A group of Hawaii lawmakers announced Wednesday the creation of a bipartisan caucus composed of county and state elected officials under age 40 that will work to improve government transparency and political involvement for young people.
Hawaii Future Caucus members said in a news conference at the state Capitol that they hope to work on "common-sense" legislation to make the political system more inviting and accessible for younger generations.
"Things like voter participation, things like government accessibility and transparency — those are issues that aren’t exclusive to one party, and that’s why we’re here today as a bipartisan group to address those," said state Rep. Takashi Ohno (D, Nuuanu-Liliha-Alewa Heights), a caucus co-chairman.
State Rep. Beth Fukumoto (R, Mililani-Mililani Mauka-Waipio Acres) and City Councilman Stanley Chang round out the caucus’ leadership team.
THE CAUCUS — which members have been pondering for about a year — is officially recognized by the House and plans to prepare a package of legislation to introduce at the beginning of the upcoming 2014 session.
Chang said the caucus plans to tackle issues such as broadcasting more public hearings and upping the 48-hour notice requirement for hearings, along with improving early-voting options and the voter registration process to better attract young voters.
"The bottom line here is that we hope to bring in a new generation of people into the political process: young people and people of all ages who just want to get things done, who don’t care about party lines, who don’t care whose fault and whose blame it is, but really want everybody, especially elected officials, to work together to bring post-partisan solutions to the problems that have divided us and that have so polarized our community," he said.
The Hawaii Future Caucus is working with the Millennial Action Project, the same nonprofit organization that recently helped U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., form the Bipartisan Congressional Future Caucus at the national level.
Fukumoto said the caucus hopes to eventually bring together an advisory council made up of nonprofit and business community members as well as lobbyists interested in political engagement and access issues.
