Hearing

A public hearing is a forum held by decision makers, usually elected officials, to listen to various stakeholder positions on a piece of legislation. The public hearing is at the heart of the democratic process because any interested party can speak on behalf of the legislation. Both citizens, not-for-profits, and corporations have the opportunity to participate in public hearings. In most public hearings, speakers will support a particular piece of legislation and other speakers will voice their concerns about that piece of legislation. Public hearings ensure transparency in the decision-making process.

Different types of bodies hold public hearings. At the local level, town councils, city councils, and boards of commissioners meet to deliberate issues such as zoning, new laws, and taxes. At the state level, elected legislators also hold public hearings about issues such as education reform and the budget that affects the entire state. The U.S. Congress, both the House of Representatives and the Senate, also holds public hearings to solicit public comment on upcoming legislation of national and international topics.

Interested parties conduct research before participating in a public hearing. Data from reliable sources are needed to ensure that the arguments made in the public hearing are accurate and credible. Sources for data can include the United States Census, statistics from other communities/states, public documents, and information gathered through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Another type of research involves gathering personal narratives about the people's lives that will be affected, either positively or negatively, by the proposed legislation. This research is as important as the statistics because it puts a human face on the bill or regulation. Both types of research help to create a persuasive argument. Finally, interested parties should research the positions of each member of the committee prior to attending the public hearing. Citizens and organizations can contact the offices of each member of the committee and ask for each elected official's position on the legislation.

There is a predictable process to most public hearings. Generally, decision-making bodies announce the times and dates that they will listen to public comment on a particular piece of legislation. The announcement of the date and time of the public hearing is usually published on the decision-making body's Web site or in the local media. Interested organizations then can contact the appropriate governmental office and ask to be placed on the list of speakers. Individual citizens and organizations must provide the name and contact information of the intended speaker. Interested parties are given a date and time to appear in front of the committee. They are also given a time limit for their speeches.

Because speakers have limited time, in addition to writing a speech, each speaker prepares a written document. This document, in the form of a position paper or white paper, provides additional information about the speaker's position. Speakers submit a copy of this written document to the committee prior to speaking. Many speakers bring extra copies to hand out to media representatives and other interested parties. These written documents should contain background, contact information, and the same statistics and narratives as the speech. It is best to place the most important information at the beginning of the document, use bullets, and make the position paper easy to read.

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