The Tennessee state House is becoming more open via the Web

It only takes a brief lesson to negotiate

By Representative Susan Lynn

The Tennessee House is finally catching up with the times.  Tennesseans can now sit at their computer and watch full committee meetings or watch the House Session over the internet via video streaming.  All one need do is go to the legislature’s Web address www.legislature.state.tn.us and click on “House” and then click on “Video Streaming.”  Another way to get there is to click on the word “Schedule” just above video streaming.  This page shows a complete weekly schedule of Session and committee times as well as a link to the streaming.   

Unfortunately, there are no instructions available on line to help navigate these new services but I don’t mind giving a little tutorial to help out.  In this day and age where we can conduct bank transactions and purchase just about anything we’d like over the internet it seems ridiculous that the Tennessee House hasn’t been able to accomplish more for its citizens on its Web site before now. 

Last year there was a small and highly partisan feud among House members in order to get committee votes recorded and listed on line.  In the end, each side learned something about more open government and rule changes were enacted to record committee votes. 

The good news for Tennesseans is that all Session and committee votes are now available on line.  However, looking up the votes is still not very easy but it can be done.  To look up Session votes go to the legislature’s Web address above, click on “House” and then click on “House Journals”, next select the Session day you would like to see.  This will produce a PDF of the entire Session for that day.  The PDF format is not the best.  It is very long and cannot be copied however it can be searched.  If you are looking for a vote on a particular bill you will have to know the day the bill you are interested in was voted upon.  By looking up the bill first under “Legislation” you will be able to view the history for the bill and see the date that the Session vote was taken. 

Committee votes can be searched by going to the legislature’s Web site, click on “House,” click on “Committees,” and then click on the committee you are interested in.  The votes can be seen by clicking on “Committee Reports.”  One observation, some committees are better than others at listing roll call votes.  I noticed that my committees are simply listing pass or failure on line.  “Committee Calendar” will show you what the committee will be working on during the next week. 

Viewing Session and committees via video streaming and the ability to look up votes on line are huge steps toward more open government in Tennessee.  The Tennessee House truly is more open now than it's ever been.  Hopefully, these measures will make the Tennessee General Assembly more accountable to our fellow citizens and the citizens will play a larger role in their state government.