We were recently chosen to attend the bipartisan Council of State Governments’ Western Leadership Academy.

We found the diverse work experience of our fellow legislators at the academy impressive. Our classmates included small business owners, teachers, farmers, construction, medical and many others jobs.

Most important, we learned that Hawaii is the only state in the western region without some form of direct or indirect voter initiative.

Why is Hawaii an outlier in this regard, and what are the consequences?

We’re an outlier because our last Constitutional Convention was held nearly 40 years ago. Since then there has been no mechanism for direct public involvement, and the Legislature has exclusively controlled what questions may be put up for popular vote.

The consequence of denying citizens any form of direct democracy has become apparent over this time. Hawaii’s Legislature holds itself to different governance standards than the ones we impose on every other public official, and certain state-level responsibilities are chronically ignored, in part because there are no remedies when we fail to act.

Two examples of how we in the Legislature exempt ourselves from the standards to which we hold other public officials are term limits and the sunshine law.

Both apply to county councils and every state board and commission, and term limits apply to the governor. Neither applies to us.

Chronically ignored state-level responsibilities include the failure to comply with 40-year-old constitutional directives to identify important agricultural lands and meet the trust obligation of Hawaiian Homes; previous raids of the employee retirement fund; routine regulatory approval of luxury homes in the face of a growing shortage of housing for residents; and an unacceptable gap between the cost of living and average income, leading to homelessness and poverty for many.

We are proposing two new laws to address these problems.

The first provides for carefully controlled direct democracy, or voter initiative.

The second establishes term limits for state legislators.

Regarding initiatives, we borrowed lessons from other states and included limitations and safeguards on the initiative process in Senate Bill 2754:

>> No initiative can change the Constitution or address a budget issue.

>> Petitioners must obtain signatures of 10 percent of the voters in the previous gubernatorial election.

>> The attorney general must certify that the proposal is legal.

>> No initiative can address an individual or company.

>> Any law passed by initiative can be repealed by a supermajority of the Legislature after five years.

For term limits, we are proposing they apply to state legislators through Senate Bill 2753.

It is not targeted against any sitting legislator, as we propose the change be effective in four years.

It would allow 12-year terms in the House and 12 years in the Senate.

This is a longer term than allowed in the 21 states that have, or used to have, term limits.

Many of our peers in the Western states have term limits — often adopted through the initiative process.

Our peers in these states told us that the routine turnover of all members in their legislatures created a sense of community responsibility in the legislative process.

Certainly Hawaii, with one of the lowest voter turnouts in the nation, could benefit from an increase in civic responsibility.

Hawaii voters deserve a public debate on the ideas of direct democracy and term limits at the state level.

We encourage people to bring forward their thoughts, including alternative ideas and/or amendments.

But there is no question that we need to address the underlying root problems of our Legislature holding itself to different standards, and the chronic failure to fulfill state responsibilities.

We hope that these ideas will be seriously considered and get the discussion they deserve.