What can you do to make a difference on bills?
Action step #1: make sure the bill you support has a hearing. The committee chair – in consultation with other committee members – will decide which bills will get a hearing. A bill that has passed the Senate or House won’t automatically get a hearing. Although many bills have died, there are still too many bills for the committees to consider, and many more will die without a hearing. You can check to see if your bill has a hearing by going to the Legislative website and typing in the bill number at “Bill Information.” This will take you to the bill page for your bill. Next, scroll down to the bottom of the “bill history” and see what it says. If the last entry shows a referral to a committee, but does not indicate that a hearing has been scheduled, then your bill does not yet have a hearing. If you notice that a bill you support doesn’t have a hearing, you can ask the committee chair to give it a hearing.
Action step #2: if your bill is on the list for a hearing, sign up to testify. Once your bill has a hearing scheduled, you can provide live testimony at the hearing if you like, or provide written testimony. For live testimony, in front of the committee, you can sign up anytime, but must do so at least one-hour before the hearing begins. If many people sign up, you may not be called on to testify due to limited time. After you sign up, you will receive a link by email, and you follow that link at the time of the hearing.
You can also provide written testimony on the bill, anytime up to the hearing and 24 hours thereafter. Also, if you wish you can just indicate if you are pro, con, or other on the bill without testifying in writing or live.
If you want more information on how to testify, check out Remote Testimony Guide on the DRW website.
Watch the committee action. After the Tuesday, March 9 cut-off, the Legislature’s policy committees will be meeting and the hearings will all be covered in TVW. To see what is happening today, go to the main page of the legislative website.
You can find the calendars for legislative action at “Agendas, Schedules, and Calendars.”