Furlough Friday Delays Campaign Spending Reports
Even campaign finance reports aren’t immune to furlough Fridays.
The so-called “final primary” reports for candidates who ran in the primary election, covering all expenses and contributions between Sept. 4-18, are supposed to be due Oct. 8. That would include tallies from the losers of the primary — Mufi Hannemann, Norman Sakamoto, John Carroll etc. — as well as those running in the general election.
The Oct. 8 due date was set according to state law: says the report is due “on the twentieth calendar day after a primary election.”
But the state’s website lists the due date as Monday, Oct. 11. That’s curious, since it marks 23 days since the Sept. 18 primary.
Barbara Wong, the commission’s executive director, confirmed the due date had been pushed back, saying the original deadline falls on a furlough day for state workers. “The law says anything due on a furlough day is due the next work day, which would be Monday,” Wong said.
The schedule I have taped to my wall apparently was set prior to the state implementing furloughs, as you can see in the photo below.
Imagine if furloughs fell on a Tuesday instead of a Friday. Would we have fall elections on a Wednesday?
I made a call to the governor’s office to ask what exactly the law says about this, and will update this story when I hear back.
It looks like furloughs won’t be affecting the remaining reporting deadlines for the year, as they all fall on Mondays or Thursdays.
