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Delaware State House Begins Webcasting Sessions



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Jun 6, 2007, News Report

Delawareans interested in hearing a firsthand account of what happens in the State House of Representatives need no longer travel to Legislative Hall. Yesterday, the State House began streaming the audio of its proceedings on the Internet.

"I'm really jazzed about this," said State Rep. Donna Stone. "It'll allow anyone in our state with Internet access to listen in on what their elected officials in the State House of Representatives are doing on their behalf. It's one more thing we can do to make the democratic process more transparent to the people we work for and represent."

"I'm glad the Delaware State House is now among the majority of states that webcast some portion of their activities," said State Rep. Deborah Hudson, who, like Stone, was among the group of reformers. "This was a baby step forward, but it's one I'm glad we finally took."

Stone, who is also the president-elect of the National Conference of State Legislatures, concedes Delaware is behind the curve on webcasting. "Forty-one states already webcast their legislative proceedings. While I'm a little embarrassed we're behind most other states on this, I'm excited that we've started down this path. There is some really fascinating stuff being done in other states using the Internet and technology to make the legislative process more accessible. Now that we've broken the ice, I'm confident we'll be more open to adopting new approaches."

Future projects may include providing streaming video on the Internet or offering recordings of House committee meetings.

The initiative to stream the House of Representatives' audio was done as an internal project. It required the passage of no legislation and was done with funds that had already been budgeted.

"Speaker of the House Terry Spence deserves a lot of credit for this project," Stone said. "He committed $4,400 in House funds to make this project a reality. Staffers in the Legislative Information System group and the Department of Technology and Information also merit kudos for getting this done only three months after we announced it."

"The House has again demonstrated its willingness to adopt new practices when those changes will benefit the people we serve," Hudson said. "I hope the Senate is inspired by what we've done and follows our lead."

Citizens wishing to access the House's streaming audio can follow the link.

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