the 2022 primary election.

The Hawaii State Senate will convene a special session Tuesday, July 27 to review judicial appointments.

The special session will only address the judicial appointments of Dan Gluck to the Intermediate Court of Appeals and Lesley Maloian to the District Family Court of the First Circuit.

The Senate will convene in a floor session on Wednesday, July 28 at 10 a.m. followed by a separate decision-making meeting of the Judiciary Committee at 10:30 a.m.

Final Senate votes on the appointments are expected on Thursday, July 29 at 11 a.m.

A lobbyist and employer activity report must be filed if expenditures or contributions are made relating to legislative action considered during the special session. Any such report would be due within 30 days of adjournment sine die of the special session covering the period from May 1 through the adjournment sine die date.

The special session of the Hawaii Legislature adjourned sine die July 8, spanning a brief two days.

Lawmakers made several corrections to the state budget at the suggestion of Gov. David Ige and overrode six veto measures, including House Bill 53, the legal mechanism that authorizes the state government to borrow more than $1 billion in the next two fiscal years to fund construction projects.

The session end triggers a lobbyist and employer activity report due August 7, which is 30 days after adjournment sine die of the special session. The report will cover the period from May 1 through July 8 and applies to and includes only those expenditures and contributions relating to legislative action considered during the special session. Expenditures and contributions included in the report do not need to be included by the person filing the report in any subsequent statement of expenditures. 

Lawmakers will return to the Hawaii State Capitol on Tuesday, July 6 to consider overriding Gov. David Ige’s vetoes of measures the Legislature approved this year, and to make some necessary fixes to bills that deal with state finances.

Gov. Ige said he intends to veto 28 bills passed by his fellow Democrats, which is an unusually high number.

The governor is not required to veto all 28 bills and still has the option of signing some of them or allowing them to become law without his signature. That makes it difficult for lawmakers to precisely plan their response, since they do not know yet which measures Gov. Ige will finally reject.

The governor has until 11:59 p.m. on July 6 to veto measures passed this spring. If he takes no action by that date, the bills will then become law with or without his signature.

Gov. Ige has also said he needs amendments to some budget bills because lawmakers specified in the budget the state must use federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to repay more than $300 million in bond debt.

The federal government does not allow the state to use pandemic relief funding to pay down debt, and lawmakers will thus need to appropriate money from other sources to cover state borrowing.

That means lawmakers must approve a fix that will ensure the state meets its debt obligations. If the governor and the Legislature can agree on language that would accomplish that, lawmakers can approve an amendment with a simple majority next month without a veto override.

The special session affects lobbyist reporting. A lobbyist and employer activity report must be filed within 30 days of adjournment sine die of any special session covering the period from May 1 through adjournment sine die of the special session. The report applies to and includes only those expenditures and contributions relating to legislative action considered during the special session. Expenditures and contributions included in the report do not need to be included by the person filing the report in any subsequent statement of expenditures.

The Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission electronic filing systems will be down and offline for scheduled maintenance on Thursday, May 13 from 8 a.m. to noon.

The offline systems will include the candidate filing system, noncandidate committee filing system, and the noncandidate committee import system.

During this downtime, new candidate and noncandidate committees will not be able to electronically file the Organizational Report to register with the commission, and currently registered candidate and noncandidate committees will not be able to enter campaign spending data and electronically file disclosure reports or any other reports.

Currently registered noncandidate committees will also not be able to import contribution and expenditure data into the noncandidate committee filing system.

Additionally, campaign spending reports filed by candidate committees and noncandidate committees will not be accessible on the candidate filing system and noncandidate committee filing system public sites during this downtime.

However, the candidate and noncandidate committee data visualizations and the candidate and noncandidate committee searchable databases are still accessible.

The 31st session of the Hawaii Legislature will adjourn sine die on April 29 after 55 days in session.

During the legislative session, lawmakers introduced several bills related to campaign finance and lobbying laws.

Senate Bill 0166, related to campaign finance, prohibits foreign nationals and foreign corporations from making independent expenditures. The bill requires every corporation that contributes or expends funds in a state election to file a statement of certification regarding its limited foreign influence.

Additionally, the bill requires noncandidate committees making only independent expenditures to obtain a statement of certification from each top contributor required to be listed in an advertisement. If passed, the bill would become effective immediately.

Senate Bill 0557, relating to administrative action lobbying, expands the definition of administrative action for purposes of the lobbying laws to include granting or denying applications for business or development-related permits, licenses, or approvals.

The bill also clarifies that lobbying laws apply to lobbying by the executive branch. If passed, the bill would become effective September 1, 2021.

Bills signed by Gov. David Ige will go into effect July 1. Bills not signed by the governor will take effect 90 days after adjournment sine die.