A bill that would create a public funding program for state House elections passed its first reading in the Senate on Thursday.
House bill 2533, the recipient of mixed reviews, was referred to the Senate’s Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means committees.
Under the bill, candidates could collect signatures, along with $5 donations, from voters in their districts, in exchange for a sum of money from the Hawaii Election Campaign Fund, which is paid by taxpayers through a voluntary check-off on state income tax forms. Politicians then would use those funds to finance their campaigns.
Such a program went into effect on the Big Island in 2010, but ended because of lacking funds.
Get the full story, including input from a local and Oahu legislator and a college professor, in the Friday, March 7, edition of West Hawaii Today.