The House has passed SCR 131, the rule change resolution to allow archiving of the video and audio streams of legislative proceedings, on a 65-1 vote, with just Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, dissenting. “We’re trying to find that sweet spot where we’re allowing these proceedings to be archived in the future, and at the same time protecting the legislative process,” House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, told the House. “It’s a necessary new rule, and I think it’s a good new rule and a good start.”

Under the rule, streaming could be suspended on a two-thirds vote of the body, which would be the House, the Senate, or the committee involved. The House also approved two Senate-passed measures that direct the courts that legislative intent should be gleaned from the actual words of legislation and from the journal, not from statements by individual legislators on the floor of either house or in committee. That was a concern of some legislative leaders who had blocked archiving until this year.