For the People: Here’s how you can interact with your Inland Northwest legislators this session

By Colton Rasanen

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For the People: Here’s how you can interact with your Inland Northwest legislators this session

It's easier than ever to make your voice heard during the 2025 legislative session in both Idaho and Washington.

For the past few weeks we’ve reported on the legislative priorities of local officials in both Eastern Washington and North Idaho, and over the next few months, you’ll likely read more about the antics and actions of our state governments.

But you, dear reader, have the power to interact with the government, rather than simply monitor it. The first and easiest way to participate in the legislative process is to contact your local lawmakers.

Each lawmaker is elected to represent one of their state’s legislative districts, which each receive two members in the House of Representatives and one in the Senate. In total, there are 11 districts in the Inland Northwest — five in Eastern Washington and six in North Idaho. If you don’t know which district you live in, we’ve got you covered: A boundary map for Washington can be found here and a map for Idaho can be found here.

When you contact your legislator you don’t need to have anything substantive to say to them, you can just call to introduce yourself and ask what they’re working on. If you do, however, have an issue that you want to bring to their attention, this will be the best way to do that.

Another direct approach is to testify on bills at the capitol (in Olympia or Boise) or via remote testimony. Whether you agree or disagree with a proposed bill, making your opinion known can inform legislators' votes.

A quick refresher on the process: A lawmaker will introduce a piece of legislation known as a bill in their respective chamber, which is then assigned to a relevant committee. The committee reviews the bill and listens to public testimony about it, ultimately deciding whether to pass the bill on to the full body of legislators, pass it to another committee, decline to approve it, or even table it. That last option is why you’ll often read that a bill has “died in committee.” If the bill is passed by one chamber (the House or the Senate), it then must go to the other chamber to go through the same process. Sometimes similar bills are introduced in each chamber and then the two groups need to concur on which version should be passed into law.

Public testimony generally occurs during committee meetings, and is easy to sign up for online. In Washington you can visit app.leg.wa.gov/csi to provide your name, email, phone number and address to sign up for in-person or virtual testimony. The page will guide you through which chamber and committee you’d like to testify in. You may also submit written testimony up to 24 hours after the start of that specific public hearing, or you can state your position on a bill without including any testimony an hour after.

In Idaho, it’s a bit more complicated to sign up to testify, but the process is pretty similar. You’ll need to find the committee agenda that includes whichever bill you’re hoping to talk about. The agenda will include a link to testify either virtually or in-person. To testify in Idaho you must be a resident of the state and when you register you must include your full name, email and address, what organization you represent (if applicable) and whether you’re for or against an issue. To find House committees visit legislature.idaho.gov/committees/housecommittees or for Senate committees visit legislature.idaho.gov/committees/senatecommittees.

Whether you choose to testify on a bill, or just share your opinions with state officials, finding more ways to actually participate helps ensure that the lawmaking process is for and by the people.