Common Cause/NY Applauds Legislative Actions to Further State Government Transparency

• by Common Cause of New York

NEW YORK, NY (11/17/2009)(readMedia)-- Common Cause/New York applauds the NYS Legislature Joint Advisory Board on Broadcast of State Government Proceedings for the careful consideration it has given to how the legislature can encourage public knowledge of and participation in the legislative process through expanded broadcast coverage of the legislative chambers, committees and other important state and public interest events. Common Cause has advocated for the institution of a C-SPAN type channel for almost a decade, notably having released "The Empire State Network: gavel-to-Gavel Coverage for the New York State Legislature" in 2001.

"We applaud the Joint Advisory Board's commitment, led by Senator Jos Serrano and Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari, to open up the Legislative process with a public affairs channel so that ordinary New Yorkers can see and understand what their representatives do in Albany, as evidenced by the Joint Advisory Board's initial report," said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY. "We appreciate this opportunity to have a public discussion about the best way to realize this important goal."

The current state broadcast channel has no resources for coverage of most committee hearings, issue roundtables and presentations on important state issues, nor is there coverage of executive branch proceedings. Because there is only one channel, live broadcast of both chambers is impossible.

In October 2009, Common Cause/New York, along with Citizens Union, League of Women Voters, and NYPIRG, sent a letter to the Advisory Board's co-chairs recommending that the legislature use two principles in guiding the development of a New York State "C-SPAN": (1) use a "best practices" approach of C-SPAN, and (2) create a process that builds public support for this initiative.

We are pleased to see that public meetings such as the one being held today will help to engender public discussion and support of the initiative and we look forward to continue working with the Advisory Board to ensure that a "best practices" approach is adopted. "Best Practices" recommended by the National Association of Public Affairs Networks [www.napan.net/content/knowledgeBase/funding.php] are a powerful starting point, and an independent board that can make editorial decisions is a baseline requirement for an effective public affairs channel, in particular.

Common Cause/NY is a non-partisan citizen's lobby whose goal is open and accountable government.

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