Gov. Susana Martinez
Gov. Susana Martinez says her administration is going to webcast meetings of the State Investment Council and some other executive branch boards and commissions, and adds that others should not be prohibited from webcasting such meetings.
The news comes hours after I challenged Martinez in a commentary to start webcasting executive branch meetings on top of the legislative webcasting her office is already doing.
“People should not be prohibited from filming or recording public meetings of the executive, and our office will begin webcasting certain meetings ourselves, beginning with the State Investment Council,” Martinez said in a prepared statement.
The SIC webcasting will begin with the council’s next meeting in March. Martinez didn’t elaborate on what other executive branch meetings her administration will webcast.
Martinez has come under fire from some lawmakers for webcasting and archiving committee meetings and using the records as part of a lobbying effort on behalf of legislation she’s pushing. Earlier this week, senators passed a resolution requiring anyone wanting to photograph or film committee meetings to obtain permission from the chair and ranking member.
In my commentary, I defended Martinez’s right to webcast public legislative meetings, but also urged her to lead by example:
“She’s forcing archiving on the Legislature, and that’s great. But she should also be webcasting and archiving at least some meetings of executive branch boards and commissions.
“Perhaps start with the State Investment Council and State Transportation Commission. Those are two public bodies under Martinez’s control that deal with a lot of money. It’s important to make their meetings more accessible too.”