HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 757 Offered January 17, 2007 Expressing the sense of the Virginia General Assembly that television coverage of the sessions of the House of Delegates and the Senate should be made accessible to public and private broadcasting interests for transmission to the citizens of the Commonwealth. ---------- Patron-- Caputo ---------- Committee Referral Pending ----------

WHEREAS, 25 states provide some form of television coverage of their legislative sessions; and

WHEREAS, the nature and extent of such coverage are as varied as the number of states providing it; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia General Assembly provides a closed-circuit broadcast of floor sessions to the buildings of Capitol Square in downtown Richmond, but otherwise bars the public from viewing live broadcasts of its legislature; and

WHEREAS, some other states provide programming that is received in most of the households in the state for several hours each day; and

WHEREAS, there is no single model for production and distribution of television coverage of legislative sessions; and

WHEREAS, several states, such as California and Pennsylvania, have a C-SPAN-type model where the cable industry distributes the programming that is produced by legislative employees; and

WHEREAS, some states, such as Minnesota and Alaska, partner or contract with local public broadcasting stations for production and distribution; and

WHEREAS, in the state of Washington, a private nonprofit corporation produces and distributes programming via television and the Internet; and

WHEREAS, the costs for providing such broadcasting are also as varied as the number of states involved, so that television coverage of state legislatures will continue to grow as production and distribution costs decrease and channel capacity increases; and

WHEREAS, the citizens of the Commonwealth have an inherent right to watch their state legislature at work; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That television coverage of the sessions of the House of Delegates and the Senate should be made accessible to public and private broadcasting interests for transmission to the citizens of the Commonwealth; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates and the Clerk of the Senate, shall, under the direction of the Joint Rules Committee of the Virginia General Assembly, ensure that television coverage of future sessions of the House of Delegates and the Senate will be provided; and, be it

RESOLVED FINALLY, That no public funds shall be appropriated or expended for the implementation of such television coverage other than those funds necessary to continue televising proceedings in the House of Delegates and the Senate for closed-circuit distribution and production of archival videotapes.