WHEREAS, the Delaware General Assembly currently streams only live audio of its public proceedings in the House of Representatives and Senate; and
WHEREAS, the majority of the committee meetings in the House of Representatives and Senate are not streamed or recorded in any fashion; and
WHEREAS, the General Assembly’s proceedings are typically held during weekdays, when many Delawareans cannot easily travel to Legislative Hall or listen to live feeds of the action; and
WHEREAS, other state legislatures in the nation employ technology to stream online all the audio and video of their floor action and committee meetings; and
WHEREAS, streaming audio and video can be easily captured, archived, and made available for on-demand viewing via the internet; and
WHEREAS, there is presently no online archive of any of the General Assembly’s floor activity, even though the audio of all sessions is recorded; and
WHEREAS, the Delaware General Assembly has a duty to the citizens for which it works to be as open and transparent in its operations as possible; and
WHEREAS, there is a broad range of existing equipment, software, and options to facilitate online streaming and archiving of the General Assembly’s activities; and
WHEREAS, there is no viable reason why the Delaware General Assembly should not commit itself to invest in the technology and infrastructure needed to empower citizens to better engage in the democratic process by accessing the work performed by their elected officials.
NOW, THEREFORE:
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the 150th General Assembly of the State of Delaware, the Senate concurring therein, that the Division of Research, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Delaware Department of Technology & Information (to be known as the General Assembly Streaming Working Group) are requested to cooperate in creating an implementable plan to stream audio and video of all General Assembly public floor proceedings and committee action; record all such material; and make these recordings available to the public via a web-based archive.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
that General Assembly Streaming Working Group shall consist of two members of the
Division of Research
, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Delaware Department of Technology & Information. The representatives of each agency shall be determined by the heads of each agency, with one of the members of the Division of Research selected to serve as the chairperson of the group.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the General Assembly Streaming Working Group may add ad hoc, non-voting members as needed to complete its task.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
the General Assembly Streaming Working Group
should receive staff support from the Division of Research, and other such support as may be needed and requested from among the members of the working group.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Division of Research shall guide the General Assembly Streaming Working Group by doing, at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) Setting a date, time, and place for the initial meeting;
(2) Notifying the individuals listed in lines 26 through 29 of the formation of the General Assembly Streaming Working Group and the need to appoint a member, if applicable.
(3) Supervising the preparation and distribution of meeting notices, agendas, minutes, correspondence, and reports of the General Assembly Streaming Working Group.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan crafted by the General Assembly Streaming Working Group should assume the purchase and installation of the technology and devices required to facilitate the streaming of audio and video from the chambers of the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as all publicly accessible rooms in Legislative Hall and the Tatnall Building where public committee meetings are usually held.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan should emphasize the use of automated systems that can be accessed and used by legislative staff and legislative fellows with a minimum of training.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan should consider cost-effective solutions when considering how to capture, stream, record, and archive high-quality audio and video of the General Assembly’s floor proceedings and committee work.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan should contain, but not be limited to, the equipment, software, and required infrastructure and training that will be acquired; the approximate total cost of the project; and a schedule for implementing the system.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan should consider cost-effective solutions when considering how to capture, stream, record, and archive high-quality audio and video of the General Assembly’s floor proceedings and committee work.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that that this plan should include a protocol accounting for the audio/video recording of any public committee meeting not taking place in a space equipped for online streaming and that such recordings should be posted to the online archive within 24 hours of the conclusion of the meeting.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan should be completed and delivered to every member of the 151
st
General Assembly, the governor, the Director and the Librarian of the Division of Research of Legislative Council and the Delaware Public Archives, and posted on the General Assembly’s website no later than January 15, 2021.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the 151
st
General Assembly are requested to make the plan the subject of a Bill or Joint Resolution -- requiring a vote by both chambers of the legislature and the signature of the governor – to approve the implementation of the plan and request the Joint Finance Committee and Joint Bond Bill Committee to include funding for the project in the state capital budget in the first fiscal year following the enactment of such legislation.
