Public testimony is when you attend a public hearing at your state legislature to voice your opinion on a bill. Some states also allow individuals to participate in the legislative process by submitting testimony online. Others make it a lot more difficult for the public to weigh in.
Public input is a fundamental part of any democratic system. The easier it is for the public to participate, the more democratic the process is. Whereas states that impose more restrictive testimony processes have created a less accessible and, therefore, less democratic system.
A lot of us—most of us—do not live in our state capitals and, in fact, may live hours and hours away. A lot of us—most of us—do not have the luxury of taking a day off to testify in person. The option to submit testimony online allows all of us to access our lawmakers and participate in the legislative process without having to expend time and resources traveling to our capitol.
In this analysis, I examined the ease or difficulty of providing public testimony on state legislation throughout all fifty states, plus the District of Columbia. Bear in mind that this is all on a sliding scale, as some online systems are more user-friendly and easier to navigate than others. On the flip side of that coin, some of the states that do not offer online participation make it challenging to even find committee members’ email addresses.
- Blue: States that offer the most opportunity for public input through online comment, testimony, etc.
- Yellow: States with some restrictions that make it more difficult than necessary
- Red: States with little to no opportunity for public input online
I found that only 37% of states have unrestricted public access to participation in the legislative process, while 6% of states provide public access to participation with some restrictions, and 57% of states offer no online access to legislative participation. The data suggests that “blue” states are more likely than “red” ones to embrace more accessible public testimony options, including online submissions. 66% of the states that prohibit online access tend to be Republican-leaning, while 63% of the more accessible states tend to vote Democratic.
But the most important and troubling conclusion here is that in more than half of the country, Americans are being denied the easiest and most efficient method to provide input on policies that will directly impact them. If your state does not offer the chance to submit testimony online, please take a few moments to contact your elected officials and ask why.
And if you live in a state that does offer this kind of access, take advantage of that opportunity by participating! It only takes a few minutes of your day to submit testimony or comments on bills that you are interested in. Our democracy works best when as many people as possible participate in their state legislative process.