The Associated Press has this item regarding campaign spending by so-called super PACs. Excerpt:

A bill in the state Legislature would give voters more information about who is spending money on campaign ads.

The proposal would require super PACs and other noncandidate committees to file an additional campaign spending report earlier in the election cycle.

As it stands now, a preliminary spending report is due 10 days before the general election. But that falls after early voting begins in the state, so some voters cast ballots before the reports are available to the public. Polls open for early voting in the state about two weeks before Election Day.

“What we’re doing is trying to make sure people have that information before they go in and vote,” said Sen. Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran, chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor. “One of the big examples this year was super PACs that were involved in the GMO initiative on Maui. It wasn’t until 10 days before the election that it became apparent that the spending in that particular initiative in one county was the most-ever spent in any campaign in the state. …”

In the 2014 election cycle, “super PACs spent $10.2 million on ballot initiatives and $5.9 million on candidates,” according to Common Cause Hawaii.

GMO protest on Maui.

Ryan Burden