The Indiana Publisher

Publisher The Indiana Volume 88, Issue 3 • March 2023 Published monthly 'Transparency bill' moves to Senate As March draws to a close, the Indiana legislative session enters the final stage of law making. Deadlines are looming for bills to get out of committee and soon conference committees will dominate the calendar. Conference committees, where representa- tives from both chambers meet to work out details of bills that have been amended in the second house, are often the least transparent time of session. With last minute meetings, unreleased amendments, and loosely related legislation smashed into bills, they can some- times be an affront to the democratic process. So, it is always interesting to me to consider the bills in our legislature that seek to amplify transparency at any level of government and those threaten one of the most important tenants of our representative democracy. House Bill 1167, authored by Represen- tative Ben Smaltz (R-Auburn), is currently awaiting second reading in the Senate. The bill, which initially required the live streaming and recording of all meetings of political subdivisions, is a huge step towards modernizing local government and ensuring that citizens, who have demanding lives, can witness meetings that they have a stake in without the pressures of attending them in person. It helps, too, our reporters who are often faced with stories unfolding across multiple locations and can't be HSPA monitoring bills focused on transparency, accountability Capitol Dispatch Amelia McClure Xain Ballenger The Statehouse File An Indiana Senate committee Thursday approved legislation that would require more local govern- ments and school boards in Indiana to livestream and archive their meetings. The Indiana Senate Local Government Committee passed House Bill 1167 in an 8-2 vote and amended it to push its effective date to 2025. It will be sent next to the full Senate. Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, presented the bill to the committee, describing it as a "transparency bill." He said it would require local units of government to livestream their meetings and archive them for 90 See Session, page 2 See HB1167, page 2 Bill embraces post-COVID government livestreaming of public government, school board meetings Legislative Update Publishers: Have you filed your Statement of Ownership? If you haven't yet, please forward your SOO to sgoldsby@hspa.com by April 15. HSPAInfonet.com service suspended effective March 31 As the Hoosier State Press Association seeks to streamline our services and minimize costs, its board of directors has decided to suspend the HSPAInfo.net service March 31 and to look to other options. If you are in need of assistance please do not hesitate to reach out to our executive director, Amelia McClure at 317-809-4949 or admcclure@hspa.com. Enter the annual HSPA contest by April 27 The deadline is 5 p.m., Thursday, April 27 to enter the annual HSPA contest. The contest features more than 20 categories showcasing writing, photogra- phy and multimedia work in four circula- tion divisions. Newspapers can submit three issue for the Blue Ribbon Award, the highest accolade given by HSPA. One daily and one nondaily paper will receive this top honor. Newspapers also accumulate points for each award and the one in each division receiving the most points will be recognized with a General Excellence Award. Enter at https://www. hspa.com/hspa-founda- tion/contests/ Questions, contact Shawn Goldsby at sgoldsby@hspa.com.

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