Colorado’s Legislators meet for 120 days every year.
These few months are the only time when bills are passed into law at the state-level.
Your wallet, children, business, and quality of life could all be affected by what happens during this short amount of time.
If you watch the news, or follow my Telegram channel, you already know this.
What many people don’t know is how easy it is to directly address the Legislators who will be voting on these bills.
Every bill that is presented in the State Legislature will get at least one committee meeting.
And in order to become law, each bill will have at least two committee meetings, one in the House, and one in the Senate.
Committee meetings, like all Legislative Business, is open to the public.
Committee meetings are your opportunity to speak directly in favor or in opposition to any bill that is being presented.
Not only can you voice your beliefs, but you can speak directly to the Legislators who will be voting on the bill, usually minutes after you speak to them.
With increasingly extreme legislation being presented each year, it is more urgent than ever for citizens to speak up and expose the misdeeds of the political class.
I recently testified at a Legislative Committee, and was only 1 of 3 people to speak on an important bill.
I’ll explain my experience and show how easy it is to make your voice heard.
How to Testify
Find Your Bill
The first step is to decide which bill or bills you want to speak on.
To find all the bills that have been introduced, you can look on the website for the Colorado General Assembly: http://leg.colorado.gov.
You can find your bill by searching on this website.
Type in the bill number or sponsor in the search box, or click on “Find a Bill” for other search options.
Once you’ve found your bill, click on it’s title to find all the information you will need.
This is the bill I spoke in favor of:
These pages update throughout the legislative session, and track the progress of the bill.
In preparation of testifying, you will want to review the language of the bill, and learn who is sponsoring it.
Each bill will also have a “Fiscal Note,” that explains the financial impact of the legislation.
You will have 3 minutes in a committee meeting to speak your thoughts on the bill, so it’s a good idea to prepare an impactful statement you can read.
If the bill is scheduled for committee, you will see a date and location listed under the “Upcoming Schedule,” heading near the bottom of the page.
Plan Your Visit to the State Capitol
Now that you know the date, time and location of the committee meeting you want to attend, I’d recommend reaching out to the bill sponsors (if you support the bill).
If your Legislator is on the committee, let them know how you expect them to vote.
As you can see in the image above, the bill I was interested in was being heard on Thursday February 2nd, Upon Adjournment in room LSB A.
“Upon Adjournment” means that shortly after that chamber of the State Legislature adjourns, the committee meeting will be held.
If this is the case for your bill, you should attend the Legislature that morning to know exactly when the chamber adjourns.
If the committee meeting is scheduled, you need to be in that room at the time of the meeting.
All the committee meeting rooms are either in the Capitol building, or across the street from the Capitol.
The State Capitol is easy to find, and you can only enter through the North or South doors on the ground level. You will have to go through metal detectors to enter the Capitol.
There is plenty of paid and free street parking around the area
If you want to watch the General Assembly in action, you will need to go to the 3rd floor and sit in the viewing gallery.
I took these pictures of the State House from the 3rd Floor Viewing Gallery Balcony when I visited the Capitol on February 2nd:
The State House and Senate usually convenes at 9 AM Monday through Friday during the 120-day Session, but this can change, so check the schedule.
You can find the schedule to see what bills are being heard in the Chamber as a Whole by clicking on the Session Schedule on the General Assembly’s website.
Attend Committee Meetings
The General Assembly’s website explains where the committee meetings are located:
The General Assembly’s website lists the following locations for the committee meetings:
- The Senate Committee Room Hallway is located on the 3rd floor between the elevators.
- The House Committee Room Hallway is located on the basement level between the elevators.
- The Legislative Services Building (LSB) is located at 200 E. 14th Avenue, directly south of the Capitol. House Committees meet in LSB-A, which is located on the east side of the first floor of LSB; Senate Committees meet in LSB-B, which is located on the west side of the first floor of LSB.
- Room 271 in the Capitol Building is located between the elevators on the 2nd floor.
- The Old Supreme Court Chamber is at the north end of the 2nd floor of the Capitol Building.
The Legislative Services Building is just south of the Capitol, across E. 14th Ave.
To testify, it’s best to sign up prior to the meeting day.
To sign up, just visit this website: https://www2.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2023A/commsumm.nsf/signIn.xsp
On this sign up website, you will have to find the bill you are looking for by navigating the website, you will have to find the bill through these options: “By Committee and Hearing Item,” “By Hearing Item,” or “By Sponsor and Bill.”
You can also sign up in person at the Committee Meeting, just make sure you get there early.
Once you arrive at the Committee Meeting, you will have to wait until your bill is being discussed, and the committee chair moves onto the public comment portion.
You will be called to speak, and will have 3 minutes to speak directly to these legislators.
After all comment, and discussion, the bill will be voted on by the committee members.
If the bill passes, it will move on to another committee or to the committee as a whole.
If the bill is “postponed indefinitely,” it means that the bill is “killed,” and will not be heard again during this session.
After the committee meeting is over, you should speak with the Legislators who voted they way you were hoping they would.
With so few people participating, your ability to connect with lawmakers can be very powerful.
And showing your support for pro-liberty bills can make a positive impact on the Liberty Legislators at the Capitol.
Legislators who stand up for our freedom deserve and need support.
The bill I spoke on, HB23-1073 State Of Disaster Emergency Length would have limited the Governor to declaring Disaster Emergencies for only 30-days.
After 30-days, the State Legislature would have to approve of extending the Disaster Emergency.
This bill was in response to the devastating Covid Disaster Emergency Executive Orders that Governor Polis used to turn Colorado into a prison society during 2020 and 2021.
Polis’ continuous emergency declarations were a disaster, and must never be allowed to happen again.
HB23-1073 was sponsored by Reps. Scott Bottoms and Anthony Hartsook.
I spoke in favor of this bill, and encouraged the legislators in the committee to vote support of the bill.
Unfortunately, the Democratic majority killed the bill.
Even though my testimony didn’t change how these legislators voted, I still got to look them in the eyes and explain to them the consequences of their vote.
It was worth doing, and I highly encourage other pro-liberty Coloradans to speak in-person at the State Legislature every year.
Benefits of Testifying
Just being at the Capitol, and watching the Legislature operate is a great education.
If you know how the process works, you know how to stop bad bills from passing, and help good bills become law.
Seeing bad politicians actively vote to strip liberty away from the people in person can be very motivating for you to want to replace them in their next election.
You will also have the opportunity to meet pro-liberty legislators.
The importance of your support for pro-liberty legislators during the session, and reelection cannot be understated.
Recently, I spoke with former State Representative Dave Williams, and we discussed the importance of speaking in committee meetings.
This 2:29 minute clip is Dave Williams explaining why you should speak:
As Dave explains in the clip above, it’s important to confront these politicians and give them no excuses when it comes to voting the correct way.
State Legislators do not get the attention they deserve.
These politicians rarely hear from their constituents. Your voice might be the only one they hear on some of these bills.
During these committee meetings, the legislators are feet away, and for the most part, they can’t avoid your voice.
It’s empowering to speak truth to power.
Even more importantly, you can track the votes of target legislators.
If you can tell voters why their legislator shouldn’t be reelected, then you can make an impact during their next election.
It’s only by replacing these legislators that we can make changes to the law.
If you want a Free State for your children to grow up in, and for you to grow old in, then you must understand the importance of political power.
The call to action is more urgent then ever before.
Speak out and Stand up.
Further Information
How a Bill Becomes a Law in Colorado (video)
Colorado Union of Taxpayers Weekly Ratings on State Legislation
Liberty Scorecard of Colorado – Ranks Legislators on their support of Individual Rights, Free Markets and Limited Government.
CompleteColorado.com – News Aggregator for Liberty-minded Coloradans
Free State Colorado on Telegram – Archive of articles and more for Liberty Activists
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