News Clips

Heather Ferguson, director of state operations for Common Cause, said the good-government group supports extending Hawaii’s ban on contractor donations to include at least the officers of a contracted entity. “It erodes public trust when contractors are allowed to contribute to campaigns because of the public perception of those donations due to many of the high-profile federal cases,” Ferguson said. “It would be helpful for the public to know that contractors can’t use campaign contributions as an additional way to bid for a job.”

“In Ohio we have a system that leaves us in the dark, so what jurors are going to have to do is tease out what is legal behavior in a system that avoids public scrutiny,” said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio and a longtime Ohio advocate of campaign finance and government reform. “It’s really important that Ohioans hear what happened behind the scenes,” she said.

Tyler Daye of Common Cause North Carolina said the legislation, if enacted, could be used to punish bystanders or speakers whose words inadvertently incite violence. “If a riot takes place, some innocent, peaceful protesters may be interwoven with intruders who have come to hijack their message,” Daye said.

“Without term limits, you run the risk of having leaders who must either be politically disposed, forced out under ethical clouds, or rarely, they might just lose interest and leave voluntarily. None of those scenarios are healthy,” said Geoff Foster, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts. “Term limits are really important to ensure stable transitions of power.”

"I wouldn't be surprised if they just went through the kabuki theater, and we actually end up with exactly the same maps," Catherine Turcer, the executive director of Common Cause Ohio, which campaigns against partisan redistricting, said of the commission.

The Republican majority on the court also threw out a petition filed earlier this week by redistricting lawsuit plaintiff Common Cause urging that the GOP requests be denied and the ruling remain intact. The advocacy group, which argued the rehearing request was improper, is “disappointed the Court is giving legislators another bite at the apple,” said Hilary Klein, an attorney who filed the Common Cause motion.