An Act To Enhance Public Participation in Legislative Committee Proceedings through the Internet
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 3 MRSA §162, sub-§18, as amended by PL 1997, c. 43, §2, is further amended to read:
18. Out-of-state travel report. To submit to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over appropriations and financial affairs a quarterly report on out-of-state travel activity of the Legislature. The report must be submitted within 15 days after the end of each quarter and must include, for each individual who has been authorized to travel, the destination, purpose and cost by funding source of each trip; and
Sec. 2. 3 MRSA §162, sub-§19, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 43, §3, is amended to read:
19. Legislative information available through the Internet. To make the following information available through the Internet: legislative documents, committee hearing schedules, work session schedules, status of legislation, voting records of Legislators, the laws of Maine, study reports and reports of other study groups established by the Legislature and any other information designated by the Legislative Council . ; and
Sec. 3. 3 MRSA §162, sub-§20 is enacted to read:
20. Participation in legislative proceedings through the Internet; permanent record. To make all proceedings of the joint standing committees of the Legislature available to the public through a live video broadcast that allows for remote public participation. The public hearing record must be a permanent record in the form of a video recording or other electronic recording. The State Archivist shall assist and advise the Legislative Council in the establishment of records management programs for the public hearing records pursuant to Title 5, section 95, subsection 7.
summary
This bill authorizes the Legislative Council to make all proceedings of the joint standing committees of the Legislature available to the public through a live video broadcast that allows for remote public participation; records of these proceedings are permanent records.