Oklahoma House begins webcast
Brad Bauman
http://www.edmondsun.com/opinion/x1085946693/Webcast-creates-more-transparency-in-state-House
Webcast creates more transparency in state House
REP. JASON MURPHEY The Edmond Sun
EDMOND — In recent days there has been a good deal of debate
surrounding the fact that the federal Congress is not allowing C-Span
cameras to televise the meetings of the health care legislation
conference committee. This debate has illustrated the importance of
allowing the citizens to observe legislative proceedings.
In the summer of 2008, I wrote a series of articles in which I defined
a checklist of items that the taxpayer could use to see if their
elected official was truly representing the citizens or was
representing the bureaucracy, special interests and the status quo. One
of the most important of these items is that of transparency. In my
view, transparency issues provide the citizens with a defining issue by
which they should hold an office holder accountable.
If the office holder is opposed to openness and transparency then it is
my belief that he is acting contrary to the principles of good
government and should be replaced as soon as possible. Oftentimes those
opposed to these reforms will cloak their arguments behind any number
of superfluous arguments but the end result is the same: They don’t
want the citizens to know what goes on in government.
As a Guthrie city councilman, I observed the impact that televising
City Council meetings had on the local governing process. I advocated
for the creation of the telecast. I possessed the belief that if just
one city councilman would be willing to ask questions and represent the
citizens through the openness provided by the telecast, the citizens
would be able to see for themselves what the issues were and observe
the various motivations of the elected officials for themselves. To
this day, I enjoy pointing to the City of Guthrie telecast and Internet
feed as a demonstration of how the citizens can monitor the activities
of local government.
I have strongly advocated that this same type of service be made
available for those who wish to monitor the Legislature. I feel the
Legislature should set the example in demonstrating the importance of
public access to legislative proceedings. Legislative proceedings
should have been televised many years ago and I believe the delay in
providing this accessibility to the citizens has been inexcusable
considering that many city governments, county governments and school
boards have been broadcasting their meetings for years.
This is why I am especially appreciative of the fact that Speaker of
the House Chris Benge has directed that a Webcast of House of
Representatives proceedings will now be made available through the
okhouse.gov Internet site. The Webcast should be available starting
with Gov. Brad Henry’s State of the State address next month. I
encourage you to take some time to watch this Webcast during the
upcoming legislative session. As you observe the legislative
proceedings, please do not hesitate to contact me with your input,
suggestions and questions about the issues being considered by the
Legislature.
REP. JASON MURPHEY, R-Guthrie, represents House District 31, which
encompasses all of Logan County and a portion of northern Edmond. He
may be reached via e-mail at jason....@okhouse.gov.