How To Testify via Written Testimony
Creating and delivering persuasive testimony requires planning and thought. You have something unique and important to say on behalf of the transgender community in Maryland. The information below is intended to help you prepare to deliver testimony, whether it is written or oral.
Here are some questions to think about when preparing your testimony:
Introduce yourself - What do you want legislators to know about you as an individual, and your experiences in relation to the bill topic?
Why do you care about this bill? How would it impact you personally, emotionally, physically, financially, and/or in other ways?
What unique viewpoint can you bring to this issue?
What personal stories, facts, and/or data do you have to share that advance the views you are expressing in your testimony?
Submitting Written Testimony
How to title your written testimony:
At the top, include this information:
Whether you support the bill, and the bill number
Name of Committee hearing the bill
Date of the hearing
"Testimony of [your name, your organization if any]"
How to submit your written testimony:
Save your testimony as a PDF file. Your testimony file must be a PDF file. If you have created it as a Microsoft Word document, you can “Save As” in the PDF format.
Submit your testimony on My MGA
(Note: can watch a video tutorial on how to navigate the My MGA website here)
Click the “My MGA” icon in the very top right corner of the webpage.
Click “Create a My MGA tracking account”
Enter your information in the fields (name, email…)
Click the “Register” button
Go to your email to confirm your account by clicking the link in the email. Sign in using the account information you created.
Log into your My MGA account
Click “Witness Signup” from the menu on the left
Once you find your bill #, click the “Position” drop down to choose “Favorable”. Click the “Testimony” drop down to click “Written”. Then you just need to click “Upload File” and select the file from your computer. Click “Save” when you are finished.
Tip: submit early so if you encounter any issues, you can reach out for help
Senate Deadlines for Oral and Written Testimony
Oral testimony sign-up and written testimony submission will open one (1) business day in advance of the scheduled bill hearing, and will be open from 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Please register to testify and upload your written testimony by NOON – we have had some glitches in submitting testimony, so we recommend uploading it by noon and not waiting until 6:00pm when the portal closes.
House Deadlines for Oral and Written Testimony
Oral testimony sign-up and written testimony submission will open two (2) business days in advance of the scheduled bill hearing, and will be open from 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Please register to testify and upload your written testimony by NOON – we have had some glitches in submitting testimony, so we recommend uploading it by noon and not waiting until 6:00pm when the portal closes.
