In a press release distributed on Monday, March 17, 2020, Common Cause Hawaii praised lawmakers for taking aggressive action to limit the spread of the coronavirus in the islands.

However, the group cautioned that even during the state of emergency caused by this health crisis, “Democracy still matters.”

Common Cause underscored that even during these extraordinary circumstances, care should be taken “to maximize the ability of the public to continue observing and participating in government proceedings.”

Separately, the environmental watchdog Hawaii’s Thousand Friends questioned parts of Gov. Ige’s latest Emergency Proclamation this week which suspended, without explanation or limitations, of several important environmental and land use laws.

“No explanation is given (in the governor’s most recent emergency declaration) as to why environmental and planning laws are being suspended during this HEALTH emergency,” said Donna Wong, the environmental group’s longtime director. Among the laws being suspended are those relating to environmental impact statements, coastal zone management, and the Land Use Commission.

From the Common Cause press release:

Even though the government continues to function with limited public oversight, public officials, should maximize transparency and remote public participation and limit public business to priority functions. Public officials should do everything in their powers to maximize the ability of the public to continue observing and participating in government proceedings, following these recommendations where possible:

• Postpone routine, non-priority government action until the state of emergency has ended.
• Provide widespread public notice of scheduled government proceedings.
• Provide public access to observe government proceedings via live and recorded video available on government websites.
• Provide public ability to participate in government proceedings via videoconference where possible and, at a minimum, via telephone and submission of written testimony.
• Require all members of the public participating in a meeting or proceeding to be clearly audible and visible at all times, including to the public.
• At the start of the meeting, require the chair to announce the names of any members of the public body participating remotely.
• In the event audio or video coverage of a proceeding or meeting is interrupted, require the presiding official to suspend discussion until audio/video is restored.
• Require all votes to be roll call votes.
• At the beginning of any executive session, require all members of the public body to state that no other person is present or can hear them.
• Record all open sessions of meetings and make such recordings available to the public via government website.

Any reduction in public participation in government proceedings must not be exploited by any political party or interest group for personal, partisan, or other political gain. The same rules of access must apply to everyday Americans and well-connected lobbyists. This is a time for our country to be united to protect each other as we face COVID-19, and that includes respecting and protecting public participation in and oversight of government.

The full press release can be found here.