Official Summaries
Key Votes staff members are authorized to replace a PVS synopsis with an official one published by the legislature, provided it meets specific criteria listed below. In most cases, a Key Votes staff member will copy and paste the official summary into a bill summary sheet after completing a check of a vote and releasing it live. The official summary will not immediately go live. Rather, it must undergo a series of checks, just as a PVS summary is required to undergo a series of checks before it is released to the live website. In some cases, a Key Votes staff member will opt to post the official summary later in the process. If, for example, during a staff check of a summary, a Key Votes staff member thinks the official summary will undoubtedly be superior to ours, the official one will replace the PVS summary that has already been written. However, out of concern for efficiency, an official summary should be selected before a PVS one is written whenever possible.
An official summary can be used if it meets all of the following criteria:
- A Key Votes staff member has read it and is confident it meets the remaining criteria. Interns cannot opt to take an official summary if it was not approved by a Key Votes staff member. In that case, a summary needs to be written.
- The official summary does not contain partisan language. If there are any examples of what PVS recognizes as partisan language, or if any of the language seemingly casts the legislation in a positive or negative light, a summary needs to be written.
- The information contained in the official summary is sufficient to replace a PVS summary altogether. If the information is at all lacking, a summary needs to be written. Meaning, if there are key points of the legislation missing from the official summary that would otherwise be included in a PVS summary, then a summary needs to be written.
- The accessibility of the official summary is at par or better than a PVS synopsis would be. If an official summary is difficult to understand, or cannot be understood by the general public at a level that is intended to be provided by a PVS Synopsis, a summary needs to be written.
- The official summary meets the policy regarding the length of a summary. The Department has a suggested limit of 2 pages, and official summaries should typically stick to this limit. However, the Department is also generous in making exceptions to this rule length if it at all gets in the way of a providing a good, accurate, and thorough summary. Therefore, we can bend this rule moderately to post a good official summary, provided the length is not excessive. Although, there is less leeway with this exception than there is with a PVS synopsis, because official summaries do not follow the same formatting rules as we do (i.e., they don't have to list the facts of the legislation in a point-by-point highlights section, they don't normally utilize indented highlights, etc.).
If an official summary is pasted into a bill summary sheet, the entire official summary must be included. Do not utilize ellipses (...) to reduce the length of an official summary.
If an official summary is pasted into a bill summary sheet, it must replace a PVS synopsis altogether. Do not combine an official and PVS summary. For example, don't attempt to fill in any gaps that are left by the official summary with highlights. If you believe that something omitted from the official summary needs to be included, then a summary of the entire legislation needs to be written.
Finally, if an official summary is pasted into a bill summary sheet, it must undergo at least two checks before being released to the live website. Checks of official summaries must verify the following:
- The information contained in the official summary is completely accurate and non-partisan, just as each aspect of a PVS summary is checked for accuracy and partisanship during a check.
- The official summary is not missing any of the main points of the legislation that would otherwise be included in a PVS summary. If the official summary is lacking in this respect, the official summary is removed and an PVS summary must be written.
- The official summary is formatted to be inputted into admin. Remove any unnecessary spacing that exists, and replace any characters that are not compatible with admin.
