Choices in the chamber.

• Author: Greenberg, Pam
• Position: Issuance of personal computers to state legislatures - Includes related articles

Legislatures are plunging into the Information Age with a will - and a variety of methods.

A growing number of state legislatures now provide members with personal computers in the chamber. And while legislatures are taking different approaches to make chamber systems possible, they are increasingly providing more features, functions and greater access to information for legislators wherever they may be - in the chamber, in capitol and district offices, and at home.

Just four years ago, only members in the California Assembly, the Indiana House and Senate, the Florida House, and the Michigan Senate could get legislative information through personal computers on their desks in the chamber. In California, Florida and Michigan, the computers stayed in the chamber, even if they were portables. All the systems were designed to be as simple and easy to use as possible, and most were highly customized. Touchscreen computers with a simplified screen allowed members to view different features with the touch of a button. The computers were set up so that the screens would automatically follow along as each agenda item was considered-requiring little or no expertise.

Today, more than 20 states - ranging from New Mexico with a 30-day regular session in 1998 to California, which is full time - provide personal computers in the, chamber. Most offer legislators the full spectrum of legislative information along with Internet access and email, and a wide variety of software. And while systems are still designed with ease of use in mind, they are looking more like the average computer used in businesses every day, everywhere.

In 1995, members of the Texas House used a specialized floor amendment system, which provided them with amendments only. Members used laptop computers that stayed at their chamber desks at all times. In 1997, the system was redesigned to offer not only amendment text, but also such things as bill status and the legislative correspondence systems; local area network word processing, spreadsheet and e-mail functions; and the Internet - including Internet e-mail. Members also could take the laptops out of the chamber.

The Texas Senate didn't have a system in place until 1997, but it leapfrogged the House system in the number of features initially offered. Senators can see an automated version of the paper bill book, statutes, the administrative code, word processing, spreadsheets, the Internet and e-mail. The bill book consists of the committee report of the bill text, the analysis, the fiscal note and a list of witnesses that appeared and testified at the Senate committee hearing.

INTRANETS ARE VALUABLE TOOLS

The Texas Senate took advantage of Internet technology to create its system - by creating an "intranet." Intranets use browsers, like Netscape's Navigator and Microsoft's Explorer, but users are on an internal network that is not available to the public. Intranet technology allows users to get at information using almost any type of computer and can integrate different types of applications so that they all look the same to the user. For example, information for the Texas Senate's intranet came from several different sources and in different electronic formats - the bill information from the Legislature's mainframe computer, the fiscal notes from the Legislative Budget Board and the bill analyses from the Senate Research Center. Intranets also can provide faster access to information because they are set up on an internal network with a limited number of users - avoiding the delays the Internet's heavy traffic can cause. But intranets also can be set up to allow authorized users to obtain information remotely - from district offices or home, for example.

Intranets also allow states to take advantage of the information already available on the Web - information initially set up to provide citizens with legislative information. Minnesota, like most states, provides bill text or bill status information on the Internet. The legislative Web site also provides the journal, calendar, agenda, session laws, unofficial engrossments and conference committee reports, statutes, administrative rules, and other information.

The Minnesota House leased laptop computers for its members in 1997, provided an Internet connection in the chamber and was able to provide members with all the information already available on the legislative Web site. For 1998, the House designed a new...