Gary Kam News Today

As described by attendees, a typical party could bring in thousands of dollars in donations, giving some elected officials almost half their annual campaign haul in a single night.

Investigators for the state Campaign Spending Commission on Wednesday recommended that former state Rep. Kaniela Ing be fined another $18,250 — in addition to the nearly $22,000 that he already had been fined — for 24 campaign spending violations.

A proposal to publicly finance Hawaii election campaigns is riding a wave of public support through the state Legislature.

The former state lawmaker could be penalized more than $18,000 for failure to keep financial records and filing false reports.

State contractors contributed about $360,000 to campaigns in 2022.

The four measures now move to the Senate for further consideration.

Last year, legislators banned fundraising events during legislative session. This time, they may ban campaign donations during sessions entirely.

Vicky Cayetano denies coordinating with super PAC Victory Calls.

Changes are coming for how those cases are handled going forward as a new law allows the commission to assess fines and refer a case to prosecutors concurrently.

The Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission is also proposing a sweeping package of campaign finance reforms for the upcoming legislative session in 2023.