i StateLink 3.0 Help and Training Tutorial

iStateLink 3.0Help and Training Tutorial December 2010

iStateLink Home Page Quick Lookup Calendar Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Dashboard Splash Screen Saved Searches

Jurisdictions Monitored • To view the Legislative Jurisdictions monitored, scroll down on the home page and refer to the left column of the key performance indicator dashboard • To view the Regulatory Issues monitored, left click the “Regulations” tab and refer to the left column of the key performance indicator dashboard

Legislative & Regulatory Issues • To view the Legislative Issues monitored, scroll down on the home page and refer to the center column of the key performance indicator dashboard • To view the Regulatory Issues monitored, click the “Regulations” tab and refer to the center column of the key performance indicator dashboard • If you receive only Regulatory Forecasting, you will default to Regulations

Legislative Bill Records Legislative reports include: • Bill information, Sponsor, Summary, Link to Bill Text, Status, and Outlook • Legislative reports are updated daily

Regulation Records Regulatory reports include: • Issue and subissue • Contact person • Citation • Upcoming Action • Status • Rule Summary • Rule Development Regulatory reports are updated daily

Priority Legislation and Regulations • Legislation that is identified as a Priority will be alerted via email as bills are introduced and updated. • Legislation that is not identified as Priority will be alerted via email as hearings are scheduled. • Individual legislation that is not identified as a Priority by issue may be customized by the user and made a Priority. • From the Bill Record, click the circled “!” to make a non-priority bill a Priority. You will be prompted by a pop-up to confirm the action; click “Set Priority” to mark this item as a Priority.

Flag Legislation and Regulations • You are able to flag legislation or regulations by clicking the box next to the Record (see A) • You can filter a report by to show only flagged items by selecting “Only flagged items” from the Home Page and clicking “View Report” (see B) A B

Add Comments to Records • Click the note pad icon to add a comment to a Record (see A) • You will be prompted to add your name and enter your comments (see B) • You can search for all comments from the Home Page by clicking “View All Comments” (see C) B A C

Calendar • Use the calendar to view upcoming hearings and events on bills and regulations we are monitoring • Use the calendar to make entries on your personal calendar

Using the Calendar • Click on any date with a color • Scroll to the event you want to add to your calendar • Choose your calendar program • When prompted, click “Save”

“Send to My Calendar” via Email • You may add an event to your calendar when you receive an hearing alert from Stateside Associates • Click the red “send to my calendar” button and you will be directed to a page on iStateLink • Select the program where you wish to have the calendar event added and select “save” when prompted

Splash Screen • The screen can be customized with up to 200 words and can include hyperlinks and images; contact Stateside Associates to have the text customized • This can be closed by clicking “Hide” and opened by clicking “Show”

Reports • Quick lookup • Newly added bills and regulations • Cumulative reports • Final enacted bills and regulations • Quick reports • Refined reports

Quick Lookup • To quickly find a bill or regulation use the quick lookup feature • You can run a search by the sponsor’s last name, bill number or regulation ID • If you use a prefix (i.e. AB, HB, SB) when searching by bill number, it is important to separate the prefix from the number with a space • Once the criteria is entered, click “GO” and the results will be displayed

Newly Added Bills & Regulations • To generate a report on newly added bills and regulations, click on the number adjacent to “Newly Added Bills” or “Newly Added Regulations” • The number adjacent to the text indicates the amount of bills or regulations that have been added to your report in the last seven days • The number does not represent bills which have been updated recently

Cumulative Reports Cumulative Reports include all bills or regulations • To generate a cumulative report for all bills in one state, click on the number adjacent to the state name on the KPI dashboard • For a cumulative report for all bills in all states relating to a particular issue, click on the number adjacent to the issue name on the KPI dashboard • For a cumulative report for all bills in all states by status, click on the number adjacent to the status name on the KPI dashboard • For a cumulative report for all bills in all states and all issues click on the number adjacent to “Total Bills” • Similarly for all regulations, choose the Regulations tab and follow the instructions listed above

Enactments & Final Regulations • To view a report with all bills that have been enacted, click on the “View Enactments” link under the Legislation tab • To view a report with all regulations that have been finalized, click on the “View Final Regulations” link under the Regulations tab • Links are provided in the report to each individual bill that has been enacted, or to each individual regulation that has been approved, and a link is provided to the full report of all enactments, or all final regulations

Quick Report • The KPI dashboard features three criteria – jurisdiction, issues and status • The number next to the list item shows how many bills/regulations we are monitoring for you (e.g. 5 Cadmium bills) • For quick reports, click the numeral next to the criteria list item

Refined Reports • You can create a report using the three columns of criteria – jurisdiction, issues and status • There is no need to hold “Ctrl” while making multiple selections • Once you have selected the criteria of the report, click “view report” at the bottom of the page • For best results, click immediately to the side of the item you which to select (clicking the text makes it difficult to select)

More Refined Report • You may search by date range, then filter by priority, and/or bills you have flagged, and choose your format for output • There are five output formats – report, map, list, Excel chart and extended Excel chart • When you have selected the criteria, click “view report” • Same goes for Regulations

Saved Searches • After running a report, you can save your search • You can save up to five searches • Click “save this search” on the top of the report, drag the cursor to the slot you wish to save the search under, click and title the search • You can view your saved searches on the home page under “saved searches”

“Send to My Calendar” via Email • You may add an event to your calendar when you receive an hearing alert from Stateside Associates • Click the red “send to my calendar” button and you will be directed to a page on iStateLink • Select the program where you wish to have the calendar event added and select “save” when prompted

Interactive Map • Use the interactive map for navigation or presentations • The interactive map shows the number of bills and regulations we are monitoring for you in the 50 states and District of Columbia • To view the interactive map of legislation, select the “Legislation” tab and click “View Interactive Map” (see A) • To view the interactive map of regulations, select the “Regulations” tab and click “View Interactive Map” (see B) A B

Using the Interactive Map • Click on any jurisdiction to view it’s report • For a multiple state report, check the “Allow multiple-state selections” box, select any amount of jurisdictions and click “View Report” • You can customize the map colors • Right click on the map area and you can save the map as a JPEG Image, PNG Image or PDF Image

Grey Bar • All of Stateside Associates’ information services represented here • Not all clients receive all the information services, so the site features information to help conduct research in that area • Local – this section provides links to the county government associations and municipal leagues across the U.S. • Issue Management – this section will change periodically to provide information and perspective about State and Local Government Issue Management • Current Law – this section provides links to state statutes and regulations • States – this section is an aid to understanding the basic processes involved in state legislation

Special Reports Includes: • The Groups Report • Current Year’s Session Calendar • Next Year’s Session Calendar • Partisan Splits • State Legislators’ Contact Information

Help and Resources • Help using iStateLink • Provides contact information to the managers at Stateside Associates, please feel free to call them with any questions you may have • Contact Stateside • Provides address, telephone and fax numbers, general email address, website, and an email directory for Stateside’s managers

i StateLink 3.0 Help and Training Tutorial