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The Ins and Outs of

Committee Hearings

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Preparation is half the battle

Things to Prepare:

Your parking plan
Your bags: electronics, cords, chargers, layers, provisions
Your attire
Your path from security to the hearing room
To get lost
Your DDP (Devil Derailment Plan)
Your testimony (oral and/or written)

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How to Register to Testify: HOUSE

5-step registration process
Use one of the touch screen kiosk stations
You can choose to save your profile information to use for future hearings.
Kiosks are located in the Extension Levels (E1 and E2)

House Witness Registration Site

Witness Registration Instructional Video

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How to Register to Testify: SENATE

Find the cards at the back table of the hearing room and/or with the clerk at the front of the room
Cards are turned in during the hearing to the clerk

Start at the kiosks

If the bill is listed with ALL options provided

If the bill is NOT listed OR provides only the register option

Proceed the same as the House process from previous slide

Committee uses the Paper Witness Card System for oral testimony

For the Senate, the process is a bit different. You should start with the Senate Kiosks – it’s the same concept as the House Kiosks but you cannot use the House Kiosks to register on Senate bills. Use the Senate Kiosks which are also located in the Extension - just on the opposite hallways

At the Senate Kiosks- you should try to sign up for your bill. If your bill is not listed OR it provides the option to ONLY register your position but doesn't allow you to select testify then that tells you to use the Paper Witness Card system sign up if you are wanting to provide ORAL testimony.

So for instance:

State Affairs could utilize the paper card system for registering your position AND testifying. But Health and Human Services could have it set up that you use a kiosk for registering your position only and paper cards for those wanting to provide oral testimony.

This is really committee specific and confusing. Your best bet is to start with the kiosks with a senate hearing. And go from there if you are wanting to provide oral testimony and that option is not on the kiosk.

If your Senate committee is using the paper card system, then you can find the cards at the back of the hearing room or with the clerk. You should turn your cards in directly with the clerk.

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�How to Register to Testify: �Either Chamber�

Register FOR, AGAINST, or NEUTRAL/ON a bill

Register as: self AND with your organization ONLY if you have permission to represent them officially

You register TO testify or NOT TO testify. What does this mean?

For BOTH chambers: You have to be ON SITE to register – be it using a kiosk, your own personal device or the witness card system - you have to be physically present at the capitol and you MAY NOT register for anyone else, whether they are physically there with you or not.

When you register, you register FOR, AGAINST or NEUTRAL/ON

Neutral / On : means you support with changes only or you wish to provide information to the committee

To testify: means you plan to SPEAK

REGISTERING/NOT TO testify: means you are simply registering your position on the bill. You can then stay for the hearing or not. If you plan on submitting WRITTEN testimony, you may want to stay for the hearing in order to hand it in during the hearing.

The 3 levels of hearing participation:

Level 1: Registering your position (for, against, on) only

Level 2: Registering your position AND providing written testimony and

Level 3: Registering your position AND providing oral testimony. (it is common practice to turn in written testimony with your testimony.)

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I’m Registered! What to expect?

Hurry up and wait! (Chair determines bill order, not the agenda.)
If it’s a smaller hearing, you will be called up one at a time to podium (as pictured)
If it’s a larger hearing, you may be called up 4 at a time and be seated at a table facing the dais
Always speak clearly into the microphone
You are usually called in the order that witnesses registered

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Testimony Time

Make sure you have read and understand the bill.
Your hearing notice should tell you how much time each witness will have to testify, usually 2 or 3 minutes.
Have about several copies of your testimony (with any supporting documents) printed out and hand to the clerk when you are called up. (The hearing notice will also tell you how many packets to bring.)
There will be a timer. It starts flashing with 30 seconds left.
Respect the timer.
Make sure you have practiced out loud with a timer.

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Testimony Time (con’t)

THE FIRST LINE OF EVERY TESTIMONY SHOULD BE:

My name is XYZ. I am the [title of your organization if you have one.] I am representing [organization] and myself, and I am speaking [for/against/on] the bill.

Chairman XYZ and honored members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.

[Begin testimony]

THE LAST LINE OF EVERY TESTIMONY SHOULD BE:

I urge you to vote yes/no on HB xyz. Thank you.�

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Testimony Time (con’t)

How to give effective testimony:

Hand your written testimony to the clerk when you are called up
Be logical, truthful, concise, and factual. Provide stats.
Be relatable. Emotionally connect. Humanize the truth.
Relay how if this bill were passed, how you/your business/your family would be positively/negatively impacted.
Find one concrete idea on which to shape your testimony on. Organize your friends/team around all the other ideas so that each testimony is: meaty, unique, and powerful.
PRACTICE! Preferable with someone who does NOT know your issue. Do you make sense to them?
Legislators *can* ask you questions. No need for panic!

Every bill is going to either add to the current law or take something away. If you have a personal experience with how the current law is, then you can speak directly to the changes being made. It’s important to be specific about why the changes a certain bill proposes are a good idea or a bad idea. Or how you/your business/your family would be positively/negatively impacted by the bill.

Pay attention to the other people who testify on the bill that you’re interested in. Try not to waste your time repeating what they say. Sometimes it can be effective to say, “I agree with this person who said ‘X’ because ‘Y.’” That helps amplify your message because the committee can see there are a lot of people who feel the exact same way. The more specific you can be, the better.

Not all of the questions will be unfriendly, so take a minute to think about what the question is. Just because a question is being asked, that doesn’t mean the committee members disagree with you. They could be trying to help you make your point. It’s perfectly acceptable to say: I wasn’t prepared to speak on that today. May I follow up with the Committee with that information?

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Final Thoughts

You are QUALIFIED!
The capitol is YOUR house. The legislators work for YOU!
It’s everybody’s first time to testify at some point.
You belong! You can do it!
TFVC has created a Capitol Survival Guide. Check it out for parking, maps, and everything you need to know.