Legislature to upgrade online viewing

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$130,000 to be spent to put Senate action on computer screens

AUGUSTA – When the new Legislature convenes in December, Mainers should be able to watch the ceremonies on their computers, as both the Senate and House plan to add cameras to provide online viewing of the proceedings. And a cable television broadcast, like the one C-Span provides of Congress, may not be far behind.

“I wanted to make sure we do this right,” said Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport. “Given the way technology is moving, I figured we should at least be at the current end of technology and not old technology.”

Edmonds has told legislative staff to negotiate to install three digital cameras in the Senate chamber. The three cameras will be controlled by a computer that will automatically instruct one or more of them to focus on a particular senator when he or she activates the microphone located on the senator’s desk. The automation will save the cost of staff to operate the cameras, Edmonds said.

The estimated cost for the cameras, computers and installation is about $130,000, which she said is available within existing appropriations for Senate operations.

“I hope this will be ready for the swearing-in ceremonies in December,” she said. “It is important to let people see what we are doing, and they expect to see, not just hear, what is happening.”

The Legislature started providing audio coverage of proceedings online in January 2002. The House added video coverage earlier this year, but with a single, fixed camera.

House Speaker John Richardson, D-Brunswick, has asked House staff to find out how much it would cost to buy similar computer-controlled cameras for the House.

“We responded to a public cry for greater participation by the public,” he said. “I am proud that we were first to open the House to visual coverage. We have a plan to move in two more cameras this year to be ready for the new session.”

Richardson said the rest of state government – agencies such as the Board of Environmental Protection – should follow the lead of the Legislature in providing video coverage of proceedings.

“I think it would be in the public interest to have these boards and commissions both seen and heard during their proceedings,” he said. “Given that we are a large, rural state and given the high interest among the public about what goes on in government that we ought to make these proceedings, both audio and video, available on the Web.”

The Legislature was not the first public body in state government to broadcast sessions on the Web. The Public Utilities Commission has been broadcasting hearings on the Internet since the summer of 1997. But no other regulatory agency has followed the lead of the PUC.

The trend of Web casting proceedings is spreading across the country. Pam Greenberg, an analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures, said 28 states are now video Web casting one or both chambers, and another dozen are providing audio Web casts.

“There is a trend to allow greater citizen access to legislatures,” she said. “We have seen a progression of states adding audio and then video, and now we have states adding hearings and other proceedings.”

Cable television also is expressing an interest in broadcasting legislative action.

Melinda Poore, vice president of Time Warner Cable, which provides about 85 percent of the cable TV service in the state, said the company is very interested in taking the feeds from the House and Senate and providing them on one of their public service channels.

“We will have to work out the details, but we are definitely interested in doing this,” Poore said. “We see this as a public service we would like to do.”

Poore said she also expects the cable feed would be offered to other cable companies in Maine as soon as details on getting the signal from the State House are worked out.

Not everyone, however, is enthusiastic about the move. Senate GOP leader Paul Davis, R-Sangerville, said that while he sees a benefit in providing greater public access to legislative proceedings, the $130,000 could be used elsewhere.

“But, as I think about it, it may be a good investment if the people can see just how much money is being spent down here,” he said. “If they see the whole thing going on, they just might want to do something about it, and that certainly would be good.”