Ohio House offers more hearings online

If you’re into government accountability — or perhaps masochism — you’ll likely agree with House Speaker Larry Householder that Tuesday was “a very exciting day” in Ohio legislative history.

The House added TV cameras to another committee hearing room, on the way to wiring all nine by the end of the summer.

The Glenford Republican said Ohio will join 12 other states with both livestreaming and on-demand video of their legislature.

The Senate already streams five committees: Finance, Health Human Services and Medicaid, Local Government, Transportation and Commerce and Workforce and Education. Full sessions of each legislative body already are shown via the Ohio Channel.

The addition by the House “allows Ohioans to see and hear their legislators working on their behalf. It allows them to have unfiltered, unedited access to the actions in the Statehouse,” Householder said of the newly wired hearing room.

The first gathering there was of the House Health Committee, where the controversial “Heartbeat Bill” was being considered.

Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes, House Democratic leader from Akron, said Ohioans now miss out on hearings on proposed laws that affect their lives. Online video coverage of “the People’s House” also will make lawmakers more accountable, she said.

“Increasing transparency and making government more accessible lets taxpayers know we’re working for them — together — to restore Ohio’s promise as a place where you can live, work and have the opportunity to get ahead.”

An additional committee room will go online next week.

Increasing hearings access was a Householder pledge to Democrats whose support enabled him to become speaker. No cost has been determined.