Editorial: Live stream Maryland General Assembly floor sessions

...It is an excellent opportunity for the public to participate in the legislative process, and it doesn’t require a trip to Annapolis to do so.

When it comes to regular sessions and debates in Annapolis, however, things aren’t quite so transparent.

Maryland remains one of just a handful of states that does not offer live streaming video of debates on the floor of its two chambers: the Senate and House of Delegates. It does offer audio of these sessions, but because of a rule that prohibits the use of personal names, it is practically impossible to know who is saying what.

The state does live stream and archive videos of committee hearings, but committee voting sessions where members actually debate the bills are not recorded or archived.

Efforts to change this have stalled in recent years. Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and others have pushed for legislation to outfit the 120-year-old Maryland State House with video cameras in order to live stream these proceedings and have them archived in the name of government openness and accessibility. Last year, Hogan’s Transparency Act of 2018, received an unfavorable report in the House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee and never made it out of a Senate Committee.

The argument, primarily coming from Democratic leaders in Annapolis, against live streaming has been that it costs too much. According to an article from MarylandReporter.com on last year’s Senate committee hearing on the legislation, the $1.1 million price tag was again the concern from committee Democrats. Much of that is one-time costs in the first year to purchase the equipment and have it installed. In out years, the costs ranged from approximately $200,000 to $217,000 for staff to operate and maintain the equipment...

https://www.carrollcountytimes.com/opinion/editorials/cc-op-editorial-video-streaming-general-assembly-20190121-story.html?fbclid=IwAR2afvtt6mNwgvtK4T05BMtNcUuVjH8va0tc7jhXyhSYXSfv_6F7sLgE40o

Gov. Larry Hogan wants live video of legislative sessions

Gov. Larry Hogan wants live video of legislative sessions so badly he said he’s willing to work with lawmakers to address what he said might be their concerns over the use of salty language.

The governor called on the General Assembly to pass his bill that would require both the House and the Senate to provide live-streamed video of all floor sessions and archive those proceedings. Currently, the legislature only provides live audio streams of sessions, though bill hearings in committees are video and audio.

http://thedailyrecord.com/2017/02/22/hogan-offers-seven-second-delay-warning-label-amendments/

A to-do list for the legislature: Live-streaming floor sessions

Despite plenty of sniping back and forth between Gov. Larry Hogan and the General Assembly, this year's legislative session has gone pretty smoothly. The legislature passed Mr. Hogan's budget quickly and with little debate, and Mr. Hogan decided to allow into law the vast majority of the bills the legislature sent his way early enough to set up a potential veto fight. Still, there are a number of important pieces of legislation whose fates are left to be decided before the General Assembly adjourns Monday night. Here are a few that ought to be top priorities...

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Live-streaming floor sessions
We can't quite fathom how it is that legislation sponsored by Del. Kathy Szeliga, the minority whip, and Del. David Moon, a Montgomery County Democrat, to require the House and Senate to live-stream floor debates hasn't even gotten a committee vote. Both chambers now live-stream (and archive) every committee hearing, and the kind of grandstanding critics of this measure say they fear has not come to pass. We suspect that the cost estimate for this measure is higher than necessary — $1.2 million for start-up costs in the first year and about $400,000 a year after that — but it would be worth it even at that price. People shouldn't have to drive to Annapolis to find out what their elected representatives are saying as they decide whether to pass or reject legislation.