To see the Senate in action, Missourians must drive to the Capitol, climb three flights of stairs to the fourth floor and perch in the public gallery. Even then, many senators are still not within view.
Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, is trying to change that through a Senate resolution calling for live video streaming of the Senate. While the House has offered that service for 10 years, Senate leaders aren't enchanted with the idea.
As of 2022, Missouri and North Carolina are the only states that do not video record their Senate floor proceedings, although both of their lower chambers do.
"That doesn't matter to me," said Sen. Cindy O'Laughlin, R-Shelbina, Senate president pro tem. "We already have audio, if people want to know what's going on, they can listen to that; if they want to watch it they can come here. I think that's efficient."
The United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have been livestreaming their proceedings for 48 and 39 years respectively. The Missouri House started posting video recordings of its proceedings in 2015, so if the Senate decides to go to video, this transition would be similar to that of the federal government.
It would cost $183,000 to get a live feed up and running; Moon said that an alternative to this would be posting videos that the Senate already records during the sessions.
Moon sees resistance in "people he talks to", but he wouldn't give any specific names: "There's still some reluctance but I'll keep looking."
Minority Floor Leader Sen. Doug Beck, D-St. Louis County, is surprisingly one such person Moon could be alluding to.
"I'm afraid people will try to snip it and use it for political stuff," Beck said. "If I was in the scene of someone else's video, I'd have a problem with that."
Although Beck is skeptical of the live video feed, he is willing to hear both sides of the argument. He said he is taking a "wait-and-see approach," wanting to know what it would look like permission-wise.
Right now, if a senator wants to use photos or videos of proceedings, they must request permission from the rest of the Senate.
"I think there probably is some concern that someone might take it (the video feed) out of context," Moon said. "It sounds reasonable to me. We still have some resistance — I'm working those channels to see if we can get some (votes)."
Moon hasn't talked to the Freedom Caucus as a whole about backing his proposed resolution, but some members are okay with it.
Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, hasn't specifically addressed his Freedom Caucus peers about the resolution, but said the topic has come up and has been agreeable to its conservative members.
"We need to step into the 21st century," Brattin said. "If the United States Senate can do it, I think we, the state of Missouri, can do it."
As for the concern that video feed could be doctored and edited, Brattin said that this could happen anyway with the videos already on the Senate website: "To fear that, I disagree with."
Brattin said he believes that having a live video feed will show the transparency and accessibility of the legislative government, especially for people who don't have the means to travel to a session but want to stay informed.
"It expands the capability for the public to be involved," he said.
The past few weeks of bad weather across the state helped emphasize the difficulty for those following the Senate on its audio feed. Senators are referred to by their home county when recognized to speak. A listener who missed that moment may have no idea who is speaking.
The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 was the green light congressional committees needed to broadcast their proceedings. Although the U.S. Senate and House operate the congressional audio and video feeds, any credentialed member of the press gallery is free to broadcast the feed.
This is how the nonprofit Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN) was created, starting in 1979 for the House and 1986 for the Senate, and still runs today.
"It shouldn't be that hard, let's kick them in," Moon said about dragging the Senate into the 21st century.
If the resolution is passed, it states that a live video feed of the Senate’s proceedings will be up and running no later than the first day of March. Moon predicts that if the proposed resolution is approved, it won't be implemented until April.
Brattin said that if the Senate is apprehensive, it is because of the traditions of the Senate — he thinks that some of the "old school" senators may get in the way of approving the proposed resolution. However, Brattin said he is hopeful that when terms turn over in a few years, the public will be able to access live streams of proceedings.
