On Thursday, the Hawaii Senate Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on House Bill 1481, legislation that would create a small donor public financing system for state legislative races.

Under the system, which could still see changes before final passage, candidates would collect a set number of signatures and qualifying contributions to show broad-based community support. Once qualified, candidates would receive a public grant to fund their campaigns.

Kory Payne, the executive director of Voter-Owned Hawaii said in a release, ““Special interests donate to politicians to get a return on their investment, and right now they’ve cornered the market on elections and the public is not invited to the party. Publicly funded elections will save taxpayer money by allowing politicians to make decisions based upon what’s best for the people instead of campaign donors.”

The bill has already passed the Hawaii House and the Senate Judiciary Committee. Here’s an interview Last week, Public Campaign spoke with the chief House sponsor, Rep. Della Au Belatti, about why she thinks the legislature should pass this legislation.