• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Subscribe
  • Donate

WyoFile

Indepth News about Wyoming People, Places & Policy. Wyoming news.

  • Latest News
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Legislature
    • Native America
    • Natural Resources
    • People
    • Photo Friday
    • Places
    • Policy
  • Voices
    • Drake’s Take
    • Madden’s Measure
    • Guest Column
    • Studio Wyoming Review
  • Supporters
    • Membership
    • Underwriting
    • Foundations
  • COVID-19
  • Latest News
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Legislature
    • Native America
    • Natural Resources
    • People
    • Photo Friday
    • Places
    • Policy
  • Voices
    • Drake’s Take
    • Madden’s Measure
    • Guest Column
    • Studio Wyoming Review
  • Supporters
    • Membership
    • Underwriting
    • Foundations
  • COVID-19

Live broadcast of committee shows public access possibilities

Live broadcast of committee shows public access possibilities

A city employee from Buffalo trains an iPhone on a Joint Revenue Committee meeting to broadcast video and audio to citizens around the state. (Andrew Graham/WyoFile)

September 12, 2017 by Andrew Graham 3 Comments

Tweet
Share
Pin
Email
0 Shares
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Residents around the state of Wyoming had a rare opportunity, albeit a brief one, to listen to their lawmakers debate policy via an online broadcast Tuesday.

Using Facebook Live, the Wyoming Association of Municipalities broadcasted a segment of the Joint Revenue Committee’s interim meeting in Buffalo. A city employee trained an iPhone on WAM’s representatives and the lawmakers, capturing the sound and video and providing it live to residents unable to travel to the meeting. Such broadcasts are a service the Legislature has thus far chosen not to provide.

 

Unlike posting official audio recordings of meetings, the Legislative Service Office could conduct live broadcasts without a change in statute, LSO director Matt Obrecht told WyoFile.

Last session, the Senate killed a bill to make audio recordings from committee meetings available to the public online. The Legislative Service Office can’t post recordings online without such a bill because of a special confidentiality statute for lawmakers, Obrecht told WyoFile at the time.

During meetings, there’s always the possibility of a conversation between a lawmaker and an LSO researcher or attorney being picked up on a recording along with public testimony, Obrecht said. Such conversations are confidential under Wyoming statute, which protects communications between lawmakers and the attorneys that draft their legislation under the cloak of attorney-client privilege.

Recordings made by his staff are considered public record, Obrecht said, which means the LSO is responsible for redacting any confidential information accidentally picked up. Thus, to post the audio online would have required more manpower than his agency could afford, he said, noting that last year the LSO staffed 156 days of legislative meetings. The failed bill last session would have made posting recordings feasible by stating any conversation picked up on the recording was not confidential.

With a livestream however, the confidentiality rules do not apply. While the Legislature is exempt from Wyoming’s Open Meetings Act, livestreams are allowed with the permission of the chairmen running the meeting, Obrecht said Tuesday. “Whatever you say, whatever’s picked up is broadcasted, it’s out there already,” he said.

If the Legislature’s Management Council directed them to, the LSO could livestream any meeting where the chairmen gave staffers permission.

In June, Wyoming PBS received permission to broadcast a joint meeting of the Revenue Committee and Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle demanded that lawmakers “step out of the darkness” in an Aug. 27 editorial. On Sunday, the Casper Star-Tribune’s editorial board called for the Legislature to do so using Facebook Live.

“The Wyoming Legislature should invest in some basic equipment – we’d suggest a smartphone microphone and a tripod, for a total that barely reaches into three figures — and suddenly be equipped to connect with the rest of its constituents,” the editorial read.

Beginning live broadcasting of meetings would need some discussion, Obrecht said, to decide what service to use and how to ensure the broadcasts would be consistently delivered from interim committee meetings in various corners of the state.

Obrecht wouldn’t be surprised if the issue came up at a management council meeting soon, he said.

 Care about transparency? Support public interest journalism with a tax deductible donation today.

Clarification: This story was updated on Nov. 20 to include the Wyoming Tribune Eagle call for livestreaming on Aug 27.  — Ed.


Popular Articles:


Wyoming GOP embraces Trump’s phony voter fraud claims


Lawmakers weigh tax relief for oil and gas, again


School finance: Lawmakers’ biggest remaining challenge


Filed Under: Capitol Beat, Legislature

Andrew Graham

About Andrew Graham

Andrew Graham covered state government, criminal justice and the economy for WyoFile from 2016-2021. Reach him at 443-848-8756 or follow him @AndrewGraham88.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Susan Wilson says

    October 16, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    Actually, the idea has the support of the majority of the legislators. HB 276 received 58 votes in the House in the 2017 session (2 members absent), and 13 votes in the Senate (17 no votes).

    http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2017/Digest/HB0276.pdf

    Rep. Sue Wilson
    House District 7 (Cheyenne)

    • City: CHEYENNE
    • State of Residence: Wyoming
    Reply
  2. Brett Glass says

    September 21, 2017 at 11:08 am

    Our ISP, LARIAT, has multi-camera livestreaming technology and expert operators who can engineer the streams. If there’s funding available, we’d be glad to send operators out to committee meetings.

    • City: Laramie
    • State of Residence: Wyoming
    Reply
  3. Sarah Gorin says

    September 19, 2017 at 8:13 am

    Excellent work by WAM! and a process long overdue. For years, affordable technology has been available to bring wyoming’s government to every corner of the state. All that is missing is a commitment from a majority of legislators.

    • City: Laramie
    • State of Residence: Wyoming
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Want to join the discussion? Fantastic, here are the ground rules:
- Identify yourself with full name and city. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish and expects commenters to do the same.
- No personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats. Keep it clean, civil and on topic.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Tweets by @WyoFile

Search WyoFile

Become an Underwriter
Sign Up for Free Weekly Newsletters

Recent Comments

  • Fay Crawford on Wyoming GOP embraces Trump’s phony voter fraud claims
  • Chuck Davis on Wyoming GOP embraces Trump’s phony voter fraud claims
  • Chuck Davis on Wyoming GOP embraces Trump’s phony voter fraud claims
  • Victoria Zero on 2020 grizzly count slips; humans involved in most deaths
  • Dewey Vanderhoff on Wyoming GOP embraces Trump’s phony voter fraud claims

Footer

Recent Posts By Date

February 2021
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
« Jan    

From The Archives

  • About Us
  • People
  • Careers
  • Freelancing
  • Underwriting
  • How to Republish
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2021 by WyoFile