Prairie State Wire

It may be easy to voice an opinion on legislation via social media, but it’s not the most formal or useful of ways to have your voice heard.

The Illinois GOP wants the public to know that there’s a way they can easily have their voices heard – in the House or the Senate: using a witness slip, which is considered a formal way to have your voice heard.

The Illinois GOP recently announced this option for constituents to speak out in a video posted to the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus YouTube account. Viewers of the video are guided through the witness slip submission process, from finding the dashboard to submitting a witness slip once its pertinent committee is chosen.

“Anyone can submit a witness slip – individuals, advocacy groups, organizations, and nonprofits to name a few. And, it’s all within a few clicks,” said the narrator of the video.

There’s also a more in-depth user guide that explains how to register for the Illinois General Assembly dashboard and how to submit a witness slip after registering on the dashboard. That portal is where visitors find the options to create and manage witness slips. But registration on the dashboard is not required.

When an interested individual files a witness slip, it is recorded as support or opposition during the hearing that the slip is attached to, according to the video. And, this may be a faster way to get an opinion into the record, because these witness slips can be created and submitted as soon as the hearing is scheduled for the bill that it is related to.

Legislators encourage individuals interested in using these witness slips to file their input in this way at least an hour before the hearing is set to begin.