They must feel if they can get away with refusing to archive webcasts, they can get away with anything.
A report by Larry Behrens, NMI, link, reveals that the Senate Public Affairs Committee, link, voted to not webcast Committee Meetings.
Committee Meetings are widely regarded as the place where the real wheeling and dealing takes place.
Behrens reports that Senator Eric Griego argued;
“..., committees are where key decisions are made–90 percent of bills are determined in committee, only 10 percent get out here to the floor."Apparently they are considerably emboldened by successfully taking archiving completely off the table. They got away with it, scot free.
Transparency advocates got their asses handed to them on the issue of archiving. Nobody stood up to stop legislators when they decided the terms of their public service; terms that do not include a searchable archive record of their public service in our Roundhouse.
It isn't their call. The terms of public service are the prerogative of the people, not of their public servants. It is a usurpation of control over our power. It is an abuse of power.
Maybe these arrogant legislators bit off more than they can chew this time; maybe this time there will be some real outrage.
It's a big maybe.
2 comments:
hey are so out of touch with the "Typical" NEw MExican.
Example: The proposed "tortilla tax". Did they really think this wouldn't piss people off and look racist?
Don't think the 'tortilla tax' is racist - just typical bad public policy. They cut the tax on food (depending on where and how you get your food) six years ago and raised the tax on everything else that wasn't important to life - water, electricity, gas, diapers, paper towels ... so the poor, and everyone else, get screwed yet again. The move to NOT web cast committees is self serving and arrogant. Who voted on it and what were their votes?
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