Citizen Funded Elections

Kate Titus, executive director of Common Cause Oregon, called the amendment “a testament to the hubris of the political donor class” in written testimony. The nonprofit, nonpartisan Common Cause supports IP 9, the stricter measure backed by Honest Elections Oregon. “Oregon voters will have no trouble seeing through this,” Titus wrote.

What aspect of “good government” does Hawaii do well, and where does it need the most improvement? Hawaii is truly a dynamic state. Areas of good governance that Hawaii does well include human rights as well as establishing safe avenues for citizen participation in democracy. However, this is simply not enough as we continue to struggle with participation in democracy, transparency and strategic vision. Perhaps the aspect of good governance that is most missing from our state would be strong and pragmatic anti-corruption safeguards and laws.

Common Cause Hawaii’s program manager, Camron Hurt, emphasized the need for more comprehensive changes to make Hawaii’s elections free from outside influence, more competitive and more popular. “I think those (other reforms) are all tools to fix the same wheel. Right. So I think we fixed parts of the wheel, but the wheel still isn’t moving as efficiently as it can,” Hunt said.

Camron Hurt, program manager for Common Cause Hawaii, said full public financing of political candidates would allow elected officials to focus on voters’ concerns and not special interests “by removing big money from our politics.” At the same, Hurt said, “I hope it allows for greater participation from the candidates, for a kid growing up in Pauoa or Nanakuli.” “Having the speaker’s unwavering support and leadership in this bill is astronomical at a risk to his own seat, at risk to his own colleagues who may disagree with the bill he wants to see fully financed citizen elections,” Hurt said. “It is courageous. It is commendable to have the speaker of the House take a stand and say he wants to put a stop to enormous amounts of corruption. He must be commended.”

“We’re going guns blazing for (public) campaign financing,” said Camron Hurt, program director for Common Cause Hawaii, calling it the organization’s top legislative priority. Common Cause won’t be alone. The State Campaign Spending Commission also plans to seek expansion of public financing of campaigns.

The Civil Beat Editorial Board spoke on Tuesday with the program director of Common Cause Hawaii. Camron Hurt said the organization under his leadership will focus on elections, voting access, government transparency and campaign finance reform. Hurt began by explaining what Common Cause does.