STATE News:In an effort to improve transparency and promote greater access to legislative Interim Committee meetings for the public and media, the New Mexico Legislative Council Service is now taking steps to webcast and archive meetings held across the state.
Meetings taking place in the State Capitol building are already streamed live and archived.
The move to include offsite meetings as part of the Council’s webcasting service was championed by Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D – Doña Ana), a long-time advocate for efforts to make legislative meetings available to the public online. Steinborn sponsored the resolution in 2010 that led to webcasting of the state’s in-session legislative committee meetings, and was the lead advocate for adding interim meetings at the Capitol as well as the archiving of all webcasts.
During the 2019 session Steinborn worked with legislative leadership and Council Services to secure funding for the resources required to broadcast meetings outside of the Capitol. Equipment is in the process of being purchased and tested, and the roll-out of the new service will be phased in during this interim. Meetings that can’t be webcast live due to internet issues will be recorded and archived.
“This is an important step in our efforts to provide full transparency of our legislative meetings and provide a way for constituents and the media to take part in interim committee meetings when a lot of very critical legislative work gets done,” Sen. Steinborn said. “Holding meetings away from the Capitol has always been important; it brings us directly to the communities we serve and gives us the ability to witness firsthand the issues we are working to address. By webcasting and archiving these meetings we will be bringing all New Mexicans into the process, no matter where they are based.”
To see the schedule and agendas of all upcoming interim meetings, visit https://www.nmlegis.gov/Calendar/Whats_Happening
