How tough need it be to contact legislator?

Last year, Bigelow ran a resolution in the House saying reporters couldn't walk on outside aisles of the House Chambers floor to talk to leaders while in session. House members passed the resolution, but decided not to make it active until the 2005 session, when the 75-member House would be in their new, temporary chambers.

Reporters, who in the new quarters sit in public galleries behind plate glass windows, are now allowed to walk out into the chambers when both senators and representatives are not actually in session. And that privilege is, apparently, causing other members of the public to seek equal access.

Hillyard said he and other lawmakers have gotten complaints that lobbyists and others can't get to talk to some legislators.

"The question is, should others (beside the media) have better access" to legislators, Hillyard said.

Currently, members of the public can send in a note via the Sergeant of Arms to a legislator. Often, legislators will walk out of the chambers to meet in the often-crowded hallways with constituents. But some legislators, especially if they are in leadership positions, may have dozens of notes sitting on their desks, and can't, or won't, come out to meet with all the citizens and/or lobbyists who want to see them.

"Some people are saying their notes are not getting in," or if they are, are being ignored, said Hillyard.

Bigelow said perhaps some kind of "instant messaging" could be installed so constituents waiting in hallways could immediately send a message to a legislator's laptop computer screen in the chambers, asking them to step outside for a minute.

"We are doing a pretty good job currently" in talking to constituents, said Bigelow. "But can we do better?"

He added that during the discussions someone could talk about actually restricting access, "but no one has brought that up; we want more access."

Because interior House and Senate offices are closed to the public, some legislators are leaving the floor, walking to caucus or out to their underground, secure parking and are not available to the public, both lawmakers said.

The same basic physical set-up will be in the remodeled Capitol, said Dave Hart, executive director of the Capitol Preservation Board. However, some senior House and Senate members' offices will front a public hallway, and they will have to walk among the public to get to the chambers or committee hearing rooms.