Dear Chairwoman Allison and esteemed members of the House Committee on Education and Public Works:

We, the undersigned, write to request accommodations that will allow us to testify at upcoming hearings on H. 4325, H. 4343, H. 4392, H. 4605, and H. 4799.

We are deeply appreciative of the Committee’s acknowledgement that these bills impact student, educators, and parents alike. We write to respectfully request that a hearing on these bills be held late enough in the day so as to allow students, educators, parents, and other constituents with day jobs to share their concerns with the committee.

Those of us with small children and/or underlying health conditions also respectfully implore you to allow individuals to testify virtually. We know that this was an accommodation offered earlier during the pandemic. As we all know, the coronavirus is still wreaking havoc across our state, and many of us do not feel comfortable risking our health and the health of our families in order to come to the capitol.

The democratic process relies on providing access to all constituents. We worry that without making certain accommodations, committee members will only be able to hear from certain groups of citizens who have the ability to be at the capitol during normal working hours, leaving out many of those who will be most impacted by these bills. We urge you to adopt these proposed accommodations to ensure every voice has a fair chance to be heard.

Signed,