How to Testify
Why Should You Testify?
Committee hearings are an important and crucial part of the legislative process that a bill takes to become a law. In these hearings, community members have a unique opportunity to participate in and influence the legislative process by testifying for or against a bill in a committee.
What to Expect When in a Committee?
Each regular session, legislators only have 140 days to go through the hundreds of various bills that have been filed. Because of this, both chambers of the legislature depend on the committee system to keep bills moving forward before voting as a whole legislative body. Subject matter experts and the public are invited to share their perspectives and expertise that can help legislators understand the impact a bill could have on the lives of Texans.
This shows just how important committees are, as committees have the ability to amend bills, as well as the ability to allow a bill to move to the next step in the legislative process, or leave it alone altogether, also known as letting it “die in committee.”
On the day of the hearing, the committee chair calls out each bill as it comes up to be heard by the committee. After a bill is called and its author explains the bill, the chair will call out names of people who have registered prior to provide oral, in-person testimony, or “witnesses.”
When your name is called as a witness, you will go up to the committee panel or podium, state your name, who you represent, your position on the bill, and then provide your testimony.
How To Prepare Your Testimony
First and foremost, it is important to note that there are time limits to each testimony. The chair will cut you off once your time has passed. However, these time limitations can vary depending on the committee chair, as well as how many other witnesses have signed up to provide testimonies that day. So, you will generally want to prepare your testimony to be read in two minutes or less.
If you have more to say than what you can fit in two minutes, you can prepare two versions of your testimony: one oral and one written. Most committees will allow you to submit written testimony to the committee and be as long as you like – just be sure to print paper copies beforehand to deliver to them.
Testimonies typically work best when comprised of 3, simple parts: the opening, the main message, and the closing.
The opening:
.Greet the committee chairperson and the committee members.
State your name, the organization you are representing or if you are there as an individual.
State your position on the bill: Whether you are testifying in support or opposition to the bill.
The main message:
.Clearly state the reasons behind your position using data and/or stories to explain how the bill may cause or address a specific problem.
State positive or negative effects if the bill were to pass or not pass.
Do not be afraid to use your personal experiences or real life examples to support your argument. Your experience is valuable to legislators, as they can use these specific examples to justify whether to pass a bill or not to pass it.
The Closing:
Ask if there are any questions from the committee.
Offer yourself and/or your organization as a resource.
Re-state your position on the bill, then thank the committee for their time..
SAMPLE SCRIPT
“Hello, committee members of [name of committee] and committee Chair[man/woman]. My name is [insert name], and I am representing [myself / name of organization]. I am here to testify [in support / in opposition] of the bill.
Expand this section as much as possible with your personal experiences or statistics that support your position:
This bill will [harm / benefit] Texans and my community in various ways. [Insert personal/lived experience that supports your argument]. Additionally, this bill will cause [insert any data or statistics from a reputable source that supports your argument]. This bill will [address / cause] problems within my community, and we would like to see it [pass / not pass] for these reasons. I ask that you please vote [in favor / against] the passage of this bill.
I strongly encourage you to use [myself / the organization you are with] as a resource. Again, I strongly urge this committee to vote [in favor / against] this bill. I’d like to thank this committee and the Chair[man/woman] for their time and consideration. I am now open to questions.”