How To Testify
To share your opinion with legislative committees, county commissioners or city council members, here are a few tips:
Get on the agenda. For the Idaho legislature, bills can move quickly, so you need to know when a bill is open for comments. You may need to call the committee secretary to check times.
Prepare your remarks ahead of time. Stay focused and get to your points quickly, especially when there is a lot of testimony. If someone before you has made your point, let the body know you share that perspective.
For the Idaho legislature:
Here is how you can participate in Idaho’s open legislative process.
The print hearing is for the first chamber. There is only the one chance to testify in the the other chamber.
There is a video testimony option, but that can be vulnerable to technical difficulties.
Legislative Agendas
Check here for daily committee agendas. Learn which committee is considering which bill. Note that agendas can change at the last minute, so keep checking for changes.
Idaho House Agenda
Idaho Senate Agenda
Emailing Legislative Committees
When emailing committee members, include the bill number and your preferred vote in the subject line. This is important because a member who receives numerous emails on a certain bill may just look at the subject line to note preferences and bypass the messages.
You will need to find out which committee is discussing the bill you are interested in. To find a committee, go to the Bill Center and find your bill, which should be associated with a committee. There is also the agenda links above.
Idaho State Senate Standing Committees