This guide was originally produced by Citizens Count. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
If you want to make a personal statement about a bill, you will have the most impact if you attend a public hearing in person. The New Hampshire House and Senate do not allow people to give testimony by Zoom. However, if you can’t attend a public hearing in person (and can’t have someone deliver testimony on your behalf), there are still some opportunities to share your opinion online.
1. Find the public hearing details for the bill you are interested in
If you want to register your opinion on a bill online, you need four pieces of information:
- The bill number
- Whether the bill is in the House or Senate
- The name of the committee considering the bill
- The date of the public hearing
You can find this information by typing the bill number in the “Find a Bill” search on the homepage of the official legislative website, gencourt.state.nh.us.
On the results page, “General Status” shows whether the bill is in the House or Senate.
“Next/Last Hearing” shows the name of the committee considering the bill, plus the date, time, and location of any upcoming public hearing.
An earlier column in this series provided information on how to find bill numbers you are interested in. If you want to browse bills by topic, try visiting citizenscount.org/bills.
2. If the bill is in the House, prepare a statement
House committees allow you to submit a written statement online. Senate committees do not accept written statements, so if your bill is in the Senate, skip to step number three.
Use a professional tone in your statement but don’t be afraid to share personal stories. Individual stories are often more persuasive than statistics.
Keep in mind that legislators receive a lot of documents, so get to your point quickly and clearly.
3. Register your opinion on the Legislature’s website
To register your opinion on the bill, go back to the Legislature’s homepage, gencourt.state.nh.us and scroll down. Near the bottom of the page is a box titled “Meeting Resources.” If your bill is in the House, click “House Sign-in Form and Online Testimony Submission.” If your bill is in the Senate, click “Senate Remote Sign In.”
Each link will take you to a form where you will select the date of the public hearing, the committee name and the bill number. You will also be asked to share your name and some other personal information, such as your email address.
You can then select “I Support this Bill” or “I Oppose this Bill.” Legislators will receive a list of names of everyone who signs in and where they stand.
If the bill is in a House committee, you can also upload a PDF or type out a written statement to share your opinion.
4. Submit your opinion
Click “Continue” or “Submit” at the bottom of the page to make sure your opinion is submitted. You should see a confirmation page. (The pages look a little different for the House and Senate.)
Don’t wait too long to submit your opinion; your form must be submitted online by 11:59 PM on the day of the bill’s public hearing.
There are other ways to share your opinion without attending a public hearing, such as contacting your elected officials or writing a letter to the editor. Keep an eye out for more of these columns or visit citizenscount.org/how-to.
Citizens Count is a nonprofit serving the New Hampshire community by providing objective information about issues, elected officials, bills, elections and candidates. These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.
