Into the Swamp
Let’s walk through testifying on your first bill taken from Pete’s Bills (01-17-2023) HB2119 Medical Debt Garnishment
Washington State Legislator Website … it is where the journey across the swamp begins. Unfortunately, it is where you can get lost and drown before you even start. It is better to skip over this welcoming home page. Because you virtually can not find “where to log in” from the home page. Go here instead.
COMMITTEE (CSI) SIGN-IN ACCOUNT PAGE
Unfortunately, you can only select one bill at a time at the end of this process. So, you have to go through this process for every bill you have read and want to testify on.
BEFORE LOGIN OR ACCOUNT CREATION
If you have not yet created an account, you will see a page that looks like this. No worries, you can easily fill out the form and make your account before you do anything else. Be sure to “Bookmark” that new CSI sign-in page after you have created your account, it will save you so much time.
CSI AFTER LOGGING IN
HOUSE COMMITTEE SIGN-IN PAGE
The CSI Account Page magically transforms after you sign in. It becomes the House Committee Sign-In Page! This is where we select Which Committee is working on the bill that we want to comment on, and, what date, and finally the bill we want to testify on.
House, Senate, Joint, or Agency. HINT: You can tell that this is a “House bill” because the House puts “HB” before the bill number.
WHAT COMMITTEE?
At first, you only see one drop-down box on this page. Choose the committee first by clicking on the drop-down arrow and highlighting “Civil Rights & Judiciary” from the list that appears below.
WHAT DATE?
Right away, you will see another pop-up appear on the right, asking you to choose What Date from the committee schedule. Select, “January 17, 2024”.
WHAT ITEM?
Magically, a list appears below entitled, “Select Agenda Items“. It is a list showing all the bills for that date with selection buttons on the left. Click to pick which ONE you want. Then “Select the type of testimony” by clicking on whatever types are still there for us to use below.
The possible types are “In-person” during the hearing, “Remotely”, “Position Noted for the Legislated Record (Vote-Only)”, or “Written Testimony”. They stop taking testimony for each bill at different times depending on where it is in their process.
- Before session
- In Session
- Out of Session
It is extremely hard to keep track of where the bills travel. If we are too late the list gets shorter and even disappears for submitting testimony. Be patient with yourself, it takes time to travel and learn the paths in this swamp.
This warning should be shown on all the Legislative website pages at the top of their pages.