House webcasts would cost $1.3 m

Delivering video of state House of Representatives sessions to computers would cost $1.3 million in the first year and another $500,000 after that.

The bulk of the money for creating the House show would go to equipment, wiring and set up costs, according to legislative staff research. The recurring costs would pay for maintenance, closed captioning and staff time.

The goal, said state Rep. Cullie Tarleton, is an open, accessible government.

"All of us want total, complete openness and transparency," said Tarleton, a Blowing Rock Democrat.

Tarleton is chairman of a House committee studying what it would take to broadcast or webcast video of the House's work. Committee members on Wednesday said they supported starting with video on the Web, but buying equipment that would make it easier to eventually show sessions on television. The higher-end video cameras would also allow the news media to use video clips.

Of course, the projected state budget deficit of $2 billion or more might make the House's video plans a tough sell. The other problem, at least for now, is that the Senate has no parallel effort in place.

So broadcasting House sessions would only make sessions 50 percent transparent. More like opaque, really.

More after the jump.

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Web casting would offer a way to track who is actually watching.

Rep. Grier Martin, a Raleigh Democrat said whether people are watching shouldn't determine whether the service remains available. The point is to show the voters that the House is proud of its work and has nothing to hide.

"We've got sort of a circus around here and there's a big, tall wall around it," Martin said.  

Starting a broadcasting service presents some questions, like who sets the rules and decides what gets shown. Other states don't allow reaction shots, which means you'd miss out on the groans or grimaces. 

And don't forget a lot of the debate wouldn't necessarily make for riveting viewing.

Rep. Thom Tillis, a Mecklenburg County Republican in his freshman term, compared House business to being an airline pilot.

"It's like hours and hours of boredom punctuated by minutes of sheer terror," Tillis said