State Senator Kelly Hancock spoke on a Facebook Live with members of the Greater Arlington Chamber and expressed his support for making permanent many of the restrictions on business lifted in response to Covid-19. Many of those involve applying technology to streamline processes. In many cases things required to be done in person can now be easily and securely done online. We applaud his efforts and will support him in the next session to help make that a reality.
There is another legislative activity that could use a dose of Covid-era technology: testifying before committees of the State House and Senate during the legislative session. We have all learned that virtual meetings can be productive and efficient. Applying virtual technology to the process of testifying needs serious study. The current process requires a person wanting to testify to give up significant time to travel to Austin. The uncertainty of the timing often results in long delays.
Legislators frequently ask, very sincerely, for more input from constituents. The process for testifying at committee hearings is a significant barrier to quality input.
There is no ability to plan far ahead. Committee agendas are released three or four calendar days in advance of a hearing. If a CEO wants to testify for or against a bill that will impact their business, they have to clear their schedule, travel to Austin, and follow the cumbersome process of testifying. It is onerous early in the session when little is happening on the floor of the House or Senate. After mid-April the process can be more like this:
Catch the 6:30 am flight from DFW to Austin. Arrive at 7:30 am and grab a taxi to the Capitol. Make your way to a kiosk to register to testify at a hearing. (This can only be done in the Capitol building.) Arrive at the committee hearing room. The hearing begins and the Chair calls for testimony on bills in the order in which he chooses, not the order on the agenda. It is 10:00 am and your bill has not been called. The hearing is adjourned so members can be on the floor for the start of the daily session. The floor session ends at 5:00 pm and after an hour for a supper break, the committee resumes taking testimony at 6:00 pm. Your bill is called at 8:00 pm and you finally get to testify at 8:30 pm and you are given 2 minutes to make your point. You may be asked questions, which will extend your time. You can deliver written testimony by providing printed copies to the committee staff. Some committees allow electronic delivery of written testimony. You have traveled to Austin, spent 15 hours.
It is a common complaint by members of the Legislature that only lobbyists testify. Well, business leaders have to pay them to avoid spending 15 hours for 2 minutes of input.
You can opt to register your position for or against a bill with a committee. Called “dropping a card”, this also can only be done from a kiosk inside the capitol.
Let’s encourage the Lt. Governor and Speaker to look at modifying the committee testimony process to take advantage of proven virtual meeting technology. It will provide more quality input to the legislative process if they do.