By Thomas P. Caldwell, InDepthNH.org
The State House in Concord aims to provide greater public accessibility — or at least that’s what legislative leaders and staff members are saying — and there are signs of progress, with more open meetings and more livestreaming of discussions. Yet, as Tuesday’s hearing of the House Education Committee demonstrated, they have a long way to go.
The meeting took place in Representatives Hall at the State House in anticipation of large crowds, and that’s what they got. The room was two-thirds full and, for public safety, there was a section set aside for those who wanted to attend with masks. (Most attendees did not wear masks.) At the rear of the room, on a raised platform, was space for members of the press. Masks are optional at the State House even as the surge continues.
By the time this reporter arrived (having had trouble finding a parking space in downtown Concord), there were no seats left in the press section, although there was plenty of room for additional chairs.
A sergeant-at-arms said other chairs are sometimes available but, that day, only five chairs had been set up. For me, that meant sitting on the hard platform which, by the end of the first two hours of testimony, was far from comfortable.
Fortunately, by the afternoon, fewer media folks remained and I was able to pull up a chair for the next three hours of testimony.
There were microphones for the speakers, so it was easy to follow the testimony, with a few exceptions when those speaking were too agitated to stay close to the mic.
When the public hearing ended, however, the executive committee made it all-but-impossible to follow their discussions.
The committee reformed into a tight group on one side of the hall and, when I sat close enough to hear without encroaching on their space, I was told that the audience had to sit in one of the first two aisles — which meant sitting on the opposite side of Representatives Hall from the legislators.
They were still livestreaming the meeting, but the microphones they used were not functioning properly and it was impossible from across the room to be sure who was speaking or even what some of the discussion was about.
Especially troubling was the difficulty of hearing who was voting yes and who was voting no to the controversial amendment that would prevent the federal government from requiring employee vaccines or COVID testing but also would prevent businesses and other entities in the state from exercising their own judgment on employee vaccines.
It is clear that the State House and Legislative Office Building lack the necessary audio and video equipment to allow the public to follow every meeting, and legislators are working on plans to upgrade and purchase more equipment to do so.
Still, even without that equipment, legislative meetings can be better arranged to provide the public with the best accessibility possible.
By not allowing people to sit close enough to follow the proceedings, they cannot really say there is public accessibility.
T.P. Caldwell is a writer, editor, photographer, and videographer who formed and serves as project manager of the Liberty Independent Media Project. Contact him at liberty18@me.com.