Iowa House 2012 proceedings to be streamed on Internet

DES MOINES – The Iowa House is going viral next month.

Six gray, high-definition cameras – some positioned near the speaker's “well” and above the rear entrance -- have been placed in the chambers for the purpose of streaming floor debate and House proceedings live via the Internet. Interested viewers will be able to have direct access to live video coverage of the House using a link on the General Assembly's Web site.

“I think giving access to live video of proceedings on the floor is the right thing to do,” House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said Monday. “It's an openness, transparency issue. That's the whole reason for it. You can get on the Internet and watch all kinds of things, and I don't think there's any reason why this shouldn't be available there, too.”

The video-streaming project will be semi-automated and utilize current staff to operate the system, House officials said. The public will not be able to control the cameras.

The initial cost of the hardware and video services was about $130,000, said Paulsen, who noted the House received a $100,000 award from IowaAccess towards the implementation costs with the remainder paid for from House expenditure reductions in other areas.

Paulsen said similar video-streaming projects have been tried in other state Capitols and generally were well received.

He doesn't believe the presence of cameras will have a noticeable effect on the way the House members conduct themselves.

“While there's a little bit of initial concern, once you get going it really doesn't change anything,” he said. “Everybody thinks it's going to, and then you implement it and it really does not. There might be a few people who speak less, a few people who speak more, but generally it doesn't change things in any measureable way. It sure doesn't change the substance.”

International Roll-Call, the current provider of the House voting system, installed the cameras and integrated the project into the current voting maching system. Granicus, a webcasting provider for state government, will provide unlimited distribution of the live video stream. The video will not be archived initially.

The technology will enable the system to automatically mix the camera feeds based on the microphone controls and show split-screen video when there is a floor debate between two House members. Legislators' names will be part of the video stream.

Video will not roll if the House is adjourned, recessed or standing at ease for long intervals. There will not be cameras in committee meeting rooms.

“If we let people know it's out there, I believe there will be people that will take advantage of that,” Paulsen said.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said the Senate chamber has lighting and other issues that currently make it difficult to stream video there at this time, but he did not rule out Internet viewing of Senate proceedings at some time in the future.