Gift Made with Intent to Influence

§ 84-11. Gifts

No legislator or employee shall solicit, accept, or receive, directly or indirectly, any gift, whether in the form of money, service, loan, travel, entertainment, hospitality, thing, or promise, or in any other form, under circumstances in which it can reasonably be inferred that the gift is intended to influence the legislator or employee in the performance of the legislator’s or employee’s official duties or is intended as a reward for any official action on the legislator’s or employee’s part.

Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 84-11.

§ 84-3. Definitions

“Employee” means any nominated, appointed, or elected officer or employee of the State, including members of boards, commissions, and committees, and employees under contract to the State or of the constitutional convention, but excluding legislators, delegates to the constitutional convention, justices and judges.

Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 84-3.

Extra Compensation for Official Duties

(a) No legislator or employee shall use or attempt to use the legislator’s or employee’s official position to secure or grant unwarranted privileges, exemptions, advantages, contracts, or treatment, for oneself or others; including but not limited to the following: . . .

  1. (2) Accepting, receiving, or soliciting compensation or other consideration for the performance of the legislator’s or employee’s official duties or responsibilities except as provided by law.

Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 84-13(a)(2).

Gift Regardless of Giver Status

(a) No legislator or employee shall use or attempt to use the legislator’s or employee’s official position to secure or grant unwarranted privileges, exemptions, advantages, contracts, or treatment, for oneself or others . . . .

Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 84-13(a).

Gift from Lobbyist or Regulated Entity

(a) Every legislator and employee shall file a gifts disclosure statement with the state ethics commission year if all the following conditions are met:

  1. The legislator or employee, or spouse or respective dependent child, received from one source any gifts valued in aggregate over $200;
  2. The source of gifts have interests that may be affected by action by the legislator or employee; and
  3. The gift is not exempted reporting requirements.

Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 84-11.5.

Definitions and Exceptions

Gift Reporting Exceptions

(d) Excluded from reporting requirements:

  1. Gifts received by will or intestate succession;
  2. Gifts received by way of distribution of any inter vivos or testamentary trust established by a spouse or ancestor;
  3. Gifts from a spouse, fiance, fiancee, any relative within four degrees of consanguinity or the spouse, fiance, or fiancee of such a relative. A gift from any such person is a reportable gift if the person is acting as an agent or intermediary for any person not covered by this paragraph;
  4. Political campaign contributions that comply with state law;
  5. Anything available to or distributed to the public generally without regard to the official status of the recipient;
  6. Gifts that, within thirty days after receipt, are returned to the giver or delivered to a public body or to a bona fide educational or charitable organization without the donation being claimed as a charitable contribution for tax purposes; and
  7. Exchanges of approximately equal value on holidays, birthday, or special occasions.

Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 84-11.5(d).

Notes/Resources

Notes

Gift Disclosure

(a) Every legislator and employee shall file a gifts disclosure statement with the state ethics commission no later than June 30 of each year if all the following conditions are met:

  1. The legislator or employee, or spouse or dependent child of a legislator or employee, received directly or indirectly from one source any gift or gifts valued singly or in the aggregate in excess of $200, whether the gift is in the form of money, service, goods, or in any other form;
  2. The source of the gift or gifts have interests that may be affected by official action or lack of action by the legislator or employee; and
  3. The gift is not exempted by subsection (d) from reporting requirements under this subsection.

(b) The report shall cover the period from June 1 of the preceding calendar year through May 31 of the year of the report.

(c) The gifts disclosure statement shall contain the following information:

  1. A description of the gift;
  2. A good faith estimate of the value of the gift;
  3. The date the gift was received; and
  4. The name of the person, business entity, or organization from whom, or on behalf of whom, the gift was received.

(d) Excluded from the reporting requirements of this section are the following:

  1. Gifts received by will or intestate succession;
  2. Gifts received by way of distribution of any inter vivos or testamentary trust established by a spouse or ancestor;
  3. Gifts from a spouse, fiance, fiancee, any relative within four degrees of consanguinity or the spouse, fiance, or fiancee of such a relative. A gift from any such person is a reportable gift if the person is acting as an agent or intermediary for any person not covered by this paragraph;
  4. Political campaign contributions that comply with state law;
  5. Anything available to or distributed to the public generally without regard to the official status of the recipient;
  6. Gifts that, within thirty days after receipt, are returned to the giver or delivered to a public body or to a bona fide educational or charitable organization without the donation being claimed as a charitable contribution for tax purposes; and
  7. Exchanges of approximately equal value on holidays, birthday, or special occasions.

(e) Failure of a legislator or employee to file a gifts disclosure statement as required by this section shall be a violation of this chapter.

(f) This section shall not affect the applicability of section 84-11.

(g) For purposes of this section, “legislator or employee” includes any individual who was a legislator or employee for any portion of the period from June 1 of the preceding calendar year through May 31 of the year of the report.

Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 84-11.5.

Resource(s)

Explanatory Flyer

Questions and Answers on the Gifts Disclosure Law (June 10, 2009)

Learn more about state gift laws