1. OVERVIEW OF OPB ROLES Becka Johnson Poppe Senior Legislative Analyst
Office of Planning & Budgeting

2. OFFICE OF PLANNING & BUDGETING (OPB)
What is our role during session?
Produce budget briefs
Track relevant bills
Coordinate fiscal notes
Respond to information requests
We may contact you to help fulfill these requests!
OPB will continue to produce budget briefs for major budget proposals, which Jed will talk about more later.
OPB will track all bills relevant to the UW
And we’ll coordinate responses to fiscal note requests from OFM
In addition, we respond to a wide range of data and policy inquiries from UW State Relations, the Legislature, the UW administration, and others.
We may get in touch with you for help with one or more of these things!
Here is an overview of our specific roles:
Becka Johnson Poppe:
Primary contact for OPB’s legislative team
Leading bill tracking, fiscal notes and responses to information requests
Jed Bradley:
Primary contact for budget proposals
Working on bill tracking, fiscal notes and information requests
Sharyl Morris:
Matt Schoenfeld:
Graduate student intern (Evans School)
Assisting with BillTracker updates and information requests

3. LEGISLATIVE PROCESS 101
Becka Johnson Poppe

4. LEGISLATIVE PROCESS & TERMS
Before last session, we added an overview of the legislative process and terms to our website:

5. LEGISLATIVE PROCESS Bill introduction Public hearing Executive session
Floor
Opposite house
Governor action
 critical for bill analysis
1) A bill may be introduced in either the Senate or House by a member. It is then referred to a committee.
**As a reminder, if identical bills are introduced in the House AND Senate, they’re called companion bills
2) The committee reads the bill and may decide to hold a public hearing on it, which is essentially an opportunity for stakeholders to voice support or concerns
3) The committee can then hold an executive session, which is when they vote to pass, reject, or amend the bill.
4) If passed, the bill may go to the floor for a vote. At this point, the full membership of the house/senate can choose to pass, reject or amend it
6) After passing the “house of origin,” the bill goes through the same procedure in the “opposite house”
7) If amendments are made in the opposite house, the house of origin must approve the changes.
8) When the bill is accepted in both houses, the Gov signs the bill into law or may veto all or part of it.  

6. LEGISLATIVE TERMS
“House of Origin” or “First House”: The chamber in which a piece of legislation originates (can be House or Senate)
“Opposite House” or “Second House”: The second chamber through which a piece of legislation moves
Substitute bill: (SSB or SHB) a new version of a bill that completely replaces the original bill
Second substitute bill: (2SHB) a substitute of a substitute
“Striking amendment” or “striker”: an amendment that removes everything and inserts a whole new bill
Engrossed: (E2SHB) legislation into which one or more amendments have been incorporated
“House of Origin” or “First House”: The chamber in which a piece of legislation originates (can be either the House or the Senate), which is also the first chamber in which a bill is considered.
“Opposite House” or “Second House”: The second chamber to which a piece of legislation moves after it has been passed through its House of Origin.
Substitute bill: (SSB or SHB)
a new version of a bill that completely replaces the original bill.
This term only applies to committee changes in the house of origin.
Second substitute bill: (2SHB)
a substitute of a substitute bill
typically refers to changes made by a fiscal committee in the house of origin
Striking amendment or “striker”:
an amendment that removes everything (except the title) and inserts a whole new bill.
Just like substitute, but because substitutes are not allowed on a chamber floor or in the Second House, strikers are used instead.

7. BILL TRACKING & ANALYSIS
Becka Johnson Poppe

8. WHAT IS BILLTRACKER?
Captures and coordinates bill analysis across campus
Includes fields to gather fiscal note information
Allows users to follow bills they’ve been asked to assess
Coordinated effort between OPB, HR and F2
Billtracker captures and coordinates bill analysis across campus – which State Relations uses to inform testimony, communicate with legislators and which we use to help them identify priorities and positions
Includes text boxes and tables that, when activated, help gather fiscal note information
Allows users to view and follow all the bills they’ve been asked to assess
Coordinated effort between OPB, HR and F2 –thank you to Kyle Richard and Jennifer Lail who help us populate BillTracker!

9. HOW DO WE TRACK BILLS? OPB reviews bill intros on a daily basis
If we aren’t sure whether to track a bill, we folks around the UW and ask
OPB adds bills to BillTracker and identifies assessors
BillTracker sends an to each assessor
Assessors read the bills and provide analysis
OPB notifies assessors when a bill changes or moves in a major way.
OPB reviews bill intros on a daily basis
If we aren’t sure whether to track a bill, we folks around the UW and ask
We spent a lot of time thinking about the last two session. Last year we tracked over 500 bills and it was tough, to say the least. We want to use your time and our time thoughtfully, as a result we’re going to be more judicious about the bills we enter into BillTracker.
To help us with this please use personal means to track personal bills or bills – you can use RSS trackers and the bill tracking feature available through the legislature. We’re happy to help orient you to these!
If a bill is relevant to the UW, OPB adds it to BT and identifies assessors (i.e. subject matter experts)
BillTracker sends an to each assessor
Assessors read the bill, provide analysis & (if applicable) amendments
OPB will assessors when a bill moves forward and/or changes – please pay attention to these s and let us know if a bill changes in a way that impacts your stance on the bill.

10. TO ASSESS A BILL…
You’ll receive a notice like this one:

11. TO ASSESS A BILL…
First, please read the bill, which you can access via this link…
To access the actual text of the bill, clink on this link at the bottom of the from BillTracker bill’s webpage at the state legislature website

12. TO ASSESS A BILL…
When you click on that link, you’ll be taken to a page that looks something like this.
This “Bill Status-at-a-Glance” feature is new this year and shows where a bill is at in the process. This will be helpful if you are tracking some of your own bills. If you scroll down…

13. TO ASSESS A BILL… You will see:
Bill History: which is a more detailed chronological listing of a bill’s movement.
See “Available Documents“ for:
The actual txt of the bill (i.e. “Bill documents”). Make sure to click on the correct version. The newest is typically on the bottom.
Bill Digest: A very brief summary of a bill, prepared by the Code Reviser's office.
Bill Report: A comprehensive summary of background and effect of bills, prepared by committee staff. Look for things like “Substitute compared to original” or a title that matches the bill version you are assessing “Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill Report”
Fiscal note: A non-partisan analysis of the six year fiscal impact of a piece of legislation. Occasionally the period of impact is extended to ten years.
Amendments: Scroll to the end of the document to find the “Effect statement”--a brief, non-partisan statement on what an amendment does. Often used with striker amendments.

14. TO ASSESS A BILL… Struck out text is to be removed.
Underlined Language is new language
“NEW SECTION” language is new, but is not underlined.
Struck out text is to be removed.
Underlined Language is new language
“NEW SECTION” language is new, but is not underlined.

15. TO ASSESS A BILL…
Click the link at the bottom of the from BillTracker
Once you’re ready to assess the bill, you can click on this link, which is at the bottom of the from BillTracker.

16. TO ASSESS A BILL…
You’ll be taken to a page that looks like this:

17. TO ASSESS A BILL… Scroll down to see what others are saying
If you scroll down a bit, you’ll see a section that says “What others at UW are saying…”
Here you’ll find a list of all the people who have been asked to assess the bill and, if you click on a name, you’ll see what they’ve said about the bill.

18. TO ASSESS A BILL…
Click on a name to open an assessment

19. TO ASSESS A BILL… Please fill out these three fields
Right below that will be three fields you’ll be asked to fill out:
A dropdown menu where you can select your position on a bill
Explain your position / how the bill would affect the UW, and
Offer specific amendments to make the bill better or alleviate concerns.
Here is an example. As you can see the assessor has noted the specific location where an amendment is needed and has provided specific wording.
If you agree with one of the assessments someone else has submitted, you can simply say, I agree with “_____”.
You can save your work in BillTracker by hitting “submit feedback”. The webpage will time-out after 3 hours, so please do this regularly. We also recommend saving a copy of your work on the side or taking a screen shot of your entries in BillTracker, just in case there are technical glitches.
When done, check “this is my final response” and hit “Submit Feedback”

20. TO ASSESS A BILL… Be clear and concise
Provide specific suggested amendments (if needed)
Note any areas of confusion
Provide some education!
And please….
Respond as soon as possible
Please Remember To:
Be clear, concise and conscientious
**Remember: Although assessments are generally private, they are viewed by a small group of people on campus and are subject to public records requests
If amendments would alleviate your concerns about a bill, please be as specific as possible, to minimize additional follow-up and possible delays
Reference page numbers and/or sections
If possible, offer up new specific wording changes/additions
Note any areas of confusion
It’s okay to be confused by a bill! We aren’t all lawyers, and sometimes bills are intentionally worded in a confusing, convoluted manner.
In BillTracker, please note what is confusing and, if possible, offer suggestions for how to make it less confusing.
Provide some education!
Sometimes what legislators need is education regarding activities we already do, programs that already exist, etc.
If the bill makes it clear that the legislators don’t fully understand something (like why we need to have nurses available 24 hours a day, not just 8 hours a day) or don’t realize we’re already doing something just like the new program/activity they are proposing.
Respond! Submit your analysis ASAP after you get the automatic from BT. We will send one in advance of hearings (which, as a reminder, is the best opportunity for State Relations to weigh in on a bill). Please be on the lookout for that .

21. TO SEE ALL OF YOUR BILLS…
opb.washington.edu/billtracker/assessor
These URLs are another way to access the state legislature webpage for a bill, which I was showing you earlier.
To see what you’ve written (or whether you’ve written something) about a bill you can click “Show.” And to update or add an assessment, hit “Update”
The “hearing date” feature is new.
If you click on a bill that has a companion…

22. TO SEE ALL OF YOUR BILLS…
opb.washington.edu/billtracker/assessor
A link to the companion bill is now available. You can use this to follow updates and progress on companion bills.
As a reminder, with companion bills we only add assessors to one of the two bills. However, since one or both companion bills can move and be amended during session, being able to easily check the status of the companion bill will hopefully be helpful during session.

23. TO SEE ALL THE BILLS WE’RE TRACKING
opb.washington.edu/billtracker
Again, we now have the hearing dates listed in their own column.
AND, as of last year, we now have a sort-by-column feature in the main BillTracker view (this is not yet available in the “Assessor” or “MyBillTracker” view.
You can sort by any column header in the list.
Further, we have several new bill “subject/topic” categories, so that you can refine your searches more.
So, for example, you can go to the “bills by subject” tab, select something like “information technology,” sort by hearing date, and see all the IT bills that have upcoming hearings.

24. Questions?