Remote testimony could be here to stay at the Oregon Capitol
Updated May 11, 9:57 AM;
Posted May 10, 9:13 PM
The Oregon Capitol has been closed to the public for more than a year, with committees taking testimony via remote video. The Oregonian
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At the south entrance to the Oregon Capitol sits a kiosk. With the building closed to the public, the kiosk has one job: to allow people who walk up to the Legislature to testify virtually before a committee.
The public hasn’t exactly jumped at the chance to talk to lawmakers by standing outside of the Capitol and speaking into a camera. According to the Legislative Policy and Research Office, the kiosk has been used just four times since it was installed last year.
Oregon Capitol May Retain Remote Testimony Post-Pandemic
With the Oregon Capitol closed to the public, a kiosk has been installed outside the building with one job: to allow people who walk up to the Legislature to testify virtually before a committee.
May 11, 2021 •
(Shutterstock) (TNS) At the south entrance to the Oregon Capitol sits a kiosk. With the building closed to the public, the kiosk has one job: to allow people who walk up to the Legislature to testify virtually before a committee.
The public hasn’t exactly jumped at the chance to talk to lawmakers by standing outside of the Capitol and speaking into a camera. According to the Legislative Policy and Research Office, the kiosk has been used just four times since it was installed last year.
Credit Chris Lehman / KLCC
With the Oregon Capitol closed to the public as a way of slowing the spread of COVID-19, legislative committees are taking testimony over those same virtual platforms that most of us, like it or not, have gotten used to. That means no more driving several hours to speak in front of lawmakers for three minutes.
But fully remote hearings do have some shortcomings over in-person meetings, said Misty Mason Freeman, the director of the Legislative Policy and Research Office.
“We know that we’re missing non-verbal cues, she said. We don’t get that same level of interpersonal connection. And we have fewer opportunities for informal meetings in the halls, or conversations that might be beneficial to the process.”
SALEM â Oregon House Republicans are questioning hiring practices at the Oregon Capitol, following a gaffe in which a staffer for a nonpartisan office showed clear preference for the Democratic party.
In a hearing of the House Business and Labor Committee last week, a newly hired employee for the stateâs Legislative Policy and Research Office introduced herself by explaining she had formerly worked for Democratic legislators in Utah.
âI was with the House Democrats, which is a superminority, so itâs definitely nice to be in the majority,â the woman said, in a remark that visibly surprised some legislators in attendance.