"Inviting [Kentuckians] into the People's House"

A recent Twitter exchange came to mind when I read the attached op-ed by Jim Zachary, editor of The Valdosta Daily Times and president of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.

A regular Twitter user posed this question to another Twitter user (who is in a position to know):

"I heard a disturbing thing the other day. I heard the majority party sets what committee meetings are aired on KET and what is not. Has this always been a thing? Have you heard this? Committee meetings are a problem."

The response:

"They've done that for years."

Simply put, unless they travel to Frankfort to personally attend legislative committee and subcommittee meetings, Kentuckians see only those committee meetings the majority permits them to see.

And COVID-19 largely put an end to personal attendance at committee meetings by members of the public.

Imagine a Kentucky General Assembly operating under a rule of proceeding like that recently adopted in Georgia.

Zachary writes:

"Georgia House Speaker David Ralston said all House committee and subcommittee meetings will be live streamed.

"Previously, only full committee and select subcommittee meetings were made available online for the public to view live."

Ralston explained, "The COVID-19 pandemic has made social distancing an immediate priority, but this new, expanded streaming capability continues the House of Representatives' commitment to open debate on policy matters impacting Georgians. I appreciate the willingness of our members to take this next step in inviting Georgians into the People's House."

Additionally, all recorded videos of meetings and floor proceedings — not just those designated by the Majority — will be archived on the House website.

An appreciation for the value of expanded live streaming is, perhaps, one of the few positives of the pandemic.

Imagine if Kentucky's lawmakers issued a similar unconditional invitation into the People House — and not just a conditional invitation into those parts of the People's House they are willing to let us see — by live-streaming *all* committee and subcommittee meetings and archiving the videos of those meetings in a publicly accessible site.

"The people's business," Zachary correctly observed, "should always be open to the people."

Perhaps this is what the framers of Kentucky's open meetings law meant when, in enacting the law in 1974, they declared:

"The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for them to know; the people insist on remaining informed so they may retain control over the instruments that they have created."