HOUSE MEMORIAL 76

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2012

INTRODUCED BY

Cathrynn N. Brown

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL AND THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL SERVICE TO ESTABLISH A PILOT PROJECT TO DETERMINE THE EFFICACY OF ALLOWING INTERIM COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO ATTEND MEETINGS BY REAL-TIME VIDEOCONFERENCE.

     WHEREAS, the legislature's work continues to increase in both complexity and number and cannot be contained within the confines of sixty- and thirty-day sessions each January through March; and

     WHEREAS, to help solve the potential knowledge gap presented by a part-time, citizen legislature, the legislature relies on interim committees to provide both education and thoughtful policy development on a range of topics; and

     WHEREAS, because many citizen legislators must work during the interim, it may be difficult for them to take time off or to rearrange their schedules to attend interim committee meetings as often as they would like; and

     WHEREAS, it is not so much the time of the committee meetings, but the to-and-from travel time that increases the burden on citizen legislators; and

     WHEREAS, many legislators find that there are often agenda items of interest to them on interim committees on which they do not serve or that consider a topic from a different point of view than that considered by the member's interim committee; and

     WHEREAS, advancements in technology have reached the point that members could attend and participate in meetings remotely; and

     WHEREAS, several other state legislatures have developed audio conferencing and videoconferencing capabilities for their members; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's supercomputer, encanto, has robust videoconferencing capabilities with gateway facilities at twenty-eight locations in twenty-four cities around the state, primarily at post-secondary educational facilities;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico legislative council and the legislative council service be requested to establish a pilot project to determine the efficacy of allowing interim committee members to attend meetings by real-time videoconference when meetings are held at the state capitol or other locations at which acceptable videoconferencing capability is readily available; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico legislative council ask at least five interim committees to participate in the pilot project and that the council, in conjunction with the chairpersons of the selected committees, determine:

          A. whether participation should be limited to advisory members;

          B. whether there should be limits on the number of members participating by videoconference at any one meeting;

          C. the acceptable quality of necessary hardware and software to ensure that other committee members and the public attending a committee meeting can see and hear members participating by videoconference; and

          D. whether there should be other restrictions on participation to ensure that the quality of committee meetings is not negatively affected; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that videoconferencing members shall not receive per diem and mileage during the pilot project; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative council service report to the New Mexico legislative council by December 31, 2012 on the success of the pilot project, including findings and recommendations that include potential savings from videoconference participation and detailed information on the need for hardware and software upgrades at the state capitol to make videoconferencing successful for committees and the public; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative council service survey committee members and the public to determine if the dynamic of committee meetings is negatively affected by members participating via technological interface and what improvements to the system should be made to ensure that videoconferencing meets the needs of interim committees as well as the public.

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