Nebraskans would have expanded access to video of legislative proceedings under a bill that received first round approval on April 17.
Nebraska Public Media currently broadcasts and live-streams video coverage of legislative public committee hearings and floor debate. Written transcripts of those proceedings are made available on the Legislature’s website when completed.
LB254 was introduced by Senator Tom Brewer and would require the Executive Board to develop and maintain a publicly accessible, digital internet archive of closed-captioned video of that coverage, indexed by bill number or date, beginning with coverage of the 2025 legislative session.
Brewer said almost every other state has publicly accessible, online archived video recordings of legislative debate and committee hearings and Nebraska should join them. He says an archive would give Nebraskans access to legislative proceedings in a way that U.S. Sen. George Norris, who championed the idea of a unicameral system, advocated for.
“I don’t think waiting four to six months for a copy of a written transcript from this body is what Norris had in mind,” Brewer says, adding that members of the public cannot act as the “second house” if the Legislature’s proceedings aren’t transparent.
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(Photo: Nebraska Legislature )