Hawaii Votes Forum

NEWS RELEASE

Hawaii Voters Get New Transparency Tool
Powerful, free website empowers citizens to track activity of state legislature and individual lawmakers

March 24, 2009 --- Citizens now have a powerful, online tool to track the actions of Hawaii’s state legislature and individual legislators. HawaiiVotes.org is a free website that provides concise, non-partisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill, amendment and vote in the Hawaii House and Senate. These are all sortable by legislator, issue category, keyword and more, allowing a citizen to quickly create a custom “voting record guide” for any legislator on any issue.

How did a state representative or senator vote on an issue or bill that you care about? What bills and amendments did each legislator sponsor? What legislation actually became law this year – and what did not? What would all these bills actually do (vs. what their sponsors intend)? Which legislators have missed the most votes, and how many did yours miss? The answers to all those questions and more are at citizens’ fingertips 24 hours a day on HawaiiVotes.org.

HawaiiVotes.org is a free public service from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii (GRIH), a nonpartisan, nonprofit research and educational institution. The purpose of the new site is to inform citizens, media and public officials about legislation that affects their families, schools, jobs and communities.

Grassroot Institute President Jamie Story says it's a great tool for anyone who is either frustrated with the performance of elected officials or is just plain curious about the process. “The new website empowers citizens to actually participate in the democratic process,” she said. “HawaiiVotes.org will shed great light on our state legislature and government.”

The site also provides other features, including a comments section/forum where citizens can share their views about particular bills or other state public policy issues. A blog aggregator displays the most recent post of the state’s leading political blogs both left and right, and “LegislatorPedia” and “JudgePedia” shed additional sunlight on the Aloha state’s elected officials and judiciary.

“State government is involved in so many areas of our lives and economy; HawaiiVotes.org has never been needed more,” said GRIH Communications Director Tom McAuliffe. “It’s free, easy to use, fast and informative. Think of it as a giant spyglass on the Hawaii State Legislature!”

For more information please visit www.Hawaiivotes.org and www.grassrootinstitute.org

-GRIH-

Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Office: (808) 591-9193
eMail: info@grassrootinstitute.org
http://www.grassrootinstitute.org

Grassroot TV
http://www.youtube.com/user/GrassrootHawaii

The mission of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii is to promote individual liberty, free market economic principles and limited, more accountable government. 

Right on Tom.  I would just like to add that the more people who actively use the site, the better it will get.  The public's knowledge of pending legislation and the stance of their representatives on bills being debated will increase exponentially with the addition of each new user due to the multiplier effect that occurs when each individual user shares with his friends and family what he has learned.  Consequently, legislators will increasingly keep in mind that they have to craft their legislation for the eyes of the general public, and bills will (hopefully) be written from a more conscientious adherence to promises made on the campaign trail.  On that note, please keep using Hawaii votes, and spread the word!