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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 280 Draft 03 2010-2012MtV Of N� COUNTY OF HAWAII �t1 Of •N'.1� RESOLUTION NO. STATE OF HAWAII 280 12 ( DRAFT 3 ) RESOLUTION URGING THE HAWAII STATE LEGISLATURE TO ADEQUATELY FUND BOTH THE HAWAII CAMPAIGN SPENDING COMMISSION AND A STATEWIDE COMPREHENSIVE PUBLIC FUNDING SYSTEM FOR ELECTIONS. and WHEREAS, a democratic government derives its power from the consent of its citizens; WHEREAS, corporate and other special interest donations account for the vast majority of campaign donations, both locally and nationally; and WHEREAS, comprehensive public funding options give candidates a possible alternative to private campaign funding; and WHEREAS, it is in the public's interest that our elected officials concentrate on solving our state's problems and not be distracted by the need to raise huge sums of money for their campaigns, nor have to worry about antagonizing those who have donated generously to their campaigns; and WHEREAS, the current campaign finance system fails to discourage candidates from accepting large campaign contributions from private interests that may be directly affected by governmental actions and from enacting laws favoring those contributors' interest to the detriment of the interest of citizens who are not large contributors; and WHEREAS, taxpayers pay for the campaign contributions of corporations and large industries in the form of mismanagement of public resources, subsidies and tax exemptions for corporations and industries, and unfair tax laws; and WHEREAS, the current formula that determines which Hawaii County districts receive their respective amounts for the Hawaii County Council Comprehensive Public Funding pilot program requires multiple election cycles to show adequate results, and therefore does not adequately address the need to equalize the large discrepancies in disbursement amounts between districts; and WHEREAS, the Campaign Spending Commission is tasked with running the public funding program, yet their primary revenue source was taken away in 2008, and as a result they are spending more than they are bringing in; and WHEREAS, the Hawaii County Council Comprehensive Public Funding program is set to expire after the 2014 election cycle; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that the State Legislature take immediate action to adequately fund the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission and a statewide comprehensive public funding program upon convening for the 2013 legislative session. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the County of Hawaii supports legislative efforts to expand comprehensive public funding throughout the state. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the County of Hawaii recommends to extend the Hawaii County Council Comprehensive Public Funding program through the election year 2020. 2 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the County of Hawaii recommends that the Hawaii County Council Comprehensive Public Funding program awards equal qualifying funds to all qualified participants in the various districts. BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall forward a copy of this resolution to the Honorable Senator Clayton Hee, Chair of the Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations; the Honorable Senator David Y. Ige, Chair of the Committee on Ways and Means; the Honorable Senator Shan Tsutsui, President of the Senate; the Honorable Representative Calvin K. Y. Say, Speaker of the House; the Honorable Representative Gilbert Keith-Agaran, Chair of the Committee on Judiciary; the Honorable Representative Marcus R. Oshiro, Chair of the Committee on Finance; and the Honorable Governor Neil Abercrombie. Dated at Hilo , Hawai`i, this 8rj day of October , 2012. INTRODUCED BY: 1 '--/1 r •�MF�iBER, COUNTYOF 1 COUNTY COUNCIL County of Hawaii Hilo, Hawaii I hereby certify that the foregoing RESOLUTION was by the vote indicated to the right hereof adopted by the COUNCIL of the County of Hawaii on October 3, 2012 ATTEST: r ! � kR�, tiNTYCCLERK CHAIRPER& P SID G OFFICER ROLL CALL VOTE Reference: C— 7 87.8 /GRC— RESOLUTION NO. 280 12 —DRRAFP AYES NOES ABS EX BLAS X FORD HOFFMANN X IKEDA X ONISHI PILAGO X SMART X YAGONG X YOSHIMOTO X 8 1 Reference: C— 7 87.8 /GRC— RESOLUTION NO. 280 12 —DRRAFP