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Monday, November 21, 2005

Ind. Gov't. - House to put Ways & Means Committee on Internet; implications

The Indianapolis Star has posted a report this morning that:

Hoosiers who want to see more legislative action in the 2006 session will be able to watch hearings of the powerful House Ways and Means committee over the Internet.
House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, announced today that the committee's room on the fourth floor of the Statehouse will be equipped with cameras and microphones to allow Hoosiers to watch and hear the debate through www.in.gov/legislative.

The 2005 legislative session was the first year for the proceedings on the House floor to be video broadcast over the Web. That feature also will be improved this year to allow observers to see roll call votes on bills and the names of legislators who are speaking.

In addition, one other committee room will have hearings broadcast over the Internet -- committees will rotate through this same basement committee room.
Bosma said the House is taking an important step in improving public access by broadcasting hearings of the House Ways and Means committee, which is in charge of setting tax and spending policies for the state.

During budget years, this committee decides how to divvy up billions of state dollars between schools, health care programs and government agencies. The committee room only fits a couple dozen spectators, is usually packed with lobbyists and the media, and is often standing-room only, making it hard for the general public to catch the action.

In addition, "[Rep.] Espich will hold three meetings in December on House Bill 1001, a property tax relief package for homeowners. He plans to introduce this bill tomorrow, which is Organization Day. The hearings will be Dec. 8 at 1 p.m., Dec. 15 at 9:30 a.m. and Dec. 22 at 1 p.m."

This is all very good news. During the summer, at least one interim study committee hearing (on the BMV) was broadcast over the Internet. At the time I thought -- I could get used to that real quick.

The House also archives its session videos, which makes them much more useful and valuable. For one thing, citizens can watch in the evenings or on the weekend. To illustrate: here is the last session. We can only hope that the House maintains this archive, perhaps as a supplement to the Journal. Or as a DVD.

The same goes for the new videos of the Ways & Means meetings, and hopefully more committees will follow.

The Indiana Senate is in danger of lagging way behind here. For one thing, it did not archive its videos during the last session (or if it did, it did not make them available online). This means that the citizen or student who cannot get away from work or school to watch the General Assembly cannot do it over the Internet either, except for the times the Senate is meeting in the late afternoon or evening. And there is no indication thus far that it will extend internet coverage to its committees.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 21, 2005 12:35 PM
Posted to Indiana Government