Public health provisions put in place to allow the Colorado General Assembly to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic will still be in effect when lawmakers convene later this week for the 2022 legislative session.

A memo released by Legislative Council, which staffs committee hearings, said members of the public can participate in those hearings by either submitting written testimony, testifying via Zoom or testifying in person at the committee hearing.

Visitors to the state Capitol are encouraged to wear masks. Masks are required to enter certain offices in the building.

All three testimony options require registration on the General Assembly’s public testimony website. Once registered, a confirmation email will be sent, which includes a Zoom link if remote testimony is chosen. This video walks you through the testimony process.

Those who wish to testify remotely can register as soon as the bill’s committee hearing is scheduled. Registration closes when the hearing begins. 

House rules on public participation note witnesses must provide their name, preferred pronouns, email address, phone number, zip code, position on the bill, and the name of the organization they represent, if any. Witnesses may also testify via phone rather than Zoom, the House memo explains.

As is common during committee hearings, particularly for bills with lengthy witness lists, committee chairs can limit testimony in a variety of ways. Those include limiting it to several minutes (commonly, about three minutes) per witness, or limiting the pro and con sides on a bill to a defined amount of time, which is less commonly used.  

The state Senate regulations are similar to the House rules. 

Beginning Wednesday, the House and Senate calendars will list bills up for consideration, including scheduled committee hearings. 

If you’ve signed up to testify for a committee that is hearing multiple bills, this website will show you where the bill is in the committee process. 

For questions about public participation in committee hearings, email committees.lcs.ga@state.co.us or call 303.866.3521.