WHEREAS, prior to 2020, the Delaware General Assembly only streamed live audio of its floor action in the House of Representatives and Senate; and
WHEREAS, prior to 2020, the public did not have online access to the recordings of the floor action in either chamber of the General Assembly; and
WHEREAS, prior to 2020, most of the committee meetings in the House of Representatives and Senate were not streamed online nor recorded in any fashion; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Delaware General Assembly last year to adopt new protocols and reconsider how it shares its proceedings with the public; and
WHEREAS, the General Assembly typically conducts its business during the middle of the work week, 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 stream all audio and video of their floor action and committee meetings, record this material, and provide public online access to it; and
WHEREAS, since the spring of 2020, the Delaware General Assembly has adopted and implemented practices for streaming the audio and video of its floor action, as well as all House of Representatives and Senate committee meetings; and
WHEREAS, recordings of the floor action in the House of Representatives and Senate have been archived and available for online public access since last spring; and
WHEREAS, recordings of most committee meetings have remained unavailable to the public; 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 equipment and software to facilitate online streaming and archiving of the General Assembly’s activities; and
WHEREAS, as the General Assembly demonstrated in 2020 and 2021 that it has the capability to quickly and inexpensively adopt practices to make itself more digitally transparent and accessible to the public; and
WHEREAS, there is no reason why the Delaware General Assembly should not commit itself to investing in the technology and infrastructure needed to empower citizens to better engage state government by accessing the work performed by their elected officials.
NOW, THEREFORE:
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the 151st 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 an online archive.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the General Assembly Streaming Working Group shall consist of two members each from 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 top official of each agency. The Director of the Division of Research shall select one of his two appointees to serve as 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
34
through
37
of the formation of the General Assembly Streaming Working Group and the need to appoint members, 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 House of Representatives and the Senate chambers, as well as all publicly accessible rooms in Legislative Hall and the Tatnall Building where committee meetings are usually held.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan should emphasize the use of 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 this plan should include a protocol for streaming and recording the audio/video of any public committee meeting not taking place in a space equipped for it.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the General Assembly Streaming Working Group, referencing the practices used by the state legislature as part of its COVID-19 operational protocols, shall create a plan for an interim system for streaming, recording, and posting all of the committee meetings and floor action of the House of Representatives and Senate between January 1, 2022 and the date on which the permanent system it is developing under this concurrent resolution is fully installed and functioning.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan should be completed and delivered to every member of the 151
st
General Assembly, the governor, and the Delaware Public Archives no later than January 15, 2022. It shall also be posted on the General Assembly’s website no later than January 15, 2022.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the 151
st
General Assembly are requested to approve the implementation of the plan via a bill that includes funding for the project in the first fiscal year following the enactment of such legislation.
