I had a very interesting time last night hosting a telephone town hall with my 33rd District seatmates in the House of Representatives, Rep. Tina Orwall and Rep. Mia Gregerson. We fielded questions on a wide range of issues from a group of more than 1,400 constituents who were on the line pretty much through the entire call. Many of the questions were about the new health care coverage through www.wahealthplanfinder.org.

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If you’ve never participated in a telephone town hall, I urge you to try it the next time we host one. It’s easy.

The telephone town halls typically run from 6 to 7 p.m. on a pre-designated evening. Constituents can participate one of two ways: a vendor will auto-call a wide swath of constituents across the district a few minutes before the town hall begins, inviting them to stay on the line; or, if you don’t receive such a call and invitation, you can call a phone number that I’ll publicize on my webpage a week or so before the event and connect yourself. Once you’re in on the call, you can listen to the questions and answers and also ask a question.

The format is pretty flexible. You can dial in anytime and disconnect from the town hall at any time.

Keiser