TESTIMONY –
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS YEAR, IN PERSON TESTIMONY IS NOT PERMITTED!
Normally, there are two ways to provide testimony –
- Driving to Annapolis and giving testimony in person – not available this year
- Sending in testimony electronically
In-person testimony is most effective, but only if –
- You have a story or a personal reason to support the bill
- You have something to say that no one else has said
- The bill is not a really contested bill, in which case, there will be a ton of people testifying in person and you may not get to say very much
Testifying in person is the most effective for smaller bills that don’t get a lot of attention. If you are interested in a bill, contact the bill’s sponsor, even if you are not in-district and offer to testify.
If you are driving to Annapolis, you can reserve parking in advance at the garage of your choice. You must pay for a whole day of parking to do that, but at least you won’t have to move your car every two hours.
To reserve parking, click on the following link:
https://www.annapolisparking.com/
Then, click on Parking Locations on the menu.
This will give you a menu item for Garages and Lots and then a list of individual garages. Select the garage you want to park in. The closest one to the House or Senate is Gotts Court Garage.
Scroll down the page for the garage you selected until you see the Buy Daily Parking button.
When you click the button, you can select the date, select the garage again (assuming it is not already full and you have to pick another one), and then pay for parking. You will have to pay for the entire day.
You will then get a confirmation with a code. Put the code under the reader at the garage to enter and leave.
To submit testimony electronically:
These procedures govern the submission of written testimony to all subject-matter committees in the Senate and House. The procedures are identical for all committees, with a few small variations indicated below. (The procedures for Senate Rules, Senate Executive Nominations, and House Rules and Executive Nominations may differ; check with that committee.)
- Written testimony is accepted 48 hours in advance of the hearing day between 10am and 3pm. Written testimony may not be submitted before then, unless you are just sending it to the bill sponsor, which is not encouraged this year. You must have an Maryland General Assembly account, which you can set up here – http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Account/Register/Tracking. Submit testimony using this link – http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/MyMGATracking/WitnessSignup. NOTE: You can only upload a PDF file. If you completed your testimony in Word, save it as a PDF before uploading.
- There is a video on the Maryland General Assembly website showing how to upload testimony – http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Information/VideoTutorials
As in prior sessions, the first page of all written testimony must list the bill number and bill name, the name of the individual or organization submitting the testimony, and the position on the bill (Support, Support with Amendments, or Opposed).