In a pleasing step toward greater public access, the Legislature’s Executive Board voted unanimously last week to stream live video from more committee rooms during Session:
People can already watch and listen through the internet to what goes on in room 362. That’s where the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Appropriations meets nearly every day of the annual sessions, putting together the state government’s budgets.
Audio is currently available from five other meeting rooms on the Capitol’s top floor. Video capability can be added to them in the coming months at a cost of $36,422. That would mean another eight to 10 more videos daily at least four times a week from mid-January through mid-March.
…The work by an outside vendor will take six to eight weeks to finish, which means the capability probably won’t be in place in time for the September 23 special session that Gov. Larry Rhoden called for a decision on building a new men’s prison in Sioux Falls.
But the timetable points to the video capability being ready when the Legislature opens its 2026 regular session on January 13 [Bob Mercer, “More Video More Often from South Dakota Lawmakers,” KELO-TV, 2025.08.12].
$36,422 to add video to five committee rooms sounds like a heck of a deal. When she was Governor, Kristi Noem added video capabilities to just one Capitol room, her private Fox vanity studio, and the camera and equipment alone cost the taxpayers $75,525. Of course, the Legislature is saving money by not buying make-up kits.