Washington State Department of Social & Health Services

1. DOP Legislative Preparation Seminar • Legislative Bill Analysis • December 5, 2006 • Christine M. Swanson • Department of Social and Health Services • Government & Community Relations - Director Washington State Department of Social & Health Services

2. Agenda • Bill Analyses – The Foundation • Tips to Reading Legislation • Keys to Successful Bill Analyses • Tracking Bill Analyses • Question and Answer Washington State Department of Social & Health Services

3. Bill Analyses – The Foundation • Analyses set the foundation for your agency to make strategic decisions regarding legislation • Analyses determine agency impacts, changes to business operations, recommends agency position and testimony, develops the fiscal assumptions, discusses potential stakeholder impacts • Analyses are used by your agency executive management, your budget office, the Attorney Generals Office and the Governor’s Office • Analyses become the historical record of the department’s legislative policy Washington State Department of Social & Health Services

4. Tips to Reading Legislation • Draft bill number Z=Agency Request • H=House Request • S=Senate Request • Bill Number • Each bill is assigned a number for identification • House bills begin with 1000 • Senate bills begin with 5000 • Second Line • Indicates which legislature and the year of the session Washington State Department of Social & Health Services

5. Tips to Reading Legislation (cont’d) • Sponsor line • The first name is the prime sponsor. Additional names are secondary sponsors. • Referral The date the bill was introduced and to which committee it was referred • Title • Identifies the subject of the legislation and which RCW it affects • New, amended or repealed sections • Providing an effective date • Declaring an emergency Washington State Department of Social & Health Services

6. Tips to Reading Legislation (cont’d) • Enacting Clause: This declares who intends to initiate the legislation; either by the people or by the legislature. • Intent Section: Generally the first section of the bill and contains legislative findings and broad statements of the policy the legislature wishes to change in order to solve a particular problem • NEW SECTION: Language that follows this heading is all new language in the RCW Washington State Department of Social & Health Services

7. Tips to Reading Legislation (cont’d) • Amended Sections have underlined language for new language or strikethrough for language to be removed (see bill) from the RCW. • The end of the bill usually includes: • Repealers • Appropriations • Effective date • Expiration date • Emergency clause • Substitute – usually proposed by a policy committee • Second Substitute – usually proposed by a fiscal committee Washington State Department of Social & Health Services

8. Tips to Reading Legislation (cont’d) • Engrossed – has been amended on the floor in the house of origin and may contain more than one amendment • Amendments • Committee – proposed by a policy or fiscal committee • Floor – proposed by one or more members • Striking – adopted by a committee and recommended to the full house, complete revision of the original bill, usually used to revise bills from the opposite house • Conference Committee – Bills in dispute between the two houses Washington State Department of Social & Health Services

9. Keys to Successful Bill Analyses Be clear, concise, thorough and attentive to detail. To emphasize the key information, DSHS created an executive summary bill analysis. All key information is layed out in a one page briefing paper. • Identify all sponsors • Discuss background of the legislation, if known. • The legislation has been introduced in the past, legislative taskforce has been working on the issue, certain stakeholder groups want the legislation. Washington State Department of Social & Health Services

10. Keys to Successful Bill Analyses (cont.) • Policy impacts and what your program will need to implement this legislation • Technology / systems changes, hiring staff, training, rulemaking, administrative policy changes • Effective Date • Does the effective date give you enough time to implement the legislation? • Recommendation of department position and whether testimony is needed • Fiscal Impact Washington State Department of Social & Health Services

11. Tracking Bill Analyses • Lawmakers will introduce roughly 2,500 bills • Only about one in five – 500 – will become law • At DSHS, Government & Community Relations (GCR) reviews all bills introduced to determine impact within the department. • GCR assigns bills out to appropriate divisions for analysis and gives a due date of three days. • All bill analysis are sent back to GCR for the agency legislative briefing meetings. • With tight timelines and high pressure situations, it is critical to have a centralized tracking system for your agency. Washington State Department of Social & Health Services

12. Summary • Bill analyses are the foundation for your agency to make key decisions • A specific bill has many pieces to it -- you need to be able to differentiate all the pieces, identify the policy implications and make a recommendation for your agency • Bill analyses need to be clear and concise with the key information • Centralized tracking system helps manage the flow of bills through your agencies Washington State Department of Social & Health Services

13. Questions? Washington State Department of Social & Health Services