--- type: "Bill" title: "RELATING TO CAMPAIGN FINANCE." description: "Exempts candidates who are deemed elected, running unopposed, or unsuccessful after a primary or special primary election from the prohibition on donating excess campaign funds for charitable or scholarship purposes before the general election date. (SB197 HD1)" jurisdiction: "us/states/hi" legislature: "Hawaii Legislature" session: "2019 Regular Session" identifier: "SB 197" citation: "Hawaii SB 197 (2019 Regular Session)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: ["Elections", "Campaign Finance", "Restrictions on Use of Campaign Funds"] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["DELA CRUZ", "ENGLISH", "INOUYE", "K. RHOADS", "KEITH-AGARAN", "Kim"] version_count: 1 action_count: 34 vote_count: 3 first_action: "2019-01-18" last_action: "2019-06-25" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/99528317-2aaf-458c-85d4-93b182112500" source_url: "http://capitol.hawaii.gov/Archives/measure_indiv_Archives8-12.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=197&year=2019" source_hash: "34abf1c64742cefdb2d711703a35cc5b28f321b7503de8803d847805e1793c48" vintage: "2026-07-01" source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump" retrieved_at: "2026-07-06" confidence: "reported" tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-hi"] --- # Hawaii SB 197 (2019 Regular Session) — RELATING TO CAMPAIGN FINANCE. Exempts candidates who are deemed elected, running unopposed, or unsuccessful after a primary or special primary election from the prohibition on donating excess campaign funds for charitable or scholarship purposes before the general election date. (SB197 HD1) ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **SB197** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2019/bills/SB197_.HTM) ## Votes - The committees on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. — **13–0** (pass) · lower - The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. — **4–0** (pass) · upper - The committees on JUD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **8–0** (pass) · lower ## Sponsors - DELA CRUZ — primary (person) - ENGLISH — primary (person) - INOUYE — primary (person) - K. RHOADS — primary (person) - KEITH-AGARAN — primary (person) - Kim — primary (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2019-01-18** Introduced. `introduction` - **2019-01-18** Passed First Reading. `reading-1` - **2019-01-22** Referred to JDC. `referral-committee` - **2019-02-06** The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 02-12-19 9:00AM in conference room 016. - **2019-02-12** 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) K. Rhoads, Wakai, Gabbard, Kim; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella. `committee-passage-favorable` - **2019-03-01** Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 830) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading and placement on the calendar for Third Reading. - **2019-03-01** Report adopted; Passed Second Reading. - **2019-03-01** One Day Notice 03-05-19. - **2019-03-05** Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Harimoto). Transmitted to House. `passage` - **2019-03-05** Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 67). `introduction` - **2019-03-07** Pass First Reading `reading-1` - **2019-03-07** Referred to JUD, FIN, referral sheet 27 `referral-committee` - **2019-03-08** Bill scheduled to be heard by JUD on Monday, 03-11-19 2:00PM in House conference room 325. - **2019-03-11** The committee(s) on JUD recommend(s) that the measure be deferred until 03-18-19. - **2019-03-11** Bill scheduled for decision making on Monday, 03-18-19 2:00PM in conference room 325. - **2019-03-18** The committees on JUD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) C. Lee, San Buenaventura, Brower, Creagan, Morikawa, Say, Takayama, Thielen; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Lowen, McKelvey, Yamane. `committee-passage-favorable` - **2019-03-21** Reported from JUD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1517) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN. - **2019-03-21** Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Belatti, Cabanilla Arakawa, Holt, Tokioka, Yamane excused (5). `reading-2, referral-committee` - **2019-03-25** Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Thursday, 03-28-19 3:00PM in House conference room 308. - **2019-03-28** The committees on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 13 Ayes: Representative(s) Luke, Cullen, Eli, Gates, Hashimoto, Kitagawa, B. Kobayashi, Matayoshi, Nakamura, Nishimoto, Wildberger, Yamashita, McDermott; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Holt, Todd. `committee-passage-favorable` - **2019-04-04** Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2079), recommending passage on Third Reading. - **2019-04-04** Deferred one day 04-05-19. - **2019-04-05** Passed Third Reading with Representative(s) Nakamura voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Eli, Mizuno, Nishimoto excused (3). Transmitted to Senate. `passage` - **2019-04-09** Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 644). `introduction` - **2019-04-09** Senate disagrees with House amendments. - **2019-04-09** Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 885). - **2019-04-17** Reconsideration of action taken on 04-09-19 in disagreeing to the House amendments. - **2019-04-17** Senate agrees with House amendments. Placed on the calendar for Final Reading on 04-18-19. - **2019-04-17** One Day Notice 04-18-19. - **2019-04-18** Passed Final Reading. Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none. - **2019-04-18** Received notice of reconsideration, Senate agreement, and Final Reading (Sen. Com. No. 915). - **2019-04-18** Enrolled to Governor. `executive-receipt` - **2019-06-25** Act 107, on 06/21/2019 (Gov. Msg. No. 1209). `executive-signature` - **2019-06-25** Act 107, 06/21/2019 (Gov. Msg. No. 1209). `executive-signature` ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/99528317-2aaf-458c-85d4-93b182112500`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Hawaii legislature records).