1. FISCAL NOTE UPDATES AND REMINDERS
Sharyl Suzanne Morris

2. WHAT IS A FISCAL NOTE? An objective estimate of a bill’s fiscal impact
6-year projection
Based on least expensive way to reasonably implement the bill
Tied to a specific version of a bill
Helps legislators evaluate a bill’s costs and merits
Informs legislative staff, journalists, lobbyists, etc.
A FN is an objective estimate of a bill’s fiscal impact. Usually it’s an analysis of a proposed bill, but occasionally it’s a bill amendment or a bill that’s already been enacted. Contrast: General assessments are policy reviews and opinion gathering; separate and distinct from fiscal impact.
Provides a 6-year projection of impact: each year shows incremental change from current law/budget
Has assumptions based on the least expensive way to reasonably implement the bill
Is always tied to a specific version of a bill: each time it is revised, a new fiscal note is requested
Help legislators evaluate a bill’s costs and merits before deciding whether to pass, reject, or amend it
Informs legislative staff, journalists, lobbyists, and others involved in the legislative process

3. WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT FISCAL NOTES?
They are important because:
They inform legislative decisions that impact the UW
… so, we need to be responsive and accurate.
They are tricky because:
We have less than 72 hours to respond
They cover a huge variety of topics
… so, we need your help!
Inform legislative decisions that impact UW: FNs are sometimes used to determine how much funding UW will receive for a particular initiative, so they can have a direct impact on our state appropriations.
We need to be responsive and accurate in our response:
If we don’t respond, the legislature will assume the bill doesn’t impact us
If a bill does have costs associated with it; the legislators won’t know to amend the bill in a way that mitigates that impact, or to provide funds to offset the fiscal impact.
We also want to maintain our credibility: if one FN is way off-base, the legislature might not take future submissions seriously.
Tricky part:
We usually have <72 hrs between the time we get a FN request from Olympia and the time we need to respond.
The FN requests cover a huge variety of topics: the UW is engaged in a huge variety of activities and programs.
We get FN requests on everything from “shellfish aquaculture” to “interest arbitration for uniformed personnel.” We in OPB try to be familiar with as many UW-relevant topics as possible, but need your expertise.
We need your help to quickly prepare accurate fiscal notes.

4. THE FISCAL NOTE PROCESS
< 72 Hours
OPB receives FN request from OFM
OPB adds FN to BillTracker, s assessors
Assessors prepare FN response
OPB reviews FN for accuracy and completeness
OPB adds FN to OFM’s system and submits it
So that you can see how your role as an assessor fits into the bigger picture, here’s a quick overview of the fiscal note process.
As you can see, a lot needs to happen in less than 72 hours.
This is the part of the process that directly relates to you, which is what I’ll focus on for the rest of the presentation.
Occasionally OFM sends a revision request
OFM distributes the final FN to legislators

5. THE FISCAL NOTE PROCESS
< 72 Hours
OPB receives FN request from OFM
OPB adds FN to BillTracker, notifies assessors
Assessors prepare FN response
OPB reviews FN for accuracy and completeness
OPB adds FN to OFM’s system and submits it
This is the part of the process that directly relates to you, which is what I’ll focus on for the rest of the presentation.
Occasionally OFM sends a revision request
OFM distributes the final FN to legislators

6. TO RESPOND TO A FISCAL NOTE REQUEST…
Check the due date and time in the notification from the Fiscal Note Analyst
Read the bill
Coordinate your response with others as needed; e.g. do our Bothell and Tacoma campuses need to be considered?
Fill in the “Fiscal Analysis” fields in the Fiscal Note Template
the template back to the Fiscal Note Analyst
In response to your feedback, we’ve stopped using Billtracker to gather fiscal analyses. You will now receive an from one of us. Check the due date and time in the notification (subject line; bolded text).
Read the bill: we talked earlier about how to access the bill text.
We’ll send the to folks we believe are likely assessors. Please coordinate with these other individuals, to ensure your response is comprehensive. Let us know if there’s anyone else we should add as an assessor!
Fill in the “Fiscal Analysis” fields as thoroughly and accurately as possible. Please use template as a guide, even if you don’t want to use it for your response.
the template (or your response) back to the FN analyst.

7. PLEASE FILL OUT:
Summary: overview of how the bill would impact the UW (or why it wouldn’t)
One or more of the following areas of impact:
Cash Receipts: estimated tax or fee collections
Expenditures: estimated cost to implement bill
FTEs: detailed list of additional staff time needed (will be shown on next slide)
Capital: acquisition and construction costs
Our FN responses always include a Summary, which provides an overview of how the bill impacts the UW.
Depending on the bill, you may need to fill out one or more of the following “impact” narratives and tables.
Cash Receipts: Typically only relevant to bills regarding the collection of a tax or fee—for UW, things like tuition or library fees.
Expenditures are often associated with bill proposals and thus, many of our fiscal notes include estimated expenditures.
We need you to include all assumptions made in your estimate and show your work as much as possible. OFM needs to be able to duplicate your work and understand why you calculated things the way you did.
We also need you to call out what the workload drivers are: why does the bill cost money; what’s driving that cost? Is it the need for upgraded software? Additional personnel?
FTE: In the FTE section, indicate if additional staff time would be required to implement the bill.
Confusing point: the FTE section displays a list of the number and type of FTE that would be needed. The cost of additional staff time (salaries and benefits) should actually be shown in the Expenditures section. OFM’s method of reporting FTE and related expenditures is not the most intuitive, but we have a number of resources to help you out with this.
Next slide will show you what the FTE section information should look like.
Capital: Lastly, there’s the “Capital” section, which is very rarely used. Most capital costs (like a new printer, or new software) actually belong under “expenditures,” so chances are you won’t use this section.

8. PLEASE FILL OUT: FTE table from template:
FTE: If additional staff time would be required to implement the bill, please list that in the FTE section.
What’s confusing is the cost of additional staff time (salaries and benefits) should actually be shown in the Expenditures section, the FTE section is more of a list of the number and type of FTE that would be needed.
OFM’s method of reporting FTE and related expenditures is not the most intuitive. But we have a number of resources to help you out with this.

9. WHAT IF THERE ARE TOO MANY UNKNOWNS?
You can say impact is “indeterminate.”
HOWEVER, OFM has recently asked us to limit the amount of “indeterminate” fiscal notes we return to them.
We will need you to:
Explain why the impact is indeterminate
AND
Give a rough estimate or provide a range of scenarios
OFM did an analysis and found that indeterminate fiscal notes were less likely to be funded. Advised us for our benefit to change.
You don’t have to be super precise; just give your best estimate!

10. TIPS & REMINDERS
Fiscal notes must take priority over general bill analysis
Let us know if we should add others as assessors (e.g. other units, Bothell and Tacoma campuses)
Try to avoid “indeterminate” responses where possible, but give a rough estimate or include a range of scenarios otherwise
Write for a general audience: avoid jargon, spell out acronyms
Identify and explain all assumptions
Report the bill’s incremental impact over current law
Report current dollars, don’t build in inflation
Identify costs/receipts as one-time or on-going
Consider implementation dates—what fiscal years are affected?
Separate cost of benefits from cost of salaries
Respond! (Please!) 
Regarding responding, if we don’t submit a response by the due date, legislators have to assume the bill has no impact on us. Although that’s true for some bills, many bills have HUGE financial implications for the UW.

11. RESOURCES
On the OPB website, under “State Operations” there is a page dedicated to FNs. NEEDS UPDATING
It will have a copy of this fiscal note presentation and a full fiscal note example.
There are also tips for responding to fiscal note requests, including the list of reminders that was on the last slide.

12. RESOURCES Becka Johnson Poppe Sharyl Morris Jed Bradley Kelsey Rote
(206)
Sharyl Morris
(206)
Jed Bradley
Kelsey Rote

13. Questions?