How to View or Testify at Public Hearings During COVID
The New Hampshire General Court website is where you’ll find bills, times for upcoming hearings, and general information about the legislature itself as well as its members. You can find it at http://gencourt.state.nh.us
In New Hampshire, citizens have two superpowers when it comes to affecting our state’s laws. The first is your vote, which determines the people who represent you. In the last election, over 70% of New Hampshire residents who were eligible to vote cast ballots.
The second superpower doesn’t get anywhere near the publicity of voting and is used by a far smaller group of people. But those choosing to use it can do so as many times as they want throughout the sessions of our legislature and have an impact far greater than their numbers.
What is it?
It’s your ability as a citizen to speak out in support of—or in opposition to—legislation coming before committees in the New Hampshire Senate and the House of Representatives.
While legislators tend to listen politely (but not always attentively) to the many paid lobbyists who testify, regular citizens are a different story. Legislators ALWAYS pay extra attention to what they say.
One of the few upsides of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it’s actually made it easier for regular people with jobs and family commitments to participate in the legislative process. Prior to COVID, testifying on a bill meant taking time off to drive up to Concord and quietly waiting your turn to speak in a crowded committee room. But with the pandemic still raging and over 900 bills that need to have public hearings, legislative leadership has decided to allow members of the public to listen in or testify virtually during meetings of standing house committees—including both public hearings and executive sessions. If you wish, you can also register support or opposition to a bill electronically without having to testify.
This means that, at least for now, you can participate in the legislative process via Zoom in the comfort of your home or office without worrying about driving to Concord in a blizzard—or catching COVID at the State House.
If You Want to Testify or Register Support or Opposition to a Bill Before the House of Representatives
Find the date and time the bill is being heard or acted upon in committee. You can find this information in the most recent copy of the House Calendar for bills originating in the House of Representatives and in the Senate Calendar for bills originating in the Senate. On the Calendar you’ll find the time of the hearing and a Zoom link you’ll need to use to access it remotely if you’d like to participate. If you’re looking for a particular bill and don’t see it listed on the Calendar, you can search for the bill by keywords or bill number. This will take you to a search results page that has a link to the Bill Docket. The Bill Docket page will tell you when the bill is scheduled to be heard or acted upon next in committee. (Note: Hearings for many bills have yet to be scheduled, so it you don’t see a meeting date or time for the bill you’re interested in, don’t worry. Just keep checking back over the next few weeks.)
Sign up to testify or to register your support or opposition to the bill. Detailed instructions are provided here for House bills and here for Senate bills. Make sure to sign up at least 30 minutes before the hearing. Committees are given a list of those who signed up to speak just prior to the start of the hearing. When you sign up, you’ll be asked to provide your name and indicate if you support or oppose the bill. You’ll also be asked if you want to testify. If you do, your name will be provided to the committee and you’ll be called on to speak when it’s your turn.
An alternative or a supplement to testifying is providing written testimony. Written testimony should be submitted to the committee e-mail which will be forwarded to the entire committee. If you have signed up to testify or register your opinion on a bill, the confirmation page will include instructions for submitting testimony. You may also utilize the “Email All Committee Members” link found on the relevant committee web page (Tip: Providing written testimony is helpful to committee members and gives them a record of your testimony. With dozens of bills to consider over a period of several months, it can be difficult for committee members to keep bills straight—much less remember specific testimony.)
For now, citizens wishing to testify must connect virtually through Zoom. There is no option to testify in-person. As for committee members, some will attend in-person (masks optional) and others via Zoom. Also be aware that some committee chairmen may ask you to limit your remarks to a set amount of time, such as 3 minutes. So it’s a good idea to be concise and to make sure you don’t leave an important point for the very end of your testimony.
Also New: The NH House Now Has Its Own YouTube Channel
Something else to be aware of is that if you miss a House committee hearing or executive session and want to watch it later, you can access it on YouTube on the NH House of Representatives Committee Streaming channel.