New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
I have long COVID. I can’t go to the Capitol and testify in person.
The last time I was in the Legislative Office Building was March 10, 2020. I testified against a bill on involuntary outpatient commitment. Two days later, I woke up with a fever. I thought I’d be back to work in two weeks but didn’t return for months. Meanwhile, the state shut down.
Last week, I read with bewilderment an opinion piece on reopening the Legislative Office Building. Full disclosure: I am a registered lobbyist for the Connecticut Legal Rights Project. I have spent many hours at the LOB. There is an energy about the building when the General Assembly is in session, especially when controversial bills have public hearings. I will concede that testifying over Zoom is not quite the same.
However, here is a list of things I do not miss. Circling the parking lot looking for a space to park. Standing in line to sign up for a hearing. Sitting around all day waiting to testify.
People clamoring for the building to reopen without restriction and for all legislative business to return to the way it was prepandemic may not realize that if that were to happen, many Connecticut residents couldn’t come into the building. People with disabilities who are at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19 could not participate in hearings if they were held only in person.
Remote hearings provide a level of accessibility to disabled people that simply was not present before. Granted, not everyone has equal access to technology, and many need help with Zoom hearings. Advocacy groups like the Keep the Promise Coalition have helped people sign up for hearings. The efforts of legislative staff to accommodate people with disabilities so they can participate in the legislative process have been phenomenal.
I am still recovering from my bout with COVID. Last session, I couldn’t have gone the LOB even if it had been open. But I testified at
many public hearings. Instead of driving to Hartford, finding a place to park and then finding a place to wait until it was my turn to testify, I needed only to log onto my computer. I could rest until it was my turn on the speaker list. I would sit up in my chair to testify,
and when I was done, I would turn off the camera and go back to bed. Multiple hearings on the same day? Repeat the process. And yes, on more than one occasion I was logged into different Zoom meetings on different devices. Almost as much fun as running between hearing rooms!
People should not have to be physically present and in legislators’ faces to have their voices heard; indeed, they do not have to be. Remote hearings have enabled many of us to connect to our legislators. In fact, people in inpatient psychiatric facilities operated by the state were able to testify remotely to the legislative Connecticut Valley Hospital-Whiting Task Force. I am hoping that, having seen it works, the legislature will ensure that people in state facilities are able to testify on proposals that will directly impact them.
The disability community has a saying: “Nothing about us without us.” We need to keep civic participation accessible. Oregon recently enacted a law allowing people to participate in public hearings remotely.
Connecticut should do the same.