Beginning the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday, Georgians who are interested in watching state senators at work can live-stream committee meetings being held in the statehouse.
Members of the Georgia Senate on Friday held a mock committee meeting led by Senate President Pro Tem David Shafer, R-Duluth, to test out the new wiring and equipment.
“The work of the General Assembly should be transparent to everyone without having to take off work or drive to Atlanta,” Shafer said. “Legislators do a better job when they’re being watched, and the people of Georgia ought to be able to see the laws that impact them being made.”
Shafer is running for lieutenant governor.
House committees held in the state Capitol have been live-streamed over the internet for years. Three committee rooms in the Capitol and two more in the adjacent Coverdell Legislative Office Building have been wired for video and sound. Events held in the Senate Press Conference Room also will be live-streamed.
After recordings are streamed live, they will be available to watch on demand online the same day, Shafer said. Sessions in the House and Senate chambers are also already live-streamed and archived.
Shafer said that while it won’t be required for committees held in rooms capable of live-streaming to do so, he expects all meetings to be available.
“We anticipate that all meetings of the state Senate will be live-streamed and archived,” he said. “We intend for them to be permanent records of the work of the General Assembly.”
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