A bill must first pass a substantive committee (e.g. Education, Transportation, Appropriations) in order to get a vote in the full IL House or IL Senate. When a bill is scheduled for a committee hearing and vote, the public can weigh in on the bill by submitting a witness slip online. The volume of witness slips signifies the level of public support or opposition to bills to legislators who serve on the committee hearing the bill. 

Here's how to fill out a witness slip:

1. Name, Address, City, State, Zip: Complete (no dots or abbreviations)
2. Firm/Business:  "none" or "self."
3. Title:  "self"
4. Email and phone: Complete these lines
5. Representation: "self"
6. Position: Select "PROPONENT" to support the bill or "OPPONENT" to oppose the bill
7. Testimony: Check "RECORD of APPEARANCE"
8. CAPTCHA: Fill out, (put space between words if applicable)
9. ILGA Terms of Agreement: Check box to agree

If you run into difficulties, you can email us at [email protected].

Want to know even more? In April 2021, we held a tutorial on witness slips Witness Slips Solved,  you can find the slides from it here. And watch the recording here.

Once you get the hang out of it, this is a quick and easy additional way to support or oppose a bill besides calling, writing and visiting your legislator. You can also create an account on my.ilga.gov site to make filling out and tracking your witness slips even faster. (It also allows you to change your slip in case you make an error!)