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Plugged In, Tuning Up: An Assessment of State Legislative Websites
State Responses and Updates
Maryland
Visitors are encouraged to look at the site (http://mlis.state.md.us) and consider the following:
Legislator Information
There are profiles of each legislator, as cited in the "Considerations" section, although the summary table indicates there are not.
Legislative Tracking and Monitoring
- Legislative Calendar: Maryland, unlike many states, has a very fluid calendar structure. In particular, floor calendars are not known/published in many cases until just before each day's session convenes. Once session is in progress, our calendars ARE available on the web site. The web site refers to calendars as "agendas". Since your review was done when we were not in session, you would not have been able to see this happening.
- Committee Schedules: Committee hearing schedules are published in advance on the web site, and the complete schedule is updated as it changes. There is a link on the main page menu, entitled "hearing schedule" which directs users to these page. This link is actively update year-round.
Legislative Administration
All the items cited in the report as "No" are available on the Maryland web site, and are reached by following the "about the general assembly" link prominently posted on the main page.
State Resources
- There are links on the main page to each of these items. There are three separate links to pages with this information-- "About the General Assembly", "Maryland Manual", and "Maryland
Electronic Capital". The last is a well-publicized links page for e-government in Maryland.
- "Budget Data" is available from the pages mentioned in the previous item. In addition, during the legislative session, there are links on the main page to information on the Governor's proposed budget, and legislative budget actions.
Site Navigation
- What's New: New items are flagged with an appropriate "what's new" icon when changes are made.
- The web site has been designed to be "self-documenting" -- that is, on each page, either common-sense, descriptive names are used for links, and text links whenever possible, or else short documentation/description of how to use the features are included on the pages themselves. It is not felt that a separate documentation or help
page is needed. On page 34 of the OMB Watch report, this very recommendation is made-- to break up help sections "to match specific sections of a site".
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