Testifying at the Legislature

One of the most effective ways you can impact legislation is to testify before a House or Senate Committee. If you are able to make the trip to Helena to do so, here are a few tips:

• Make sure to sign-in as a witness when you come in the room
• Address the committee as follows: "Mr./Mrs./Ms. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is John Doe, and I'm testifying on behalf of myself." Then just tell your story. Perhaps you will wish to close your remarks by thanking the committee for the opportunity to testify.
• Stick around until the end of the hearing, in case the committee has any questions for you. Parliamentary procedure dictates that everything be directed through the chair. If asked a question by Sen. Smith, for example, you would approach the mike and say, "Mr. Chairman, Sen. Smith . . ." But no-one expects lay citizens to be parliamentary experts. The important thing is to show courtesy and respect. One important way of doing that is to be reasonably brief (5 minutes might be a good rule of thumb as an upper limit, and there is no lower limit — 2 min, 1 min, 30 sec,. or less is all acceptable).