The oldest part of the Maryland State House, where the governor has his office, was finished in 1779 ? older than any other in the country ? and the newer part, where members of the House and Senate will be sworn in today, is 103 years old.
But despite all the marble, brass and carved wood, the General Assembly entered the high-tech arena seven years ago, allowing residents to follow its virtual proceedings on the Internet as if they were actually there.
The key to access is the General Assembly home page, mlis.state.md.us/, which got under way a decade ago, said Mike Gaudiello, director of information systems. On it, you can find the full text of every bill, track its legislative history and read the fiscal notes in which legislative analysts describe the proposed laws in layman?s terms.
“We designed it to be bill-centric,” Gaudiello said. The bills can be searched by number, sponsor and by hundreds of subjects.
People with fast enough computer connections can also listen to the proceedings in real time. But while you can hear what?s being said, the listener often may not know who?s saying it, since the rules of both chambers forbid the members from referring to each other by name. Terms such as “the senator from Baltimore County” or “the gentle lady from Prince George?s” are used to preserve decorum. Recordings of the previous days in the 90-day session are also archived.
Every legislator is issued a laptop computer, and all the buildings in the legislative complex are part of a secured wireless network. Gaudiello?s staff of 30 maintains 1,200 computers for 181 legislators and hundreds of staff, and includes a full-time trainer.
Mary Monahan, chief clerk of theHouse since 1992, said the lawmakers have become a lot more adept at their computers than they were even two and three years ago.
“But we still have paper of everything,” Monahan said. The law requires all the bills be printed, and reprinted after they?re amended. “This is very old-fashioned.”
“If the computers go down” ? which has never happened ? “we still have to go on,” Monahan said.
Constituents who prefer to get their information the old-fashioned way can phone the information desk at 410-946-5400.
