By the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Editorial Board
Something exciting (and rare) occurred in Olympia recently. The Senate approved a bipartisan (the rare part) proposal making video testimony in legislative hearings permanent.
Approval of this proposal sponsored by two Eastern Washington lawmakers — Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, D-Spokane, and Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley — is long overdue.
Allowing citizens to testify from every corner of the state rather than having to fly to Olympia or make a 10-hour or longer drive (over an icy mountain pass in the winter) simply makes sense. This technology has been available for many years.
Six years ago the Senate agreed to experiment with video testimony. It seemed to go well. Yet, it hasn’t been adopted until now. The use of this technology should spread beyond the state Senate.
“Technology offers us an opportunity to open up the doors of government to more people across the state,” Billig said. “Everyone should feel like they can have their voice heard in Olympia, regardless of where you live. Our democracy is stronger when more people are involved, and this offers another method to weigh in on pertinent issues without driving to Olympia.”
Sixteen sites throughout the state have been designated for use to broadcast remote testimony, including Walla Walla Community College. (Editor’s note: Other remote testimony sites include Bellevue College and Skagit Valley College campuses in Mount Vernon and Whidbey Island.) Remote testimony was used 28 times last year alone.
The Washington Policy Center, a public policy think tank, has long lobbied for remote testimony through its Jason Mercier, director of the Center for Government Reform based in Kennewick, often doing so so remotely.
Washington Policy Center President Dann Mead Smith was pleased reason finally prevailed.
“It is very exciting to see the Senate take this important step to make remote testimony a permanent option for citizens across the state,” he said, adding that this is an “important reform to help open the door to Olympia for all Washingtonians.”
Of course, there are times when it makes more sense to testify in person. And when there is a need to lobby face-to-face it might be more effective.
Yet, there are times — such as when Snoqualmie Pass and White Pass are closed to traffic — that in-person testimony is not possible. Rather than postponing a hearing or moving on without the testimony, going to Walla Walla Community College to provide testimony is the perfect solution.
Remote testimony provides flexibility.
The next step is for the House to follow the Senate’s lead and adopt this common-sense approach to good government.
The following appeared Sunday in the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.
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