Those of us who are sick of pay-to-play politics applaud the state House speaker introducing a bill to increase public financing of campaigns; I just hope he is sincere in his support and will do what it takes to ensure his committee chairs do not kill, or water down, the bill. And when it does pass the Legislature with a supermajority, I hope he will follow through with a veto override if needed.

This bill will only help candidates running against other candidates who are not already in the pocket of corporate lobbyists.

Saiki collected and spent $300,000 in his last primary election to win by 161 votes (full disclosure: I was his opponent). This bill alone will not be enough to stop the influence of big money in politics; we also need to tighten limits on donor contributions — not more than $100 per candidate, per election — for this public financing bill to have the impact it seeks.

Kim Coco Iwamoto

Kakaako

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