Nonprofits Sue Hawaii Over 'Deceptive' Gut-And-Replace Legislative Practice
Continuing their crusade for a more open and transparent government, two Hawaii nonprofits took the unprecedented step of suing the state Wednesday over the Legislature’s ongoing practice of gutting and replacing bills without giving the public its constitutionally required opportunity to participate in the lawmaking process.
Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, represented by The Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest, asked the 1st Circuit Court to void a recent law because legislators overhauled the bill late in session without giving the fundamentally changed version three readings in the Senate. But the groups are hoping a court decision will also set a precedent that ends gut-and-replace practices in the Legislature.
“Gut and replace and other deceptive practices have been used for years to cut the public out of the conversation. Enough is enough,” Common Cause Hawaii Executive Director Corie Tanida said in a release. “Everyone, especially our lawmakers, should respect and abide by our State Constitution. Nobody is above the law.”
Since 2014, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters have given out Rusty Scalpel Awards to highlight the bills that passed each session with the least amount of transparency. But the practice has continued unabated.
Read more: https://www.civilbeat.org/2018/09/nonprofits-sue-hawaii-over-deceptive-gut-and-replace-legislative-practice/