During the legislative session families, self advocates, and allies visit the capitol to meet with their legislators to advocate for their needs. Now anyone can testify, attend hearings, sign in to support or oppose bills and lobby their legislators from the comfort of their own homes. Visit TVW to watch the legislative session live.
how does the legislature work?
HOW DOES THE BUDGET WORK?
It can be difficult to follow every bill and the budget during the session. To help make the session easier to navigate The Arc and their allies created The Legislative Notebook. This notebook contains....
One-page information sheets on the issues of importance
Budget charts and other data charts
Budget requests from Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA)
One-page Fact Sheets on each DDA service
Summaries of Reports to the Legislature
List of all Legislators and their contact info
Who’s on which Committees
Priorities Lists from various Community Organizations
Attend Advocacy Days Every Wednesday during the legislative session the disability community have their lobby days. These hybrid events focus on important topics that change weekly. The virtual morning session is spent hearing stories and gaining information to share with legislators. The afternoon is left open so people can visit with their legislators to advocate for change. Those who plan to attend must sign up weekly to receive an event invite. Visit the Advocacy Days Website to sign up, view previous day sessions, watch stories and discover helpful resources. Meet With Your Legislators Legislators spend the session passing laws that will effect their voters. The people who advocate the hardest have a better chance of having the bills they support passed. It's important they hear from people in the disability community so they understand what support is needed. Anyone can meet with their legislators by calling their office or emailing their legislative aide to make an appointment.
Testify at a Hearing Anyone can sign up to testify at a hearing. You can testify in person or virtually.
Support, Oppose or Create A Bill Any citizen can create a bill to fix any problem they see in their community. Once there is a bill, it must go through the legislative process before it becomes a law. Legislators look at how many voters support or oppose a bill before making their decisions. You can help get a bill passed or stopped by showing up to the hearing, testifying or signing into support or oppose a bill.