League of Women Voters Launches ‘The Alabama Channel’ to Archive Next Session Legislative Hearings

Montgomery, Alabama (WIATMore) — When Alabama legislators return to Montgomery in March, Alabama will have more access to legislative proceedings online than ever before, thanks to a project by the League of Women Voters of Alabama.

League launched “Strait of Alabama” Websites that record and archive commission hearings that the state has live streamed but not archived. Alabama is one of four states that hasn’t saved video of her commission hearings, according to Alabama Federation of Women Voters president Kathy Jones.

“Every state around us in the South is recording and archiving meetings. All of them,” Jones said.

Jones hopes the project will open the door to public participation.

“This is an opportunity to see what is happening to the people they have chosen to serve in Montgomery,” Jones said.

Alabama Channel uses a video transcription tool so you can search for terms and see what was discussed.

“This will be a positive step for transparency in Alabama,” Jones said.

then how To do Does the state record government proceedings? Inside the Archives and History Department, thick-bound books showcase the bills passed and the daily operations of each room.that information too on their website.

“What we have is the finished product of the legislative action, but not the actual record of the debates that took place in the State Capitol,” archives director Steve Murray said.

Murray said the decision to add cameras to committee rooms and livestream hearings has only been made in recent years, so the league’s project could encourage states to record hearings themselves. says there is.

“Alabama is not going in that direction right now, but we will see if projects in this league open up that possibility in the future,” Murray said.

Depending on how the project progresses, Murray says he is in talks with the League of Women Voters about the possibility of storing digital recordings there.

Murray says it will need to have the capacity and resources to sustain the video for years to come, but it’s possible.