ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 3, 1997 TAG: 9701030061
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
A NEW CD-ROM highlighting the basic functions of the General Assembly is proving a best seller, especially with Virginia schoolteachers. Large numbers of orders suggest not only the popularity of interactive CD-ROMs with today's computer-savvy schoolchildren, but also a scarcity of educational material about the legislature.
Perhaps, too, they indicate more public interest in the sometimes-arcane workings of the assembly and state government than is realized by many legislators. Such interest being good news for participatory democracy, the baby step that lawmakers took into the Information Age with their CD-ROM should be followed as soon as possible with bigger strides.
To be sure, state government and the legislature already have computerized a lot of information that's available to the public. But considering what is technically possible, they're still relying on the communications equivalent of smoke signals.
Take, for example, campaign-finance reports of elected representatives - an important check on undue influence in the absence of restraints on giving in the state law. If an average citizen in Roanoke is interested in how much a certain individual or group contributed to a Roanoke delegate, that citizen must travel to Richmond, visit the state Board of Elections and hunt through sheaves of paper documents. In contrast, campaign-finance records are available electronically in Florida. Anyone with the interest and a home computer can immediately find the information ``on line.''
Similarly, suppose a local builder has an interest in a bill dealing with real-estate development. In California, the builder could subscribe to an E-mail service that would automatically message him each time any change was made in the bill by, say, a subcommittee.
Of course, in Virginia, high-priced lobbyists fielded by a trade organization might call the builder to alert him of the subcommittee's action. But suppose a housewife, unrepresented by a lobbyist, also had an interest. She has the same right to the public information as the builder, and communications technology could ensure she has the same access to it.
The assembly's CD-ROM is a nice teaching tool. But it is still just a snapshot of the legislative process that was, not a moving picture of the ongoing development and administration of laws. State officials can do more to open a communication link with the citizens who are their employers.
LENGTH: Short : 47 linesby CNB