Savvy citizens.

• Author: Bourquard, Jo Anne
• Position: Internet users and political participation - Includes related articles

Suddenly 30 million people are surfing the Net (sales of PCs are outpacing sales of TVs), and legislatures are doing their best to provide them with quick access to legislative doings. Will electronic communication spur citizen involvement in state government? Lawmakers hope so.

People have checked out from the democratic process because they think their voices don't count any more. It's our responsibility to change that. Government needs to reconnect with the public, and making government information readily available is a great first step," says California Assemblywoman Debra Bowen.

To address growing demands from computer savvy citizens, businesses and other government entities, state legislatures are finding new ways to provide access to legislative information. They are using on-line data bases, the Internet, computer bulletin boards, CD-ROM and multimedia public kiosks to make information quickly and easily available.

Alaska, Illinois, Florida and Virginia were among the first state legislatures to provide dial-up access to their legislative computer systems. In the 1970s, business firms, lobbyists and some private citizens searched legislative systems via computers equipped with modems, primarily to obtain bill status information. By 1985, 11 state legislatures offered dial-up access to the general public.

Today, all but a handful of states make some type of legislative information available on-line either through subscription services or through the Internet. The range of information offered has expanded to include administrative codes, attorney general opinions, bill history, bill index, bill status, bill text, budget and revenue information, case law, the state constitution, committee hearing schedules, committee reports, legislative calendar, legislative journal, legislative rules and procedures, library holdings, lists of lobbyists, session law, statutes and voting records.

HAWAII FYI

Hawaii was the first state legislature to offer legislative information through the Internet. Through a tie to the University of Hawaii Library's CARL network, Internet users could connect to the Legislature's ACCESS system on the Hawaii FYI gateway. ACCESS contains the text of bills and resolutions, bill status, committee hearing notices, Capitol logistical information, and a tutorial on how a bill becomes law. Hawaii FYI, run by the information and communications services division of the state's Budget and Finance Department, provides free access to legislative, local and state government information through the Internet or direct dial-up. According to Senator Carol Fukunaga, the governor's office recently proposed that more services be made available via the Internet, such as state tax information and forms. She predicts that the kinds of information available electronically to residents of Hawaii's island communities will continue to expand.

"The legislature's ACCESS project was our first prototype for distributing legislative information electronically," she notes. "With newer technologies available today, we can use the Internet and e-mail to communicate with even broader groups of citizens."

California was the first state to pass legislation (in 1993) requiring public access to legislative information through the Internet. Assemblywoman Bowen, who carried the legislation, says that the purpose of the law is to make the Legislature more open to the public. "If students in the schools get used to talking to their representatives on the computer, participating in government will be a lifelong habit," she explains.

The Internet now provides some type of legislative information in more than 40 states. Most legislative sites provide information through the World Wide Web, a part of the Internet system that provides text, graphics, sound or video. Some legislatures provide information through gopher, an early Internet program that organizes information into simple text and menus, or through a combination of World Wide Web, gopher and other Internet connections.

"VIRTUAL TOURS"

Legislative home pages on the Web have colorful graphics and photographs of state Capitols or official legislative seals. A few states offer "virtual tours" of their Capitols. The South Carolina General Assembly (which has two World Wide Web sites) shows photographs of artwork displayed in capital buildings. It also includes a "Kids' Page" that features cartoon characters and answers the question: "What does the General Assembly do?" The site features pictures of state animals...