Campaign funding running dry

By TOM CALLIS

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Hawaii County’s public campaign financing pilot project may have a shorter shelf life than anticipated.

Started in 2010, and set up to end after the 2014 elections, the program was the first in the state to provide full funding to candidates.

But after two election cycles, Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission Executive Director Kristin Izumi-Nitao is doubtful there will be enough money to continue offering that funding option after this year.

The issue is a requirement that the commission have at least $3.5 million left in its trust fund to continue the program. It nearly reached that amount at the end of this last fiscal year (June 30), helped in part by dwindling contributions from the state’s general fund, she said.

“Next year will we have that money? Not likely if you just look at the numbers,” Izumi-Nitao said.

The program is funded through a $3 optional check-off on state income tax forms. The money, which also funds the commission’s operations, is directed from the state’s general fund rather than the taxpayer’s own pocket book.

Hawaii already has a partial public funding option for candidates around the state that draws on the same fund. That program does not appear to be at risk, Izumi-Nitao said.

Still, ending the county’s full-funding pilot program, which only applies to County Council candidates, early could hinder efforts to expand public campaign financing.

Supporters, such as the nonprofit group Voter Owned Hawaii, are hoping to keep that from happening.

Kory Payne, the group’s executive director, said it will be lobbying the state Legislature next session to increase funding for the commission so that it can expand the program and to make adjustments to how funding is distributed.

Currently, the amount given to a candidate is based on how much the winning candidate in that district spent in the last two previous elections. That has resulted in some publicly funded candidates getting four times as much than recipients in other races.

Payne said the group would like to see funding equalized.

“We’ve taken the feedback,” he said, adding, “It needs several election cycles for there to be equity in money distributed.”

The group has also submitted a resolution to the County Council seeking support for extending the program statewide. The council will consider the resolution, which would act as a recommendation to the Legislature, on Wednesday.

Councilwoman Brittany Smart, who introduced the resolution, said she doesn’t want to see the state back away from public campaign financing.

“Money is huge,” she said. “It has a very large impact on our elections process here.”

Smart used public funds in her bid for the council in 2010, in which she unseated an incumbent. She lost in the State House Democratic primary to Richard Onishi, who raised $25,962, versus Smart’s $1,020. Smart did not qualify for public funds this year.

This year, the state has provided $215,344 to eight County Council candidates.

The partial-funding system has allocated $82,543 to 16 candidates around the state so far this election.

Izumi-Nitao said the pilot program is consistently the larger draw on the trust fund.

It drew even more than the amount the commission received this last fiscal year through the state income tax check-off, which provided $141,463. That’s about $70,000 lower than the average for the past five years, and Izumi-Nitao said she has requested the state tax office recalculate those numbers.

Even at previous levels, revenue would not be enough to continue the program in the long term, she said.

Payne said that keeping special interest money out of politics would make for better representatives, and believes additional support for publicly funded campaigns by the state would be worth it.

“If you weigh out the cost and the benefit … we end up saving taxpayers money in the long run,” he said.

Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.