TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Various political groups, legislators and media associations voiced support Thursday for a bill that would allow audio and video from the Kansas Statehouse to go live on the Internet.
The Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee heard testimony from nearly a dozen witnesses in favor a two-year pilot program. The committee took no action on the bill, but members said they wanted to learn how nearly 40 other states stream daily events to the public.
“It’s our responsibility to ensure we have transparency in the legislative process,” said Sen. Kay Wolf, a Prairie Village Republican and sponsor of the bill. “We should welcome the opportunity to allow our constituents the ability to better understand the process and to become more informed about the issues.”
The proposal calls for installing three cameras in each of four committee rooms that are used frequently by budget, education and tax committees. The public would be able to listen or watch committee action online. The project would cost about $178,000 for the two years and then be evaluated to see if it should be expanded.
The House Appropriations Committee will have a hearing Friday on identical legislation.
Currently, only audio from the House and Senate chambers is available online.
Jim Ogle, general manager of WIBW-TV in Topeka and chairman of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters, said media resources are limited and would help reporters to better cover the news. But he also said the public would be able to see for itself how committees develop policy without being filtered through reporters.
“Democracy doesn’t work without an informed citizenry,” Ogle said.
Some who testified, as well as some legislators on the committee, say they want to go further with the project, putting cameras in all 13 Statehouse committee rooms and provide streaming access. They also would like a system that would archive audio and video.
Dave Trabert, president of the Kansas Policy Institute, presented a chart showing more than $1.5 million set aside to pay tax refunds in the Department of Revenue that could be accessed immediately. Trabert said the funds would not hurt the department’s ability to dole out refunds to taxpayers in a timely manner or hurt the agency’s operations since they are separate accounts.
Such a system could cost close to $1 million to implement and maintain, but the task was made easier in the past decade during the $330 million Statehouse renovation project. Each room already has the cables necessary to plug cameras and recording devices in to stream content.
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, tried to get a similar amendment attached last week to an open records bill, arguing that legislators should increase transparency and accountability. The motion was defeated because the bills were still pending in committees and over concerns by some senators that colleagues might use the video to grandstand.
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