A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to appropriate funds to increase legislative transparency.
Whereas, the North Carolina General Assembly seeks to operate in a manner that is open and transparent to the public; and
Whereas, the North Carolina General Assembly continues to enhance the technology used by its members, staff, and the general public; and
Whereas, it may be challenging to follow the movement of a bill from filing, through committee with amendments and committee substitutes, to floor votes and passage over to the alternate chamber and through its procedures, with potential substantial changes from the original content and title; and
Whereas, video broadcast of House Legislative sessions are now available to the public, but not accessible to those who are hard‑of‑hearing or deaf; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the General Assembly, Division of Information Systems, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2020‑2021 fiscal year. The funds shall be used to (i) determine how to enhance the North Carolina General Assembly's current web‑based bill tracking system and (ii) plan, install, deploy, and test a closed captioning system for video broadcasts and video replays of daily legislative sessions and any recorded committee meetings.
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2020.