Proposal To Webcast Senate Committee Voting Shot Down

Maryland citizens will have to wait at least another year to get remote access to one of the most important but least accessible parts of the legislative process: committee voting sessions in which bills are amended, killed or sent to the floor.

The Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday voted down a proposed amendment to Senate rules by Sen. Allan Kittleman, R-Howard, that would have required Senate committees to webcast the crucial voting sessions, as the committee hearings already are. The recordings of the hearings are also archived, for later listening.

When he introduced the proposed change four weeks ago, Kittleman said he had heard from constituents who wanted to listen to committee votes over the Internet. “I think it would be another way to make it more transparent,” Kittleman said.
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