Committee Meeting Information

March 3, 2008

Room 302

Cheyenne, Wyoming

 

Committee Members Present

Senator Cale Case, co-chairman

Representative Rosie Berger, co-chairman

Senator Bill Landen

Senator            Ken Decaria

Representative Lori Millin

Representative Sue Wallis

 

Committee Members Absent

None

 

Legislative Service Office Staff

Dan J. Pauli, Director

Jim Griffin, Information Technology Section Manager

Patty Wells, Information Technology Specialist

Randi Todd, Computer Programmer

Wendy Madsen, Legislative Information Officer

Anthony Sara, Associate Legislative Information officer

 

Others Present at Meeting

Please refer to Appendix 1 to review the Committee Sign-in Sheet
for a list of other individuals who attended the meeting.

 

Executive Summary

Before the end of the 2008 Budget Session, the Committee met on March 3, 2008 to discuss interim topic requests for Management Council’s consideration.  LSO staff also provided an overview of the public outreach provided during session based on the Committee’s February meeting requests. 

 

Call To Order

Co-Chairman Case called the meeting to order at 8:05 a.m.  The following sections summarize the Committee proceedings by topic. 

 

Public Outreach during the 2008 Budget Session

Ms. Wendy Madsen provided the Committee with the news releases that were distributed during the 2008 Budget Session. She explained that the biggest challenge in creating and distributing the releases was getting accurate information to the media before it became “old news” and meeting different media deadlines when the information became available for distribution, especially of weekly publications.  She noted that it is difficult to highlight specific legislation, given that 90 members care about many different topics and not just the topics that tend to garner media attention.  The Committee suggested that in the future, staff should include all of the releases in one place on the Web site so that they would be available to the public and legislators. Ms. Madsen noted that in the Web site redesign, she would like to develop an online “media room” that would include these types of resources. 

 

The Committee asked how the outreach efforts impacted staff’s ability to perform its duties during the session.  Ms. Madsen noted that hiring Mr. Sara, the new Associate Legislative Information Officer, allowed staff to produce the releases.  She explained that she and Mr. Sara have many other job responsibilities beyond public affairs and that reduces the amount of time that LSO can focus on public outreach.  She also noted that many state agencies have several staff members who provide public relations services. 

 

Information Technology Initiatives

Mr. Dan Pauli explained that LSO currently has $50,000 in existing appropriations plus the additional $100,000 appropriated during the Budget Session for consulting services.  Mr. Pauli noted that LSO will be working to develop a plan for use of these funds.  He noted that the LSO would like consultants to include information about what other state legislatures are doing regarding information technology.  Mr. Bob VonWolffradt offered the assistance of the Department of Administration and Information in selecting an appropriate consultant to perform project management services for the Legislature.

 

Mr. Jim Griffin explained some of the infrastructure changes that LSO information technology staff will be working on after the session is over, including upgrading servers and switching to a Microsoft environment, addressing security issues, and installing new software and hardware throughout the branch.  He explained that staff is looking at a dramatic overhaul of the Web site, with a focus on database-driven information.  He also wants to focus on using the Legislature’s document management system to improve the way the Legislature stores and finds documents.  He noted that the Legislature has much of the basic equipment and systems in place, but that a plan is needed to move forward on how to proceed with a variety of priorities.

 

Interim Topics for Management Council Consideration

The Committee discussed topics to request at the Management Council meeting for 2008 interim work.  Ms. Madsen recommended that the Committee include an interim topic to learn about existing systems in the Legislature and to develop a master information plan, using staff and consultant assistance. The Committee also discussed the need to better inform the public about what resources are already available, including access to roll call votes and amendments on the Web site.   

 

 

Mr. Pauli explained that the Committee has several topics that have already been assigned by Management Council.  Council has requested that a joint sub-committee of the Technology Committee and Select Committee on Legislative Process explore ways to reduce the amount of paper used in the legislative branch.  The Council has also requested that the Committee evaluate web and videoconferencing options.  Finally, Council has assigned the Committee to work with LSO staff on activities to promote the legislative branch. 

 

Senator Case noted that electronic voting is an issue that has been considered by different groups, but that it may be worth requesting that Council assign the topic to the Technology Committee to evaluate the technology options related to voting. 

 

Mr. Griffin explained that there are several policy issues that arise during the year that staff will need to review with the Technology Committee for their consideration, including the laptop policy, wireless access, and use of the voter hotline. 

 

The Committee directed staff to develop an interim committee request for Council based on the Committee’s discussion of topics. 

 

Meeting Adjournment

There being no further business, Co-Chairman Senator Case adjourned the meeting at 9:00 a.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Senator Cale Case, Co-Chairman

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix		Appendix Topic		Appendix Description		Appendix Provider
1		Committee Sign-In Sheet		Lists meeting attendees		Legislative Service Office
2		Public Outreach		News releases distributed during session		Legislative Service Office