Judiciary committee advances bill to broaden disclosure for paid officers of state contractors

The Senate Judiciary Committee on March 20 voted to advance HB1519, a bill that would require disclosure of the names of compensated officers of state contractors and grantees in certain circumstances, after the chair proposed and the committee agreed to several significant amendments.

Christy Chang, testifying on behalf of the Campaign Spending Commission, said the commission supports the bill but urged restoring two restrictions the draft had removed: application to county contractors and coverage of unpaid officers who can still influence policy. "We believe that they can still influence legislation," Chang said, urging the committee to consider wider coverage than just "compensated" officers.

Advocates who testified in support pressed the committee to eliminate branch-based limits and to cover officers and immediate family members across the board. Marlene Tom of Indivisible Hawaii told the committee, "This bill closes a loophole that in our opinion should have been closed a while ago," and Aria Juliet Castillo of Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action said lawmakers should "please listen to the Campaign Spending Commission" about remaining drafting gaps.

Chair Rhodes proposed a set of amendments the committee adopted in principle: remove the monetary thresholds for contracts and grants, apply the existing contractor contribution restrictions to paid officers (but not to unpaid directors or family members), keep grantee restrictions but limit them to officers rather than all family members, add appropriations for the Campaign Spending Commission and the State Procurement Office, and add a definition of "officer" modeled on related language in SB 2530 SD2. Rhodes also instructed the committee report to emphasize that false-name contributions are already criminally prohibited.

Committee members recorded affirmative votes to pass HB1519 with the chair's amendments. The committee did not report opposition in person; Chair Rhodes said 36 individuals had submitted support in writing and that there were two comment testimonies.

The bill now moves forward with the committee's amendments, which narrow the measure to paid officers while eliminating dollar thresholds and adding administrative resources for enforcement. The committee noted outstanding drafting issues and will reflect the conforming language in the reporting documents.