Lawmakers propose interim study of public participation after rollout of new legislator portal

Representative Mark Carlin opened a hearing on House Joint Resolution 38, describing it as an interim study of public participation in the legislature focused on how constituents, lobbyists, reporters and others can interact with the legislative branch and how legislators want to receive and prioritize public input.

Carlin said recent changes to the legislative website and a new legislator portal have created confusion: "I think it'd be worth looking at best practices in other states and how they're managing public engagement," he told the committee. He said the study should include outreach to advocacy groups, reporters and lobbyists and explore how to make public comment information — including geographic origin of comments — more useful to legislators.

Several committee members supported a focused review of the portal; questions centered on whether the study should examine the portal specifically or more broadly review public participation procedures. Carlin said stakeholders should include lobbyists, local election officials and those who run hearings and noted a legislator portal introduced this year allowed direct comments but left some legislators unsure how the tool routes or prioritizes messages.

Carlin closed by saying the interim offers a chance to assess what worked and what did not and to draw on national resources such as the National Conference of State Legislatures for models. The committee recorded no opposition and the hearing was closed without substantive votes on HJ 38 at the session.