An objective estimate of a bill’s fiscal impact.

1. FISCAL NOTES 2014 LEGISLATIVE SESSIONBecka JohnsonHigher Education Policy AnalystJanuary 8, 2014

2. What is a Fiscal Note? • An objective estimate of a bill’s fiscal impact. • Provides a 6-year projection, each year shows incremental change from current law/budget • Bases assumptions on least expensive way to reasonably implement the bill • Is always tied to a specific version of a bill • Helps legislators evaluate a bill’s costs and merits • Informs legislative staff, journalists, lobbyists, and others

3. Why Should you Care About Fiscal Notes? • They inform legislative decisions that impact the UW. • We need to be responsive and accurate • The tricky part is… • We have less than 72 hours to respond • Fiscal notes cover a huge variety of topics • We need your help to quickly prepare accurate fiscal notes.

4. Fiscal Note Process Overview < 72 Hours OPB receives FN request from OFM OPB adds FN to Bill Tracker and notifies assessors Assessors prepare FN response in Bill Tracker OPB reviews FN for accuracy and completeness • OPB adds FN to OFM’s system and submits it Occasionally OFM sends a revision request • OFM distributes the final FN to legislators

5. Fiscal Note Process Overview < 72 Hours OPB receives FN request from OFM OPB adds FN to Bill Tracker and notifies assessors Assessors prepare FN response in Bill Tracker OPB reviews FN for accuracy and completeness • OPB adds FN to OFM’s system and submits it Occasionally OFM sends a revision request • OFM distributes the final FN to legislators

6. Responding to a Fiscal Note Request

7. How To Respond to a Fiscal Note Request Check the due date and time in the email notification

8. How To Respond to a Fiscal Note Request Check the due date and time in the email notification Read the bill Review relevant laws and budgets (as needed) Coordinate your response with others (as needed) In Bill Tracker, describe the bill’s fiscal impact using all relevant narratives and tables

9. Elements of a Fiscal Note • Summary:overview of how the bill impacts the UW • Four types of impact that may be relevant… • Cash Receipts: the bill’s estimated impact on the UW’s cash receipts (taxes & fees) • Expenditures: expenditures necessary to implement the bill, including all assumptions • FTEs: list of additional staff time FTEs (by job title and annual salary) required to implement the legislation • Capital: acquisition and construction costs not reflected elsewhere and describes potential financing

10. Expenditures

11. Expenditures

12. FTE

13. FTE

14. FTE • Enter each full-time salary (not including benefits) • List the number of FTE required for that job title/salary

15. How To Respond to a Fiscal Note Request Check the due date and time in the email notification Read the bill Review relevant laws and budgets (as needed) Coordinate your response with others (as needed) In Bill Tracker, describe the bill’s fiscal impact using all relevant narratives and tables To save and return later, hit “Submit Feedback” (every 3hrs) When finished, check “this is my final response” and hit “Submit Feedback”

16. When the Fiscal Impact is Indeterminate • If there are too many unknowns to make a reasonable estimate, you can say impact is “indeterminate” • However, we must still: • Explain why the impact is indeterminate • Give a rough estimate of the fiscal impact (either “Less than $50,000 per fiscal year” or “Greater than $50,000 per fiscal year”) • Provide a range of scenarios that provide a sense of scale, indicate which scenario is most likely

17. When Cost is Small and Can Be Absorbed • In such cases, we can cite ‘no fiscal impact,’ • However, we must still: • Provide information about the scale of the costs • Explain what existing activities/efforts might be displaced in order to accommodate the legislation

18. When You Have Concerns About a Bill • A fiscal note must be objective, so please communicate your opinions separately • Reminder: Fiscal assessments must take priority over general assessments

19. Tips and Reminders • Write for a general audience, avoid jargon • Only report the incremental impact of the bill • Report current dollars, don’t build in inflation • Identify costs/receipts as one-time or on-going • Identify and explain ALL assumptions • Use realistic implementation dates and account for them • Separate cost of benefits from cost of salaries • In the FTE section, report the number of FTE needed • Respond! please 

20. Additional Fiscal Note Resources OFM’s 2014 Fiscal Note Instructions: http://ofm.wa.gov/budget/instructions/other/agencyfiscalnoteinstructions.pdf OFM’s Fund Look-up: http://www.ofm.wa.gov/fund/ OFM’s Fiscal Note Look-up: https://fortress.wa.gov/ofm/fnspublic/ WA Legislature Home (bill and law search): www.leg.wa.gov

21. Fiscal Note Assistance • BeckaJohnson • jbecka@uw.edu (206) 616-7203 • Miranda Leidich • leidich@uw.edu (206) 685-7449 • Sharyl Morris • sharylb@uw.edu (206) 543-4679 • If you don’t know who your fiscal note analyst is, or if you have general questions, contact Becka.

22. Questions?