How can I make my voice heard at the Arizona Legislature?

 *This article was updated from a previous version originally published in Jan. 2025*

Arizona’s 2026 legislative session begins on Jan. 12, and residents may be wondering how they can make their voices heard.

There are multiple ways Arizonans can step in and express their opinions about bills as the House and Senate debate and vote on them.

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Civic Engagement Beyond Voting (CEBV), a nonprofit that helps the public participate in local politics, has a variety of resources designed to help people dip their toes in these waters.

“I don’t think that most Arizonans understand how profoundly local politics affects our lives, most decisions that affect Arizonans are made at the local level,” said Melinda Iyer, CEBV’s co-founder and policy director. 

CEBV focuses on teaching people how to reclaim their voice and their power as citizens in local politics—in systems that are designed for lobbyists, rather than regular people. 

Using the Request to Speak (RTS) system

The RTS system is a website that allows the public to register opinions and voice comments on bills as they pass through the Arizona House and Senate. 

To create an RTS account, you have to go to the State Capitol or at a kiosk in Tucson, located at 400 W. Congress Street, Suite 201 and use a kiosk in either the House or Senate the first time you use the RTS system to activate your account. 

Once you’ve registered for an RTS account and activated it in-person, you can leave comments on a bill from any computer with an internet connection. 

Yes, this is a hurdle that people must jump over in order to make their voice heard—making the RTS system inaccessible to many people who don’t have access to transportation to get to the state Capitol. 

READ MORE: Want to speak at a city council meeting? Here’s how to do it in Arizona

CEBV is attempting to remove that barrier for some by offering to create an RTS account and activate it on behalf of people who fill out this form. 

Once you have registered an opinion on a bill, other members of the public, including journalists and legislators, are able to get an idea of how much support or opposition there is for a bill. 

If you use RTS, you do not actually have to speak in support or opposition of a bill in a hearing—the RTS system allows you to choose whether or not you would like to speak before legislators during a committee meeting at the Capitol before a vote takes place, or simply have your name on the record with your stance on the bill.

How to speak during public comment in a committee

Legislators are assigned to committees presided over by committee chairs. Committees are separated by various subject areas, like education, finance, or public safety. 

Bills are assigned to related committees; this is where legislators debate the merits of the bill, propose amendments to bills, and decide whether to send them to the larger body for a vote. If a bill does not pass through the committees it is assigned to, it is considered “dead.” 

This is also where legislators hear from people who have requested to speak through RTS and choose to speak in person in front of a committee.

Committee assignments for the House and Senate are available to view here. 

After someone has registered an RTS account, here’s how they can sign up to speak on a bill in front of a committee:

• Visit apps.azleg.gov and click “Sign On” in the upper right corner.
• Enter your email and password you used to create your RTS account. 
• Choose the “Request to Speak” tile, then “New Request” on the left column.
• Search the bill number you want to speak on, click “add request” on the right side.
• Select whether you are “for,” “neutral,” or “against” the bill.
• Choose “Yes” if you would like to speak during public comment in a committee hearing.
• Optional, write a comment on the bill — this may be read aloud during committee hearings.
• Plan to attend the committee in person on the date and time listed on the screen once you select the bill you want to comment on. Legislators have until 24 hours before the bill is scheduled to be heard in committee to change the agenda, so make sure to check the agenda before making a trip to the capitol to make sure the bill is still scheduled to be heard.

Other resources

CEBV also offers a Letter to the Editor Toolkit, which outlines how to craft compelling messages to submit to traditional media like newspapers and television. CEBV even lists the best way to submit a letter to over 50 local news outlets. 

On an even more local level, the organization offers a civics toolkit on how to engage with local government bodies, from school boards to the Corporation Commission.