Testimony Template

Testimony before the Judiciary Committee
March 9, 2018

S.B. No. 396 (RAISED) AN ACT CONCERNING JUSTICES OF THE PEACE WHO MAY SERVE AS MARRIAGE OFFICIANTS.

Good afternoon Senator Doyle, Senator Kissel, Representative Tong and members of the Judiciary Committee,

My name is _______ and I am a registered voter in _______ ; a justice of the peace, as well as a member of the Justice of the Peace Association.

I am here to testify in opposition to [or strongly oppose or something similar] the Raised Bill S.B. 396, specifically as it relates to allowing justices of the peace to be appointed for the performance of a single marriage ceremony.

Share your story about your experience as a JP and why you are opposed to this bill. We want our message to be focused on the needs of the broader community, so we don’t come across as just being self-serving. Some ideas you may consider include:

  • What do you offer that makes hiring a professional JP important?
  • JPs are standing in for the state when they perform their duties. Is the JP role more than someone just signing a form?
  • Consider the CT JP Manual (pages 12-16) for the official duties. Does this bill diminish the importance of JP’s responsibilities that being a professional JPs provides?
  • The state’s income from fees related to JP for a Day will be at the expense of JPs who derive their livelihood from their marriage officiant role, negating the state’s benefits. 

 

If you are comfortable, feel free to be a storyteller. Paint a picture of what having JPs for a Day would look like for you.

Sum up your position again at the end and be sure to include “Please vote NO on Raised Bill SB 396.”

Thank you for this opportunity to speak and share my experience about how implementation of this bill would affect me.

Sincerely,

Name
Town

 

PLEASE NOTE: All public hearing testimony, written & spoken, is public information. The Committee encourages witnesses to submit a written statement and to condense oral testimony to a summary of that statement. All public hearing testimony, written and spoken, is public information. As such, it will be made available on the CGA website and will be indexed by Internet search engines.

 

To return to the How-to Testify against SB 396 page please click here.