Colorado Mesa University has a place where people can remotely testify on legislative bills, bringing a new way to become more involved in politics to CMU. Now, the remote testimony agreement is expanding to the Montrose campus.

“Here’s another opportunity where CMU is serving as a community hub to citizens who want to be involved in civic dialog,” CMU Vice President of Student Services John Marshall said. Already located in the University Center and soon to be on the Montrose campus, there is a device that allows citizens to be involved and testify on legislative bills. Citizens can interactively attend committee hearings through live video.

The remote hearing device allows citizens to testify on bills and then speak their minds to the committee members. The committee members will be able to answer any questions and talk to citizens about the subject at hand. After a citizen has spoken their mind on the bill, the committee will then debate the outcome of the bill.

Without this device, citizens would have to travel and attend these hearings in person to make their voices heard. Alfred Nash, an education major at CMU, said, “I think that it’s really awesome that people don’t have to travel anymore to voice their opinions.” This is the first site where citizens can remotely attend hearings on this side of the state.

“It’s really great that citizens can easily talk to their government in a more direct way,” CMU Art Major Wynter Sjobakken said.

Montrose will soon be implementing this on their campus as well.