HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	19
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

requesting the house of representatives to broadcast more legislative proceedings and post them on the legislative website.

     WHEREAS, transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their government is doing on their behalf; and

     WHEREAS, transparency is government's obligation to share information with citizens, while providing the people the opportunity to tell their elected officials what they think of a particular piece of legislation, before it comes up for a vote; and

     WHEREAS, a more transparent government begins with public engagement which enhances the government's effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions; and

     WHEREAS, without the ability to watch legislative hearings and floor sessions, a huge segment of our population is excluded from observing the legislative process; and

     WHEREAS, with fewer newspapers and TV news outlets in our state, there is reduced news coverage pertaining to the legislature, making citizens further removed from the legislative process; and

     WHEREAS, the legislature has the opportunity to address the lack of transparency and public participation by using the technology we have at our disposal today through video, webcasting, and audio transmission to the public; and

     WHEREAS, for our democracy to work properly, citizens are making every effort to stay more closely informed and engaged than ever before to engage in and become more involved in the political processes; and

     WHEREAS, anyone that has the capability to view or monitor government proceedings can easily keep informed and be able to voice their approval or objection via email or post on a website or blog a link to a precise segment of a particular hearing or floor session; and

     WHEREAS, broadcasting hearings and floor sessions will allow all interested citizens and stakeholders to evaluate, scrutinize, or support their elected officials' work at their discretion; and

     WHEREAS, although the House of Representatives broadcasts selected hearings to the public, only the Senate makes the broadcast available on-demand on the legislature's website; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, that the House of Representatives is requested to broadcast video or transmit audio of committee hearings and floor sessions to the public; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the video or audio transmission be made available on the legislature's website for future viewing; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the House Majority Leader.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________
_____________________________		_____________________________
_____________________________		_____________________________
_____________________________		_____________________________
_____________________________

Report Title: 

Legislative broadcast; web posting