Internet Coverage of
State Legislatures

By Chris Brantley, Director
Gov't Relations & Operations, IEEE-USA

With the 2001 legislative sessions just around the corner, IEEE U.S. members in many states will have new and expanded opportunities to keep tabs on their state legislatures on-line. Driven by the revolution in Information Age technologies, most states are aggressively looking for ways to deliver information and services to their citizens electronically by e-mail, dial-up access, CD-ROM and the Internet. In recent years, several state legislatures have gone beyond merely posting information and publications on the Internet in order to offer live/recorded audio or video coverage of legislative proceedings.

Internet coverage of state legislative sessions began in Washington in 1996. By 1998, seven states were transmitting their sessions and in 2000, twenty-four states provided coverage of floor deliberations in one or both chambers of their legislatures.

States That Covered Floor Deliberations in 2000

The California Senate and Assembly, the Louisiana House, the Nevada Senate and Assembly, the Oregon Senate and House, and the Washington Senate and House broadcasted all or most commerce related committee hearings in 2000.

The Connecticut and North Carolina legislatures provide limited coverage of hearings. Only selected public hearings are transmitted in Connecticut. In North Carolina, only meetings of the full appropriations committee or full finance committee are broadcast.

Floor sessions or committee meetings are not the only transmissions in some states. The California State and Nevada Senate and Assembly also cover press conferences. The Idaho and Nebraska legislatures offer educational videos, entitled "Saved by the Bill" and "There Ought to Be a Law" respectively. Nebraska provides a quick summary of the action at the end of each legislative day, hosted by a staff person. Washington also broadcasts forums, round tables and special addresses.

A few legislatures (e.g., Georgia, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas and Washington) archive their Internet broadcasts of legislative proceedings. The Louisiana House saves the coverage from only the most recent committee meetings. Beginning in 2001, Ohio will offer streaming audio and video coverage that will allow users to search archives for proceedings on a particular date, or locate a bill or a specific individual or group that is named in the tape.

Many states work with public television stations, educational institutions or nonprofits to provide Internet broadcasts. These organizations may already have the technology and infrastructure (i.e. sound and video equipment, cameras, control rooms, etc) necessary for the broadcasts, helping to keep costs down.

Like other legislative issues, Internet coverage has its proponents and opponents. Fans argue that Internet coverage:

• Helps bring government closer to constituents;
• Offers greater flexibility in program scheduling than other broadcast venues;
• Allows legislature and citizens to be independent of television stations to carry the broadcast signal; and
• Is reasonably priced, especially when compared with television broadcasting.

Critics contend that Internet coverage:

• Allows downloaded remarks to be manipulated, taken out of context or used for political purposes;
• Can be skewed by the leadership to provide an unfair amount of coverage for the party in control; and/or
• Benefits lobbyists and legislative and government employees more so than the average citizen, who may be less likely to watch the proceedings.

Links to legislative Web sites with streaming audio and video coverage can be found on NCSL’s site at: www.ncsl.org/programs/press/leglive99.htm

The author wishes to acknowledge the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) as the primary source for the information contained in this article. IEEE-USA is a founding co-sponsor of NCSL’s Center for Technical Information.

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Last Updated:  20 December 2000