RELATING TO CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS.

Elections

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: NAKAMURA (Introduced by request of another party)
Last action: 2026-04-02
Official status: Received notice of the discharge of all House Conferees (Hse. Com. No. 457).
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide details about enforcement or monitoring procedures.

Campaign Contribution Rules

This bill changes rules about how much cash people can give to political candidates in Hawaii during an election period.

What This Bill Does

Amends the law so that if someone gives more than $100 in cash to a candidate, candidate committee, or noncandidate committee during an election period and it's not returned within 30 days, the extra money goes to Hawaii's election campaign fund.

Who It Names or Affects

Candidates running for office in Hawaii
Campaign committees supporting candidates or issues in Hawaii
People who give cash contributions to political campaigns in Hawaii

Terms To Know

Contribution limit: The maximum amount of money that can be given by one person to a candidate, committee, or campaign during an election period.
Escheat: When property or funds are transferred from a private individual to the state because it was not returned as required by law.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify what happens if contributions are made in ways other than cash.
It is unclear how strictly this new rule will be enforced and monitored.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

SD1

Hawaii published version SD1

Plain English: This amendment changes the rules about returning excess campaign contributions, making it so that any extra money over $100 in cash must be returned to the donor within 30 days; if not, it goes to the Hawaii election campaign fund.

Adds a requirement for candidates and committees to return excess cash contributions of more than $100 to donors within 30 days or have them go to the state's election campaign fund.

The amendment text does not specify what happens if the contribution is less than $100 but still over the limit set by other sections of Hawaii Revised Statutes, which may cause confusion.

Bill History

2026-04-02 S
Received notice of the discharge of all House Conferees (Hse. Com. No. 457).
2026-04-01 H
House Conferee(s) discharged.
2026-03-20 H
Received notice of all Senate conferees being discharged (Sen. Com. No. 409).
2026-03-20 S
Senate Conferee(s) discharged.
2025-12-08 D
Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
2025-04-25 H
Received notice of change in Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 880).
2025-04-25 S
Senate Conferees Changed: Senator Aquino added as Co-Chair. Senator Hashimoto discharged as Co-Chair.
2025-04-25 H
Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 04-25-25 at 5:30PM in Conference Room 325.
2025-04-24 H
Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday 04-25-25 2:15PM in conference room 325.
2025-04-23 H
Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Thursday 04-24-25 2:15PM in conference room 325.
2025-04-22 H
Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Wednesday 04-23-25 2:15PM in conference room 325.
2025-04-22 S
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-22-25 2:00PM; Conference Room 325.
2025-04-21 S
Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 755).
2025-04-17 S
Conference committee meeting scheduled for 04-21-25 2:00PM; Conference Room 325.
2025-04-17 H
House Conferees Appointed: Tarnas, Kitagawa Co-Chairs; Garcia.
2025-04-17 H
Re-referred to JHA, FIN, referral sheet 33
2025-04-15 H
Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 790).
2025-04-15 S
Senate Conferees Appointed: Rhoads Chair; Hashimoto Co-Chair; Fevella.
2025-04-11 S
Received notice of disagreement (Hse. Com. No. 704).
2025-04-10 H
House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).
2025-04-08 H
Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 625) in amended form (SD 1).
2025-04-08 S
Report adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.
2025-04-04 S
48 Hrs. Notice 04-08-25.
2025-04-04 S
Reported from WAM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1749) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading, as amended (SD 1).
2025-04-01 S
The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 12 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, Aquino, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) DeCoite.
2025-03-27 S
The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-01-25 10:01AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.
2025-03-18 S
Report adopted; Passed Second Reading and referred to WAM.
2025-03-18 S
Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1128) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading and referral to WAM.
2025-03-11 S
The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in JDC were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Chang, San Buenaventura; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) Awa; and 0 Excused: none.
2025-03-07 S
The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 03-11-25 9:45AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.
2025-03-04 S
Referred to JDC, WAM.
2025-03-04 S
Passed First Reading.
2025-03-04 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 97).
2025-02-28 H
Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Pierick, Templo, Ward excused (4). Transmitted to Senate.
2025-02-27 H
Passed Second Reading; placed on the calendar for Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Pierick, Templo, Ward excused (4).
2025-02-27 H
Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 803), recommending passage on Second Reading and placement on the calendar for Third Reading.
2025-01-28 H
The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Hashem, Kahaloa, Perruso, Takayama, Todd, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran.
2025-01-23 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by JHA on Tuesday, 01-28-25 2:00PM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2025-01-21 H
Referred to JHA, referral sheet 1
2025-01-17 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.
2025-01-16 H
Pending introduction.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS.
Campaign Spending Commission Package; Cash Contribution Limits; Return of Contribution; Escheat
Amends section 11-364, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to provide that an excess contribution of more than $100 in cash, in the aggregate, from a single person during an election period to a candidate, candidate committee, or noncandidate committee shall escheat to the Hawaii election campaign fund if not returned to the contributor within 30 days. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB369

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

369

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING
TO CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION
1
.
�
Section 11-364, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

����
"(a)
�

Any candidate, candidate committee, or noncandidate committee that
receives in the aggregate more than the applicable contribution limit in
section
11-351,
11-357, 11-358, 11-359, or 11-360 shall return any
excess contribution to the contributor within thirty days of receipt of the
excess contribution.
�
Any candidate,
candidate committee, or noncandidate committee that receives in the aggregate
more than the applicable contribution limit in section 11-362 shall return any
excess contribution to the contributor within thirty days of the end of the
election period; provided that the candidate, candidate committee, or noncandidate
committee may choose which contributions to return.
�
Any excess contribution not returned to the
contributor within thirty days shall escheat to the Hawaii election campaign
fund."

����
SECTION 2.
�

New statutory material is underscored.

����
SECTION 3.
�

This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

By Request

Report Title:

Campaign
Spending Commission Package; Cash Contribution Limits; Return of Contribution;
Escheat

Description:

Amends
section 11-364, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to provide that an excess contribution
of more than $100 in cash, in the aggregate, from a single person during an
election period to a candidate, candidate committee, or noncandidate committee
shall escheat to the Hawaii election campaign fund if not returned to the
contributor within 30 days.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.