From The Denver Post:  We are well past the moment when technology should be able to do for Coloradans who live hundreds of miles from the Capitol what they sometimes cannot do for themselves: find a way to testify on a bill.

House Bill 1303, which would allow remote testimony at committee hearings, is just about a no-brainer, and its estimated $300,000 in startup costs is a negligible price to pay for providing this convenience.

“With the technology we have today, why wouldn’t we do this?” Rep. Ray Scott, R-Grand Junction, was quoted as saying in a Denver Post article. “Let’s say you’re in a wheelchair and you have to drive 600 miles through a snowstorm to get here, and then the testimony goes until midnight. At that point, you may not get to have your say.”

Scott mentions a worst-case scenario (and overstates the one-way mileage), but even fair-weather drives across the state can be an insurmountable burden to many people, especially if they have to end up staying overnight in Denver. But technology has an answer.