SALT LAKE CITY — For the next 45 days, your elected representatives and senators will debate hundreds of bills and pass a budget spending billions of your taxpayer dollars.
The legislative process can be intimidating, but public participation is necessary. Governor Spencer Cox recently called for "the silent majority, the exhausted majority, to be just a little bit louder" in the Utah State Legislature.
"We need you in these legislative hearings," he said. "Because if 40 crazy people show up? And they have lots of time on their hands and no one else shows up then it seems like 80% of our state is crazy. We know that's not true. So I beg you over the next 45 days, show up and make your voice heard. I know you're busy, I know you have things to do. I know you're making our state a better place. But if you don't, they will. So please, please, please show up."
FOX 13 News spoke with five community activists, policy advocates and elected lawmakers for their tips and advice on how to engage with the Utah State Legislature during the 45-day session, which begins Tuesday:
- Emily Bell McCormick is the founder of The Policy Project, which pushed for laws putting period products in schools and is also focusing on teen resources.
- Heather Andrews is the state director of Americans For Prosperity Utah, a tax policy advocacy group.
- Sue Robbins is a longtime LGBTQ rights activist, serving on Equality Utah's Transgender Advisory Council.
- Rep. Karen Peterson represents the Clearfield area in the House of Representatives.
- Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla represents part of Salt Lake City and leads Democrats in the Utah State Senate.
"They are reliant on hearing the voice of the people. The voice of regular citizens like me and you," said McCormick.
Just a bill on Capitol Hill...
Unlike Congress, legislators on a local level are more responsive to their constituents. But McCormick said learn how a bill becomes a law.
"If you can break it down to the very basics and start understanding how the system works, it becomes a lot more approachable to think about passing a bill, to think about proposing an idea that you think might do some good in your community," she said.
Andrews' organization partners with the Libertas Institute to teach a legislative boot camp to teach people how to do citizen lobbying on Utah's Capitol Hill. She said it's open to anyone regardless of political affiliation. This year, it will be held on Jan. 28.
"We have a part time legislature that has to go back and live with the things that they pass, thank goodness," Andrews said. "I think it does make a difference. They’re also interested in a re-election, and hearing from their constituents does make an impact."
Know who represents YOU
Lawmakers prioritize their constituents above all others. Rep. Peterson said you can look up who represents you at le.utah.gov. Scroll down and click on the tab that says "Find Your Legislator."
"Almost every legislator sends out an email newsletter. Signing up for that is a great way to get information straight to you," she said.
Rep. Peterson said the best time to get to know your lawmaker is when they're not in session. That is something Andrews and Robbins said has been successful for them. But now that the legislature is meeting, it's a little late for that. You can visit their town hall meetings held most weekends during the legislative session.
Call me, maybe?
If you want to get in touch with a lawmaker while the legislature is in session, Rep. Peterson said "the best is really an email or a text." Phone calls can't be easily returned when a lawmaker is in back-to-back committee hearings and floor votes.
Sen. Escamilla said she wants to hear from her constituents first.
"Put in the subject line of your email or text, 'I'm your constituent,' she said. "Because then you’re going to be prioritized."
Lawmakers are increasingly wary of people claiming to be "a constituent" but not really in their district (or even in Utah, depending on the issue). So Robbins urges people to put their home address in an email or text so the lawmaker knows that is an actual constituent.
Short, sweet and to the point
"I try to keep it as brief as I can while giving the valuable information, because they are tight on time and a shorter email or message might be easier for them to consume," Robbins said.
Andrews said it's OK to reach out to lawmakers who may not represent you in the legislature, particularly if they are on the committee hearing a bill you're advocating on. But advocates say don't get spammy.
Robbins discourages form emails in favor of personalized communications.
"These email blasts I don’t like in general. Because if you think about it if a legislator’s in session and they start getting hundreds of emails with the same subject? They’re just going to go mark as read, mark as read, mark as read," she said.
Rep. Peterson urges people to get specific when emailing or texting about a bill.
"Often I get emails or texts that tell me vote for HB343," she said. "I don’t know what HB343 is when I have a thousand bills in front of me. So if you can say House Bill 343, sponsored by this person, or give one little line explaining what the bill is it helps me a lot."
Sen. Escamilla said when you do that, she can often walk over to the lawmaker proposing the legislation and talk to them about it.
Don't forget to follow up, McCormick said, and offer praise when your lawmaker does something you appreciate.
"Always give them praise for the good work they've done. That’s a really important component. We sometimes tend to focus on the negative in our state, things we're upset about," she said. "But how many things are going right?"
Public comment in your pajamas
"Nothing actually comes close to taking the place of in-person, coming up to the Capitol, getting to know your representative and senators," Andrews said.
But not everyone can take time off work or find a sitter so they can testify before a legislative committee on an issue that impacts them. Sometimes, people drive hours from St. George or Moab and find lawmakers running late and giving them only a couple of minutes to speak about an issue.
Fortunately, the Utah State Legislature has kept in place something they created during the COVID-19 pandemic — the ability to take public comment online in legislative hearings.
"You can actually join in your pajamas from home! Any meeting. Any legislative meeting and participate," said Andrews.
Just watch for the committee hearing with the bill you're interested in being discussed and register online. But don't get too comfortable — some committee chairs have been known to require public testimony with cameras on.
The trick is to keep breathing
While issues being the legislature are often emotional with real-world implications, it is important to keep it civil. Bills can be amended, funding can be shifted, legislation can be vetoed and vetos can be overridden.
"Insulting someone is probably not going to put you in a really good place to start trying to find solutions," said Sen. Escamilla.
Robbins said you sometimes have to take a breath.
"One of the hardest parts about advocacy is remembering that everybody up here is a person who has families and jobs just like the rest of us," she said. "They’re in a position that is viewed as a position of power and sometimes it can feel hard to approach but it can also seem very easy to yell and scream at them because you’re very emotionally invested in something they’re doing. The real work happens when we stay calm, engaging and kind and educate."
The work continues
It's easy to get cynical about the legislature and whether lawmakers really listen. Especially when results aren't instant. It can sometimes take years to pass a bill or finesse legislation to where someone is happy with it.
"If people are seeking immediate change, that may be difficult," said Sen. Escamilla. "I can see that being very frustrating, but the legislative process is designed to be incrementalism to get us to where we have good policy."
Advocates say don't give up, even if you feel like it's you against the Hill.
"Passing a bill is a lot of work," said McCormick. "There’s a lot of pieces to it. There are a lot of players and if you’re not familiar with the system and it can be really overwhelming."
Robbins said sometimes it just "takes time to get where we want to be" and it's hard to lose, then get up and try again the next session. But she said it's important that people stay engaged.
"Sometimes the work requires session after session after session," Robbins said. "And we can’t get upset or give up after just one session."
