1. Legislative Kick-Off 2018
Office of Planning & Budgeting & State Relations
OPB will continue to produce budget briefs for major budget proposals, which we 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 Policy, Planning & State Operations team
Jed Bradley:
Primary contact for budget proposals
Leading bill tracking, helping with fiscal notes and information requests
Sharyl Morris:
Leading fiscal notes, helping with bill tracking and information requests
Kelsey Rote:
Helping with bill tracking, fiscal notes, and information requests
Lauren Hatchett:
Graduate student intern (College of Education)
Assisting with BillTracker updates and information requests

2. OPB Team Contacts Becka Johnson Poppe Jed Bradley Sharyl Morris
(206)
(206)
Sharyl Morris
Kelsey Rote
(206)
(206)
Lauren Hatchett
(graduate intern)

3. LEGISLATIVE PROCESS 101 Jed Bradley Senior Policy Analyst
Office of Planning & Budgeting
I’ll be going over a quick introduction of the legislative process and bill assessments.

4. LEGISLATIVE PROCESS & TERMS
First, one quick note that 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. This is, by far, our best opportunity to provide input on a bill.
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 or work to reconcile
8) When the bill is accepted in both houses, the Governor 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 new bill
Engrossed: (E2SHB) legislation into which one or more amendments have been incorporated, and has passed a chamber
“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.
Engrossed: (E2SHB) legislation into which one or more amendments have been incorporated and has passed a chamber.

7. BILL TRACKING & ANALYSIS

8. WHAT IS BILLTRACKER?
Captures and coordinates bill analysis across campus.
Used by State Relations to inform testimony and communication with legislators
Used by OPB and State Relations to identify priorities and bill positions
Allows users to follow bills they’ve been asked to assess
Coordinated effort between OPB, HR and F&A
BillTracker captures and coordinates bill analysis across campus –
State Relations uses these assessments to inform testimony and communicate with legislators
OPB and State Relations use assessments to help them identify priorities and UW positions
Allows users to view and follow all the bills they’ve been asked to assess
Coordinated effort between OPB, HR and F&A – so thanks again to our partners who help us review bill introductions and populate BillTracker!

9. HOW DO WE TRACK BILLS?
OPB and partners review bill intros on a daily basis
If we aren’t sure whether to track a bill, we folks around the UW and ask
We add bills to BillTracker and identify 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 and partners review bill intros on a daily basis
If we aren’t sure whether to track a bill, we folks around the UW and ask
We rely on topic lists and institutional memory to determine who to route bills to, but our process isn’t perfect. Please let us know about new contacts in your area, if folks have changed jobs, or if you know others who might need to track or assess a bill.
If a bill is relevant to the UW, OPB adds it to BT and identifies assessors in the system (i.e. subject matter experts)
BillTracker sends an to each assessor
Assessors read the bill, provide analysis & (if applicable) suggested 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.
A quick note on #2: We tracked over 500 bills last biennium and already have over 450 from the 2017 session. We want to use your time and our time thoughtfully, as a result we’re trying to be more judicious about the bills we enter into BillTracker. To help us with this please use alternative means to track bills that you are personally or professionally interested in, but would not have a material effect on the University. You can use RSS trackers and the bill tracking feature available through the legislature. We’re happy to help orient you to these other options.

10. TO ASSESS A BILL… You’ll receive a notice like this one:
One quick note: we are no longer using BillTracker s to notify you of fiscal notes, so you will no longer receive an extra from the system. Instead, you will receive an urgent from one of us asking you to help with a fiscal note.
You might receive both at about the same time if we were not tracking the bill before receiving a fiscal note request, but chances are that you will already be an assessor before getting a fiscal note request. As a reminder, please prioritize fiscal notes over policy feedback due to fiscal note deadline requirements.

11. TO ASSESS A BILL…
First, please read the bill, which you can access via this link…
Bill Number,
Title and Sponsors
Summary
To access the actual text of the bill, click 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 as of last 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…
“NEW SECTION” language is new, but is not underlined.
NOT AN ACTUAL BILL!
“NEW SECTION” language is new, but is not underlined.
Struck out text is to be removed.
Underlined Language is new language

15. TO ASSESS A BILL… NOT AN ACTUAL BILL!
Struck out text is to be removed from existing statute.
Underlined text is entirely new language
Struck out text is to be removed.
Underlined Language is new language

16. 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.

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

18. TO ASSESS A BILL…
Scroll down to see what others are saying, and 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:
The first field is a dropdown menu where you can select your position on a bill (options including “concerns” “support” “neutral” “neutral if amended”)
Under analysis, we ask that you explain your position / how the bill would affect the UW. It is helpful if you cite specific sections or wording, just like Harry did above.
If necessary, please offer specific amendments to make the bill better or alleviate concerns in the third field.
A few notes in general:
If you agree with one of the assessments someone else has submitted, you can simply say, I agree with Harry or another assessor.
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, just in case there are technical glitches.
When done, check “this is my final response” and hit “Submit Feedback”

20. HELPFUL REMINDERS… Be clear and concise
Provide specific suggested amendments (if needed)
Note any areas of confusion
Provide some education!
Give us a sense of importance
And please….
Respond as soon as possible
In general, please remember to:
Be clear, concise
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 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.
Give us a sense of importance:
It is helpful if you give us an idea of how important the proposal is (good or bad) so that OPB and State Relations can prioritize our efforts to support, oppose, or amend bill proposals that would have the greatest impact on the UW. We track hundreds of bills, so it is very important for us to prioritize our efforts.
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 .
**Also remember: Although assessments are generally private, they are viewed by a small group of people on campus and are subject to public records requests

21. TO SEE ALL OF YOUR BILLS…
opb.washington.edu/billtracker/assessor
I’ll talk briefly about some of the other ways to use BillTracker.
This URL is another way to access the state legislature webpage for a bill, which I showed 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.” One note on updating assessments: if you are updating based on an amendment or a new version of a bill, it is helpful if you do not delete what you wrote previously. The best approach is to add new information above what you have written previously, and clearly identify which version of the bill you are discussing.
The “hearing date” feature is still relatively new.
If you click on a bill that has a companion…

22. TO SEE COMPANION BILLS…
opb.washington.edu/billtracker/assessor
You can use this to toggle to the companion bill and follow updates and progress.
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 public 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?
Any questions about bill tracking or the legislative process?