Advisory Opinion 05-02

     Several questions were asked regarding contributions by a federal political action committee (PAC) to a candidate for a Hawaii state and local office.

     The Campaign Spending Commission ("Commission") responds that the federal PAC must register with the Commission as a "noncandidate committee" and reports filed with the Commission must disclose, among other things, the name of the donor (not the PAC’s name) and the Hawaii disbursements and expenditures.

I. In general

     The federal PAC intends to receive contributions or make disbursements to Hawaii state and local candidates, the aggregate amount that is more than $1,000.

     The PAC, therefore, is a "noncandidate committee"1 under Hawaii law and must:

• Register with the Commission by filing an organizational report;2
• Appoint a campaign treasurer;3
• Comply with limits on contributions received by the committee;4
• Comply with limits on contributions and expenditures by the committee;5
• Not accept or make any loans;6 and
• File preliminary, final, and supplemental reports with the Commission.7

     An individual donor cannot serve as an officer of both the noncandidate committee and the committee of a candidate that will receive contributions from the noncandidate committee.8 Contributions and expenditures of the donor and the noncandidate committee may be aggregated if the noncandidate committee is "financed, maintained, or controlled" by the donor;9 or the donor (not an individual) and noncandidate committee are related entities.10  These provisions prohibit the practice of avoiding campaign contribution limits by diverting funds for contributions through multiple organizations.

II. Reporting requirements

     We understand that the PAC can segregate monies with a separate bank account or by a ledger account in its main account.

     The federal PAC’s preliminary, final, and supplemental reports filed with the Commission should include information about the "name, address, employer, and occupation of each donor (not the PAC) who contributes an aggregate of $100 or more during an election period."

     An individual may contribute up to $5,000 per year to a federal PAC under federal law. Hawaii’s law provides a $1,000 cap per person per election on contributions to a noncandidate committee.11

     The Commission provides this Advisory Opinion as a means of stating its current interpretation of the Hawaii Campaign Spending laws provided under HRS section 11-191, et seq. and the administrative rules of the Commission provided in chapter 2-14, Hawaii Administrative Rules. The Commission may adopt, revise, or revoke this Advisory Opinion upon the enactment of amendments to the Hawaii Revised Statutes or the adoption of administrative rules by the Commission.

Dated: Honolulu, Hawaii, March 9, 2005.

CAMPAIGN SPENDING COMMISSION

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Paul Kuramoto
Vice-Chair

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Steven E. Olbrich
Commissioner

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Gino L. Gabrio
Commissioner

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Dean Robb
Commissioner

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1 "Noncandidate committee" means a committee as defined in this section and does not include a candidate’s committee.  "Committee" means:
(1) Any organization, association, or individual that accepts or makes a contribution or makes an expenditure for or against any:
(A) Candidate;
(B) Individual who files for nomination at a later date and becomes a candidate; or
(C) Party;
with or without the authorization of the candidate, individual, or party.
In addition, the term "committee" means any organization, association, or individual who accepts or makes a contribution or makes an expenditure for or against any question or issue appearing on the ballot at the next applicable election; or
(2) Any organization, association, or individual that raises or holds money or anything of value for a political purpose, with or without the consent or knowledge of any:
(A) Candidate;
(B) Individual who files for nomination at a later date and becomes a candidate; or
(C) Party; and
subsequently contributes money or anything of value to, or makes expenditures on behalf of, the candidate, individual, or party…. See section 11-191, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS).

2 Sections 11-194 and 11-196.5, HRS.

3 Section 11-198, HRS.

4 A donor may contribute an aggregate amount that is not more than $1,000 per election. See section 11-204, HRS; and Advisory Opinion No. 98-6.

5 Section 11-204(a), HRS, allows donations of $2,000 to a candidate for a two-year office; $4,000 for a four-year office; and $6,000 for a statewide office. $25,000 may be contributed to a political party in a two-year election period. Section 11-204(k), HRS.

6 Section 11-206.5, HRS.

7 Sections 11-212 and 213, HRS.

8 HRS section 11-204(i) provides as follows:
(i) No committee which supports or opposes a candidate for public office shall have as officers who serve as officers on any other committee which supports or opposes the same candidate. No such committee shall act in concert with, or solicit or make contributions on behalf of, any other committee.

9 All payments made by a person whose contributions or expenditure activity is financed, maintained, or controlled by a corporation, labor organization, association, political party, or any other person or committee, including any parent, subsidiary, branch, division, department or local unit of the corporation, labor organization, association, political party, or any other person, or by any group of those persons shall be considered to be made by a single person. Section 11-204(f), HRS.

10 A contribution made by two or more corporations shall be treated as one person when such corporation:
(1) Share the majority of members of their boards of directors;
(2) Share two or more corporate officers;
(3) Are owned or controlled by the same majority shareholder or shareholders; or
(4) Are in a parent-subsidiary relationship. Section 11-204(g), HRS.

11 Advisory Opinion No. 99-8.