Proposal would increase public funding for Hawaii campaigns

State Sen. Karl Rhoads plans to introduce legislation this year to help county, state and Office of Hawaiian Affairs candidates raise more campaign money through public funds to ease their reliance on lobbyists and private donors with the goal of promoting “clean elections.”

Rhoads, chair of the state Judiciary Committee, was flanked Monday at a Capitol news conference by state Rep. Jeanne Kapela (D, Volcano-­Naalehu-Hawaiian Ocean View) and freshman state Sen. Brenton Awa (R, Kaneohe-Laie-Mokuleia), who believe there is even more support for campaign reform among their legislative colleagues.

Rhoads’ bill has yet to be introduced but would follow the guilty pleas of disgraced state Sen. J. Kalani English and state Rep. T.J. Cullen on bribery and corruption charges at the start of the past legislative session that led to public outrage and calls for ethics and fundraising reform that largely did not materialize, but did lead to a ban on political fundraising while the Legislature is in session and to the creation of a House commission on legislative conduct.

English and Cullen were convicted of taking thousands of dollars in bribes to promote and kill legislation related to cesspool and wastewater policy to benefit a Hawaii industrial serv­ices company and its affiliated businesses.

Rhoads called 2022’s successful ban on political fundraising during legislative sessions “a major shift.”

Under his proposal, candidates would still be limited to individual small donations of $5 or less but could qualify for increased public contributions ranging from $20,000 for OHA candidates up to $50,000 for House candidates, $100,000 for Senate candidates, $1.2 million for races for lieutenant governor and $2.5 million for gubernatorial candidates.

The cost is estimated at $25 million per year. It could be funded a variety of ways, including through a potential $3 annual visitor fee on the purchase of legalized recreational cannabis, if it ever becomes reality.

The rules to qualify for public matching funds are complicated, and former U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele in 2022 missed a key deadline that made him ineligible to qualify for public funds in his failed run for governor after pledging to not accept donations from mainland contributors, unions and political action committees, among others.

Rhoades said Monday that he still wants the rules to be complex to qualify for public funds to reduce the number of what he called “fringe” candidates.

Evan Weber of Our Hawai‘i helped organize Monday’s news conference and said Rhoads’ legislation is designed to help end the practice of “pay-to-play” political campaigns and fundraising.

“The influence that money has over our politics must come to an end,” Weber said.

Publicly funded campaigns are used statewide in Maine and Connecticut, he said, and were implemented in the 2010 and 2012 Hawaii County Council races.

A similar proposal for statewide public campaign reform died in the 2013 legislative session, Weber said.

Kapela said Hawaii residents deserve a government “based on transparency.”

The current fundraising environment favors incumbent candidates who can out-raise and outspend challengers, she said.

Awa said larger amounts of political financing available to a more diverse pool of candidates “should be mandatory.”

“This is a first step to make it (running for elected office) even,” Awa said.