Legislative Republicans have begun enforcing rules that bar members of the public from recording committee proceedings with WisconsinEye off the air.
Dem Rep. Clinton Anderson slammed it as an attempt to restrict public access. But a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said it was just a reminder of longstanding rules.
“With WisconsinEye gone, and more instances of videotaping in committee hearings, we felt it was important to reaffirm the long-established rules of the Assembly,” said Luke Wolff.
WisconsinEye has been off the air since Dec. 15 due to funding shortfalls. This is the first week of legislative hearings since the network went dark, and WisPolitics reporters have witnessed several examples this week of the longstanding — but little known — rule being enforced in committee hearings.
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In one instance, a staffer for Dem Sen. Melissa Ratcliff was told by an Assembly sergeant at arms employee yesterday to stop recording her boss as she testified before that chamber’s Judiciary Committee.
The Senate chief clerk Wednesday sent Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, a memo summarizing chamber rules barring members of the public from audio or video recording proceedings without permission from the Organization Committee.
The ban doesn’t apply to credentialed members of the media or Senate staff, including those working for the sergeant at arms, the chief clerk and lawmakers.
According to the memo, enforcement of the rule during a committee meeting is the responsibility of the chair.
The memo also noted state law “reiterates the supremacy of Senate Rules” when it comes to Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law that provides the public access to most governmental proceedings.
LeMahieu’s office said no specific issue prompted the memo, which was sent to remind members and staff of the rules now that WisconsinEye isn’t covering proceedings.
Assembly Rule 26 includes a blanket ban on individuals in the chamber galleries from using “any audio or video device to record, photograph, film, videotape, or in any way depict the proceedings.” Another one applies the rules of the Assembly to committee procedures.
Education Committee Chair Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, cited Assembly Rule 11 yesterday when he announced the committee would only allow hearings to be taped by credentialed members of the media.
Meanwhile, a sign was posted outside the Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing reminding visitors to be quiet at all times, that they couldn’t consume food and may not use any devices for “taking audio, video, or pictures, unless they are credentialed members of the press,” among other things.
Anderson, D-Beloit, said in a statement he livestreamed Wednesday’s Local Government Committee hearing with no issues, but was barred from doing so during an Agriculture Committee meeting yesterday.
“If that’s the direction Republican leadership is heading, it represents a clear move to restrict public access,” Anderson said. “After WisconsinEye went dark, the response should have been to expand transparency, not quietly close another door on the public. I am disappointed to see the Assembly GOP go after the public’s 1st Amendment rights.”
