Bill Text: HI SB166 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Campaign Finance.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-03-30 - The committee(s) on JHA recommend(s) that the measure be deferred. [SB166 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-SB166-Introduced.html
THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
166 |
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO CAMPAIGN FINANCE.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the State has a compelling interest in securing its democratic self-governance from foreign influence.
The legislature further finds that former President Barack Obama warned of foreign corporate spending in state elections and that Ann Ravel, former commissioner of the Federal Election Commission, specifically called on states to enact legislation to limit the influence of foreign corporate spending on American elections.
The legislature recognizes that several states and municipalities, including Alaska; Connecticut; Massachusetts; New York City; and St. Petersburg, Florida, have enacted or are considering enacting legislation to limit foreign corporate spending and to protect the integrity of their elections from foreign corporate influence.
The purpose of this Act is to protect the State's democratic self-governance by:
(1) Prohibiting foreign nationals and foreign corporations from making independent expenditures;
(2) Requiring every corporation that contributes or expends funds in a state election to file a statement of certification regarding its status as a foreign corporation; and
(3) Requiring noncandidate committees making only independent expenditures to obtain a statement of certification from each top contributor required to be listed in an advertisement.
SECTION 2. Section 11-302, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding five new definitions to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:
""Chief executive
officer" means the highest-ranking officer or individual having authority to
make decisions regarding a corporation's affairs.
"Foreign corporation"
means a corporation that meets at least one of the following conditions:
(1) A single
foreign owner holds, owns, controls, or otherwise has direct or indirect
beneficial ownership of one per cent or more of the total equity, outstanding
voting shares, membership units, or other applicable ownership interests of the
corporation;
(2) Two or more
foreign owners, in aggregate, hold, own, control, or otherwise have direct or
indirect beneficial ownership of five per cent or more of the total equity,
outstanding voting shares, membership units, or other applicable ownership
interests of the corporation; or
(3) A foreign owner
participates directly or indirectly in the corporation's decision-making process
with respect to the corporation's political activities in the United States.
"Foreign investor"
means a person or entity that:
(1) Holds, owns,
controls, or otherwise has direct or indirect beneficial ownership of equity,
outstanding voting shares, membership units, or other applicable ownership
interests of a corporation; and
(2) Is:
(A) A
government of a foreign country, a foreign political party, or a partnership,
association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons organized
under the laws of or having its principal place of business in a foreign
country; or
(B) A
foreign national.
"Foreign national"
means an individual who is not a citizen of the United States or a national of
the United States and who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
"Foreign owner" means:
(1) A foreign
investor; or
(2) A corporation wherein a foreign
investor holds, owns, controls, or otherwise has directly or indirectly
acquired a beneficial ownership of equity or voting shares in an amount that is
equal to or greater than fifty per cent of the total equity or outstanding
voting shares."
SECTION 3. Section 11-356, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§11-356[]] Contributions and expenditures by a
foreign national or foreign corporation; prohibited.
(a) Except as provided in subsection
[(b),] (c), no contributions or expenditures shall be made to or
on behalf of a candidate, candidate committee, or noncandidate committee, by a
foreign national or foreign corporation, including a domestic subsidiary of a
foreign corporation, a domestic corporation that is owned by a foreign
national, or a local subsidiary where administrative control is retained by the
foreign corporation, and in the same manner prohibited under [2] title
52 United States Code section [441e] 30121 and title 11
Code of Federal Regulations section 110.20, as amended.
(b)
No independent expenditures shall be made by a foreign national or
foreign corporation.
[(b)] (c) A foreign-owned domestic corporation may make
contributions if:
(1) Foreign national individuals do not participate in election-related activities, including decisions concerning contributions or the administration of a candidate committee or noncandidate committee; or
(2) The contributions are domestically-derived.
(d) Every corporation that contributes to or
makes an expenditure on behalf of a candidate, candidate committee, or
noncandidate committee, within seven business days after making the
contribution or expenditure, shall file with the campaign spending commission a
statement of certification signed by the corporation's chief executive officer
avowing under penalty of perjury that, after due inquiry, the corporation was:
(1) Not a foreign
corporation on the date the expenditure or contribution was made; or
(2) A foreign
corporation on the date the expenditure or contribution was made, but that:
(A) No
foreign national or foreign corporation participated in the corporation's
election‑related activities, including decisions concerning contributions,
expenditures, or the administration of a candidate committee or noncandidate
committee; or
(B) The
funds from which the foreign corporation made the contribution or expenditure
were domestically‑derived.
(e) Every corporation that makes an independent
expenditure, within seven business days after making the independent
expenditure, shall file with the campaign spending commission a statement of
certification signed by the corporation's chief executive officer avowing under
penalty of perjury that, after due inquiry, the corporation was not a foreign
corporation on the date the independent expenditure was made.
(f) For the purposes of this section, "corporation" means a corporation, company, limited liability company, limited partnership, business trust, business association, or other legal entity."
SECTION 4. Section 11-393, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§11-393[]] Identification of certain top contributors to
noncandidate committees making only
independent expenditures. (a) An advertisement shall contain an additional
notice in a prominent location immediately after or below the notices required
by section 11-391, if the advertisement is broadcast, televised, circulated, or
published, including by electronic means, and is paid for by a noncandidate
committee that certifies to the commission that it makes only independent
expenditures. This additional notice
shall start with the words, "The three top contributors for this advertisement
are", followed by the names of the three top contributors, as defined in
subsection [(e),] (f), who made the highest aggregate
contributions to the noncandidate committee for the purpose of funding the
advertisement; provided that:
(1) If a noncandidate committee is only able to identify two top contributors who made contributions for the purpose of funding the advertisement, the additional notice shall start with the words, "The two top contributors for this advertisement are", followed by the names of the two top contributors;
(2) If a noncandidate committee is able to identify only one top contributor who made contributions for the purpose of funding the advertisement, the additional notice shall start with the words, "The top contributor for this advertisement is", followed by the name of the top contributor;
(3) If a noncandidate committee is unable to identify any top contributors who made contributions for the purpose of funding the advertisement, the additional notice shall start with the words, "The three top contributors for this noncandidate committee are", followed by the names of the three top contributors who made the highest aggregate contributions to the noncandidate committee; and
(4) If there are no top contributors to the noncandidate committee, the noncandidate committee shall not be subject to this section.
In no case shall a noncandidate committee be required to identify more than three top contributors pursuant to this section.
(b) If a noncandidate committee has more than three top contributors who contributed in equal amounts, the noncandidate committee may select which of the top contributors to identify in the advertisement; provided that the top contributors not identified in the advertisement did not make a higher aggregate contribution than those top contributors who are identified in the advertisement. The additional notice required for noncandidate committees described under this subsection shall start with the words "Three of the top contributors for this advertisement are" or "Three of the top contributors to this noncandidate committee are", as appropriate, followed by the names of the three top contributors.
(c) This section shall not apply to advertisements broadcast by radio or television of such short duration that including a list of top contributors in the advertisement would constitute a hardship to the noncandidate committee paying for the advertisement. A noncandidate committee shall be subject to all other requirements under this part regardless of whether a hardship exists pursuant to this subsection. The commission shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to establish criteria to determine when including a list of top contributors in an advertisement of short duration constitutes a hardship to a noncandidate committee under this subsection.
(d) A noncandidate committee shall obtain a
statement of certification from each top contributor required to be listed in
an advertisement pursuant to this section avowing under penalty of perjury that,
after due inquiry, none of the funds contributed by the top contributor were
derived from a foreign corporation. If a
noncandidate committee does not receive a statement of certification from a top
contributor, the advertisement shall include the following statement:
"Some of the funds used to pay for this message may have been provided by
foreign corporations." A noncandidate
committee shall be entitled to rely on a statement of certification provided by
a top contributor unless the noncandidate committee has actual knowledge that the
statement of certification is false.
[(d)]
(e) Any noncandidate committee
that violates this section shall be subject to a fine under section 11-410.
[(e)]
(f) For purposes of this part,
"top contributor" means a contributor who has contributed an
aggregate amount of $10,000 or more to a noncandidate committee within a
twelve-month period prior to the purchase of an advertisement."
SECTION 5. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon any right protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States or conflict with any federal statute or regulation.
SECTION 6. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.
SECTION 7. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.
SECTION 8. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Campaign Finance; Foreign Corporations; Foreign Nationals
Description:
Prohibits foreign nationals and foreign corporations from making independent expenditures. Requires every corporation that contributes or expends funds in a state election to file a statement of certification regarding its limited foreign influence. Requires noncandidate committees making only independent expenditures to obtain a statement of certification from each top contributor required to be listed in an advertisement.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.