CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTDuring Hawaii's 1998 General Election, voters will be asked to vote on whether the Legislature should be given the power to amend the constitution of the State of Hawaii regarding the definition of marriage. The Campaign Spending Commission has identified fourteen political action groups who are registered with the Commission and who have received and expended money in support or opposition of this amendment. These groups are Alliance For Traditional Marriage, Focus On The Family, Hawaii Christian Coalition, PAC of Friends of Marriage Project Hawaii, People For The American Way, Pro-Family Hawaii, Protect Our Constitution, Protect Our Constitution/Human Rights Campaign, Save Traditional Marriage - 98, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (2), The Foundation For A Christian Civilization, The PAC of MPH, and Wahine Builders & Friends. The Commission has prepared this analysis which provides a summary of their political activity. (Figures reflect activity up to November 3, 1998)
Alliance For Traditional Marriage (Hawaii) (Support)
The Alliance For Traditional Marriage
reported spending $114,618.15 with 83% or $94,645 of those expenditures coming in the
two-week period prior to the general election. Similar to Pro-Family Hawaii, the
Alliance paid Makai Communications $62,000 for advertising costs relating to the
constitutional amendment question.
Focus On The Family had two expenses that were for mailings to 317 Hawaii pastors and to 7,197 constituents to advise them of the constitutional amendment issue. Total Raised - $1,357.37 Hawaii Christian Coalition (Support)
Total Raised - $6,642.00 PAC of Friends of Marriage Project Hawaii (Oppose)
Total Raised - $17,245.54 People For The American Way (Washington, DC) (Oppose)
People For The American Way reported receiving $620.00 in services from PFAW staff members to write and produce letters for 1,100 of its members opposing the anti-same sex marrage ballot initiative. PFAW than reported using $352.00 of its own money to purchase stamps for the mail-out. Total Raised - $972.00 Pro-Family Hawaii (Support)
Pro-Family Hawaii reported spending $92,892.87 with 84% or $77,752.16 of those expenditures coming in the two-week period prior to the general election. In that two-week period, Pro-Family Hawaii paid Makai Communications $75,000 for television commercials relating to the constitutional amendment question. Total Raised - $96,507.57
Protect Our Constitution reported receiving 235 contributions of more than $100. Of this 235 contributions, 224 were from individuals and 11 were from organizations. The majority of these contributions or 78% of them were received from sources with a Hawaii address. The other 22% of these contributions were from sources with a mainland address. Almost 50% of Protect Our Constitution's expenditures were for expenses related to the administration of the political action group. Jackie Young who is the Campaign Director of Protect Our Constitution has been paid $35,500 since March of 1998 and since February of 1998, Steve Okino has been paid $25,000 for Public Relations Services. Total Raised - $191,245.00 Protect Our Constitution - Human Rights Campaign (Washington, DC) (Oppose)
Protect Our Constitution - Human Rights Campaign reported receiving 760 contributions of more than $100. Of this 760 contributions, 755 were from individuals and 5 from organizations. The bulk of these contributions or 99% of them were received from sources with a mainland address. The other 1% of these contributions were received from sources with a Hawaii address. Since the Hawaii Attorney General's office issued an advisory opinion which made it unconstitutional for the Commission to enforce a $1,000 contribution limit for ballot issue political action groups, Protect Our Constitution became the first to take advantage of this ruling. Protect Our Constitution reported receiving a $100,000 contribution from Mr. Robert Wilson of Brooklyn, New York on September 2, 1998. Protect Our Constitution has since reported receiving large contributions from Mr. Tim Gill of Denver, Colorado for $300,000; Mr. William Clark of San Francisco, California for $5,000; Mr. Chuck Holmes of San Francisco, California for $7,500; Ms. Doreen Di Biagio of San Francisco, California for $8,000; Ms. Rachel Pray of San Francisco, California for $4,000; Mr. Andrew Reyes of Charlotte, North Carolina for $25,000; Ms. Edie Cofrin of Atlanta, Georgia for $15,000; Mr. Bob Williams of Comover, North Carolina for $5,000; and, Ms. Donna Osborn of Bethesda, Maryland for $3,500. Over 60% of Protect Our Constitution's expenditures were for expenses related to consulting services provided by Pro Comm Public Relations . A total of $797,672.96 was paid to Pro Comm for the period of January 1 through November 3, 1998. Another $82,217.62 in salaries and wages was paid to various individuals for the administration of the political action group. Total Raised - $1,371,040.59 Save Traditional Marriage - 98 (Hawaii) (Support)
Save Traditional Marriage - 98 reported receiving 1,063 contributions of more than $100. Of this 1,002 contributions, 970 were from individuals and 93 were from organizations. The bulk of these contributions or 54% of them were received from sources with a mainland address. The other 46% of these contributions were received from sources with a Hawaii address. Save Traditional Marriage reported receiving $400,000 from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Corporation of the President and $200,000 from the Church's Corporation of the Presiding Bishop. A portion of Save Traditional Marriage's expenditures were for consultant fees provided by Rosehill & Associates. A total of $143,220 was paid to Rosehill & Associates since December of 1997. Another $420,942.27 in advertising costs was paid to three vendors for the period of January 1 through November 3, 1998. The Schiller Group was paid a total of $83,229.00, the Hawaii Newspaper Agency was paid $252,793.75, and an ad agency named NIDA was paid $84,919.52. Other expenditures include payments to five Hawaii television stations for a combined total of $239,152.94. KITV received $81,387.37, KHON received $69,898.07, KGMB received $43,081.28, KHNL received $30,573.77, and KFVE received $14,212.45. Total Raised - $1,286,785.46 The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints (Utah) (Support)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints reported making three separate contributions to Save Traditional Marriage - 98. The dates and amounts of the contributions were as follows: September 24, 1998 - $85,000
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints reported making a single contribution to Save Traditional Marriage - 98 on October 12, 1998, in the amount of $200,000. The Foundation For A Christian Civilization
Total Raised - $10,940.31
Total Raised - $13,341.02 Wahine Builders & Friends (Hawaii) (Oppose)
Total Raised - $4,077.18 (The figures above were taken from reports filed with the Campaign Spending Commission) |
State of Hawaii, Campaign Spending Commission