For the first time in my life I am hopeful about government. I am hopeful that the citizens and state legislators can work together to fix our broken democracy and make our government accountable to we the people, as it was initially intended.

My name is Kehaulani Fanene and I live in Laie, Hawaii. I am a proud constituent of Sen. Gil Riviere. The resolution I’m excited about is SCR 76, which is the strongest statement Hawaii can make against corruption and to demand free and fair elections in America.

I can’t think of anything more important right now because every issue that we all hold dear is being stopped by the amount of special interests and dark money pouring into our elections. It is out of control and we need a big solution — a U.S. constitutional amendment that solves this growing problem for the long run.

On April 28, 2010, Hawaii became the first state in the nation to call on Congress to propose an amendment to overturn the disastrous Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission high court decision. With eight years of inaction from Congress on campaign finance reform, even with a Democratic president and both chambers of Congress controlled by Democrats, it is time for Hawaii to lead once again.

Congress has ignored us, but thankfully we don’t have to wait on them. We can take responsibility ourselves right here at the state level because there are two ways to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution: two-thirds of Congress can propose an amendment, or two-thirds of the states can apply for a convention to propose an amendment. Once proposed by either method, 75 percent of the states would have to approve any amendment.

History On Our Side

Historical precedent is also on our side as more than half of all U.S. constitutional amendments have included an Article V convention campaign. As another scholarly report titled, “The Other Way to Amend the Constitution: The Article V Constitutional Convention Amendment Process,” points out, “The Convention Clause provides an important means to adopt or force Congress to adopt amendments that are perceived to be in the national interest by significant percentages of the American population, but that are detrimental to the interests of members of Congress.”

As clarified in the well respected Rotunda Constitutional Law textbook, “for Article V provides that no proposal (either from Congress or from the Convention) can become part of the Constitution unless three quarters of the states ratify it. Thus, Article V, when it created the amendment process, also created a built-in democratic check.”

The stakes are far too high to force our children to solve it.

The time has come for us as a nation to stand up and face the corrupting influence of money in our political system. The states and the people must work together so that our voices will be heard once again in our government.

This issue is urgent. The stakes are far too high to force our children to solve it.

Five states — California, Vermont, Illinois, New Jersey, and Rhode Island — have all taken this important step and Hawaii should be next. SCR 76 recently passed favorably out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and could soon pass the entire Senate. I call on my fellow Hawaii citizens to get involved — please call your state senator and respectfully urge him or her to support SCR 76 for the future of our democracy.

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