HONOLULU — The Hawai‘i State Senate and ‘Olelo Community Television on Monday announced that Senate hearings that are cablecast on ‘Olelo will also be available for on-demand viewing on the Internet for up to six months from the hearing date,
HONOLULU — The Hawai‘i State Senate and ‘Olelo Community Television on Monday announced that Senate hearings that are cablecast on ‘Olelo will also be available for on-demand viewing on the Internet for up to six months from the hearing date, a news release says.
Via a link provided on the Senate’s home page at www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/senate/senate.asp, users will be able to search the archive based on the closed captioning that is already offered on Senate cablecasts. Full use of the free public service requires a broadband connection.
The initial pilot project is scheduled to last six months.
“This is an excellent way to offer the public still greater access to the workings of their government,” said Senate President Colleen Hanabusa in a news release.
“It is an important step, along with our paperless initiative and providing committee testimony online, that will allow the public to follow the Senate’s decision-making process, even if their personal schedules do not allow them to come to the Capitol on a regular basis.”
‘Olelo President and CEO Keali‘i Lopez shares the Senate’s vision of making their deliberations more accessible.
“We are excited about offering this pilot service to the State Senate and appreciate their eagerness to make their legislative proceedings so readily accessible to the public,” Lopez said in the release.
“Although ‘Olelo serves the island of O‘ahu, we know our Neighbor Island counterparts value that the communities they serve throughout the state can also access their state government’s proceedings.”
Sen. Les Ihara, Jr., a long-time proponent of transparency in government, supported the online project.
“Hopefully this added transparency will give the public greater insight into how the legislative process works, and make them more comfortable with how we make our decisions,” said Ihara in the release.
“With the search feature, and together with the wealth of information the Senate has made available through its paperless initiative, anyone with broadband access and an interest in government will be able to get a close up look at how laws are being made.”
Other efforts in the Senate’s paperless initiative have included providing online access to written public testimony submitted for all committee hearings, online tracking of bill status, and RSS notification of bill status and hearing notices.
Those attending hearings can access testimony via free Wi-Fi access at the Capitol.
