Hawaiʻi legislature prepares to conclude, transparency advocates cry foul

Normally, residents can appear in person to voice their concerns about proposed laws and even answer questions from lawmakers. Ma says that makes for better government and better policy. In the era of COVID, only written testimony was accepted, which she believes is an inadequate substitute.

“I understand that we’re all trying, but we’ve had months to do something better,” she noted.

The Maui County Council and Honolulu City Council have been meeting during the pandemic and accepting live constituent testimony using video conferencing and in-person appearances. Maui Councilmembers had such a system up and running as far back as late March.

In a normal year, not every hearing and vote at the Capitol is broadcast live. House Majority Leader Della Au Belatti says expanding streaming capacity took precedence over in-person testimony.

“That [remote testimony] just added a complicating factor that we could not deal with in this time period,” Belatti said. “I think we would all want in-person participation, but this is the reality of 2020.”

It is worth noting that in previous sessions, lawmakers have considered and failed to pass measures that would have created a system for remote testimony.  That is a move long called for by neighbor island residents, who are now forced to fly to Oʻahu if they wish to participate.

“Residents from neighbor islands don’t have the same chance to testify at hearings,” said Nicole Woo, senior policy analyst with the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice. “It’s truly unfortunate that they haven’t addressed the need for remote testimony before the pandemic.”