The Arizona State Legislature uses the ‘Request to Speak’ (RTS) system facilitate tracking of bills proposed and allowing the public to register an opinion on bills and to request to speak on a bill in a committee. It replaces the old slips of paper used back in the day and lets committee chairperson know you want to speak to the committee. Under the old paper system, you could only sign in to speak or register an opinion if you were physically at the capitol.
After the initial setup at a kiosk located in the House or Senate, the RTS program allows you to participate from your home or office. When the committee is in session, the committee members and the public will see a list of names of people who have registered an opinion.
It also shows whether you want to speak or not, who you represent. You can also leave more detailed comments or links to resources in comment boxes. This information is also available if a person searches past committee agendas. Legislators, journalists and the public will see your bill position throughout the process.
A catch is that you’re required to come to the capitol the first time you use the RTS system. When you come to the Capitol, you create an account and sign in on one of the Kiosks in either the House or Senate.
If you create an account at home, you’ll only be able to use the Bill Status Inquiry application to track activity on a bill, not register an opinion or create a request to speak until you come to the capitol and sign in on one of the Kiosks here.
Here’s a quick tutorial summarizing how to get set up and use Arizona’s RTS system: Using the Request to Speak Program
Using RTS has a bit of a learning curve, but if I can become proficient at using it- anybody can!
