Delegates’ video will be streamed online

On the issue of transparency in government, some Democrats and Republicans are casting aside partisanship and speaking with one voice this General Assembly session, which is due to convene today at noon.

Just days ago, a decision of importance to open government advocates was reached—that of streaming the video of all House floor proceedings online so citizens could view and hear in real time the debates of delegates.

"We think it's awesome," said Benjamin Marchi, state director for the nonprofit and free-market Americans for Prosperity, in a Friday interview shortly after House Speaker William Howell, R-Stafford, announced the plan. "Obviously, since having pushed this last year, we feel good they have gone ahead and opened up government a little more."

The Senate side already streams video at its online site. In a press release, Howell attributed the decision to follow suit on the House side to an ongoing effort to realize the party's promised ethics reforms.

"In the 2009 session, we also will begin recording subcommittee votes (another first) and posting them online for the first time ever," he continued in his press release.

On Tuesday, two more Republicans united with a Democrat in a press conference at the Senate Building to promote and highlight upcoming legislation.

"Transparency," said John Taylor, from Gainesville, whose nonprofit issue advocacy group Tertium Quids was hosting the affair, "is an issue whose time has come."

In attendance—and agreeing with that principle via sponsorship or support of various related pieces of legislation—were Sens. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, and Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, as well as Del. Ben Cline, R-Amherst. All are pushing to require Virginia's budgets and expenditures be posted online.

"It will help us by putting millions of eyeballs on our budget," said Cline, who added his passion for the open government measure stemmed from seeing a lottery ticket showing Donald Trump's picture.

"I know Donald Trump doesn't do anything for free," he said, and following what he described as a lengthy inquiry process, he finally learned the cost for this licensing agreement. "It was a quarter-million dollars. That upset me. That upset my constituents when I told them about it."

The cost for posting Virginia's budget was figured at $300,000 last year, Cuccinelli said. But "that estimate is outrageously high," he said, as other states post the same without any price tag to taxpayers. This year's estimate is not yet available, he said.

The idea of an online budget has been brought before the General Assembly in past years. During the last session, one such bill was shot down largely due to efforts of Sen. Edward Houck, D-Spotsylvania, who is also chairman of the subcommittee that deals with Freedom of Information Act issues, according to speakers and audience members who recalled the vote.

Open government is an issue of legislative concern this session on the local level, too. The Prince William County Schools included in its 2009 legislative priorities a push to modify FOIA laws pertaining to employee salary information, which is currently open record.

You can see the Prince William schools salaries on our Web site at InsideNoVA.com, keyword: database.

Because "the media publicized the salaries of all PWCS employees by providing an online data base … [and] many PWCS employees were understandably troubled by this disclosure of their personal information," the schools ask the General Assembly maintain "the privacy of our teachers and other employees" and allow for the omission of their names, the legislative priority reads.

Staff writer Cheryl Chumley can be reached at 703-670-1907.