text: Thanks Nathan for shinning the light into one of those dark corners of how the legislature conducts the "public's business".  My cynical view of this last week of the regular session is that none of these hearings matter.  Nobody's listening in Juneau and nobody cares; the deals are already made as to what will and won't pass.  The only real legislative crafting is on the budget and finance related issues; and the public will never see what is happening behind all those locked close doors.
  Makes one wish for a state constitutional convention to set up a bunch of dedicated funds (like education in Texas) and narrow legislative discretion.  Pretty sure we can come up with a decision app that's smarter then these 60 "representatives" and a computer accounting system that has some integrity.  How about a legislative monitoring committee populated with only public members.  Give it the power of the pen.