The Indiana General Assembly has a well-deserved reputation for inaccessibility and adherence to old fashioned traditions. Cutting-edge technology could change that perception if a proposal to broadcast all House and Senate deliberations on the Internet becomes law.

During the upcoming 2001 legislative session, Rep. Dave Crooks (D-Washington) will be offering a bill that would lead to Webcasting of all Statehouse legislative activities. "With nearly 6 million Hoosiers in the state, many of them having a direct interest in what is going on in the General Assembly, I think we need to find a way to make this information accessible to them," says Crooks.

Across the country and the state, Webcasting is becoming the preferred method for increasing access to the legislative process. According to Common Cause, 19 state legislatures already broadcast legislative deliberations on the Internet, four more states are building that capability and both Fort Wayne and Bloomington Webcast their local government activities.

At a hearing last week of the General Assembly’s Regulatory Flexibility Study Committee, Common Cause’s Nicholas Hess testified in favor of Webcasting. "With Webstreaming, citizens can observe live sessions as they happen and view previous sessions at their convenience, without the filters of the media," Hess said. "Properly implemented and managed, Webstreaming can provide an enhanced understanding and public participation in the state’s legislative process." Hess acknowledged that many computers still provide poor video quality on the Internet, but he pointed out that the more important audio content is already easy to access.

Crooks acknowledges that his proposal faces an uphill battle. The start-up costs may be as much as a quarter-million dollars, and there is some resistance inside the General Assembly to having legislators’ every move visible to the world. But Crooks has a vision for the future that includes high school government classes regularly monitoring the session and two-way streamlining allowing for participation in hearings by persons in remote areas of the state.

"We should not fear this," he says. "It is good policy. And isn’t a few pennies per Hoosier worth it to open up the legislative process?"

fquigley@nuvo.net

(State Rep. Dave Crooks wants to put the Indiana General Assemply on the Web.)Eetcayk told NUVO that the origin of the party’s name change evolved from a discussion about how the Libertarians/ Darwins have descended from an overwhelmingly white, upper-middle-class, professional membership base. "Sure, this switch won't endear us to tree huggers or anyone in the ghetto," said Eetcayk. "But we got ours, and we want to hang on to it without paying taxes. So who gives a damn about anybody else?"

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