How to testify before the Washington legislature

This page covers what's specific to Washington. For the general steps of signing up and speaking, see the general guide.

How Washington does it

Washington runs one of the more open state testimony systems in the country, built around a single online tool called Committee Sign In, or CSI, at app.leg.wa.gov/csi, with separate portals for the House, Senate, and joint committees. Anyone can testify without special training or registering as a lobbyist, as long as they're speaking for themselves and not being paid to lobby.

Through CSI, you can choose to testify in person, testify remotely over Zoom, or simply record a position (support, oppose, or other) without speaking at all. All three count as part of the official legislative record. Remote testifiers get emailed a unique, single-use Zoom link tied to their registration and are asked not to share it. Committee chairs decide how much time each speaker gets, since most hearings are capped at two hours total and often cover several bills. Chairs commonly limit each speaker to one or two minutes when the agenda is full.

Deadlines and numbers

• Sign-in: opens as soon as a bill is set for a public hearing, closes 1 hour before the hearing start
• Written testimony: submit via CSI up to 24 hours after the hearing begins, even if you missed live sign-up
• Speaker time limit: no fixed statute, chair's discretion, commonly 1 to 2 minutes
• 2026 session: 60-day regular session, convened January 12, 2026, adjourned March 12, 2026 (even years run 60 days, odd years run 105 days)

Where to go

• Testify or register a position: app.leg.wa.gov/csi
• How-to overview: leg.wa.gov/bills-meetings-and-session/session/how-to-testify-at-a-committee-meeting/
• Committee meeting schedules: app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules
• Legislative Hotline (accommodations, interpretation): 1-800-562-6000 (TTY 1-800-833-6388), [email protected]

Rules

Washington doesn't codify a single fixed time limit per testifier. It commonly runs 1 to 2 minutes but is set by each committee chair per meeting, so treat that number as typical rather than guaranteed. The 1-hour sign-in cutoff before a hearing is firm: miss it and you can't testify live, though the 24-hour post-hearing window for written testimony is a real backstop. No other gaps were found in this dossier. For anything bill-specific, use CSI directly or route questions to /engage.