House Majority Leader Ken Martinez, D-Grants, says he believes there’s a strong chance video webcasting of House proceedings will begin no later than the 2010 legislative session.
“I feel confident the overwhelming majority of the members of the House want to get us to a professional, reliable video webcast as soon as possible, and hopefully in time for our next legislative session,” Martinez said in an interview.
The House unanimously approved on Tuesday official audio webcasts from the floor and some committee meetings that should begin within days. The legislation, House Resolution 2, sponsored by Martinez, also allows committee chairs to decide whether to allow webcasting from their committees’ meetings.
The House didn’t make any formal commitment to expand the webcasting to include video, but what Martinez says is true: Most House leaders and many other members have stated their support for video webcasting and their intention to make it happen by the 2010 legislative session.
In the meantime, Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones is webcasting audio and video from her committee meetings.