Preparing the Bill Summary Sheet


Creating the Document(s)

The first step is to create a bill summary sheet in the electronic folder. Remember to create a bill summary sheet for each key vote that you are entering. Therefore, if multiple votes for the same bill have been selected as key votes, you will create a separate document for each vote. There is a blank copy called "Bill Summary Template" saved in the Forms and Templates folder on the Share drive (or in the main State Bills folder on Box). Open the blank template and save it to the appropriate folder with the title "Bill Summary -" followed by the chamber and stage. For example, if we are covering the House Conference Report Vote of a bill, the title of the document will read "Bill Summary - House Conference Report Vote." If you have selected multiple votes, do the same thing for the other vote(s) that was selected, and remember to apply the correct stage to the name of the document. For example, if we selected the Senate Passage with Amendment and House Concurrence Vote for a bill, one document will read "Bill Summary - Senate Passage with Amendment," and another will read "Bill Summary - House Concurrence Vote." You will save the word document with the following title format:
Preparing the (First) Document

Fill in the fields on the bill summary sheet using information from the state legislative website. There may be sections of the bill summary sheet that you will leave blank, depending on the state and vote that you are dealing with.

Selection Sheet Information

Start with the information that is found on the folder tracking sheet and on the documents included within the physical folder, since that is the first set of information about a vote that you encounter. The information for the following sections of the bill summary sheet can be found from one of these sources:



Legislative Website Information

Once you have filled out the information on the bill summary sheet that can be found from the folder, the next step is to fill out the information on the bill summary sheet that must be obtained from the bill text and/or the legislature's website.

Date Introduced

This information can be obtained on the bill history. Typically, it is the first date listed. However, some states have pre-file dates and other administrative things listed on the bill history. When you encounter that, locate the date in which the bill was introduced in the chamber of origin. When you type the date into the bill summary sheet, it should always be formatted for admin purposes: MM/DD/YYYY.

Bill Type

The type of legislation is one the following, typically identified by the bill prefix:
1. Legislation: Standard bill; the most common type; generally identified by the following prefixes: HB, SB, AB, H, S, A, HF, SF, and LB.
2. Legislation - Resolution: A resolution that will often be limited to one chamber, but sometimes will be taken up by the other chamber; never goes to the Governor; sometimes used to introduce constitutional amendments but also statements of support or opposition; generally identified by the following prefixes: HR, SR, AR, LR, and R.
3. Legislation - Joint Resolution: A resolution that must be considered by both chambers to be considered passed; rarely goes to the Governor; like a Resolution, it will be used to issue statements of opposition or support, but more often than a Resolution is it used to introduce constitutional amendments; generally identified by the following prefixes: HJR, SJR, and AJR.
4. Amendment: An amendment to any type of legislation; modifies the text of the legislation in some fashion; state's vary in the prefixes they assign to amendments a great deal, with little consistency, but for our purposes we simply use "Amdt" followed by the amendment number. However, if the legislature does not assign numbers to amendments, insert the surname of the amendment sponsor, followed by the "Amdt" prefix (ex: Smith Amdt).
5. Nomination: A confirmation vote on a gubernatorial nominee; state's vary in the prefixes they assign to a nomination; we always use the prefix assigned by the legislature, unless they don't have a prefix and instead we type their surname followed by "Nomination" (ex: Smith Nomination).

Vote Roll Number

This information can usually be obtained from either the vote breakdown or the bill history, although it may occasionally be listed elsewhere on the legislative website or in the journals. Many states don't have roll call numbers. If they do, it will typically be listed somewhere on the vote breakdown, preceded by the words "Roll Call" or "Sequence Number," or some variation of that. If you encounter any confusion in looking for a roll call number, refer to the roll call number manual - a state-specific guide to locating roll call numbers.

Note

A note supplements information on the website to clear up any confusion there might be about a vote, or to provide users with the necessary information to better understand the implications of a vote. More often than not, a note will not be necessary. However, there are some notes that will be applied frequently, others that are used moderately, and some that are rarely applied. Some are even created exclusively for one individual vote. If a note is required for a vote, it will usually be listed on the folder tracking sheet, but if not you should still check to see if one would be required just in case.

These are the most common cases in which notes will be applied, but keep in mind that some of the explanations provided for notes will vary depending upon the state you're dealing with:
1. Substitute bill text: whenever a substitute version of the legislation replaces the original version. The note is the same for every state: "Substitute Bill." However, some states use "Substitute Amendments" which are amendments that replace the entire text of the bill. For these state, the note should be titled "Substitute Amendment."
2. Constitutional Amendment: Anytime legislation is amending the constitution. The note will always be titled "Constitutional Amendment," but the explanation provided will differ according to the requirements of the state.
3. Whenever a super-majority is required to pass legislation, generally 2/3 or 3/5 majority. The note could simply be titled "2/3 majority required" or "3/5 majority required," or it could state the reason for the super majority, like if an Urgency Clause or Emergency Clause was attached to the bill (stipulates that the legislation goes into effect immediately).

4. Whenever there are more "Yeas" than "Nays," but the legislation still failed. This is typically because a majority of all members is necessary for Passage, and there were enough absent, abstaining, excused, voting "Present," or even vacancies to prevent a full majority voting to pass the legislation. The note should always indicate that a majority is necessary for passage - "Majority Vote Requirement," or some variation thereof.

5. If a vote is reconsidering a previous vote, meaning a vote on the same stage occurred immediately prior to this vote. The note is the same for every state: "Reconsideration."
6. If a vote is on a motion to table (kill) legislation. We have a specific "Tabling Vote" stage for these votes, so that should tip you off to the note immediately. The note will always be titled "Tabling Vote."
7. If a vote is on a motion to invoke cloture (cut off debate and schedule a vote for passage). This is generally reserved for the U.S. Senate, but there are a few states that have cloture motions as well. The note will always be titled "Cloture Vote."
8. Anytime the stage is a Motion Vote, there either will be a note available to explain what the motion is, or a note will have to be created to provide such explanation.

A bill history can often alert you to a note, but you might have to examine the legislative journal or vote breakdown. Other times, you will immediately know that a note needs to be added - if the press mentions a constitutional amendment, for example. But keep in mind that notes are specific to each state's entry in admin. Therefore, you might add a note after preparing the bill summary sheet, while looking at what is available in admin during the entering votes process. Sometimes, the staff must create a new note in admin to accommodate a situation that you have encountered on this individual vote. If you feel that a note needs to be created, speak with a Key Votes staff member.

Other Statuses for Web

The list of "other statuses" are the stages of the bill history that will be included on the website, aside from the current stage that you're working on. This information can be obtained from the bill history. The other statuses are limited to the following:
(1) "Referred to Committee" Status: This is only used if the legislation passed and no other vote has taken place in the opposing chamber. For example, if we selected the Senate Passage and the House has not voted on it, but the bill is listed as having been referred to the House Appropriations Committee, then the Referred to Committee status should be listed. Only include this status if the bill history specifies both when it was submitted to the committee and to what committee it was referred to. Once the opposing chamber has voted on the legislation, the Referred to Committee status will be removed from the summary sheet and replaced by that vote. For example, if we selected the House Passage of a bill, we wouldn't have both Referred to Committee and Senate Passage with Amendment listed under the "Other Statuses for Web" headline. When listing the Referred to Committee Status, always note which committee the legislation has been referred to.
(2) Up-or-Down Votes on Passage of the Legislation: This includes any of the following stages, regardless of the chamber, that are specified in the bill history:
(a) Passage
(b) Passage with Amendment
(c) Concurrence Vote
(d) Concurrence Vote with Amendment
(e) Nonconcurrence Vote
(f) Conference Report Vote
(g) Override of Veto
(h) Inexpedient to Legislate Vote
(i) Ought to Pass Report Vote
Also, if a chamber reconsiders any of the above votes, you must list both the original stage and the reconsideration stage. Just remember to include a reconsideration note.

(3) Procedural Votes: Various procedural votes, particularly motion votes, can be included in the "other statuses for web" section, provided that we either (1) selected the vote for coverage, or (2) we need to include it in order to provide an understandable bill history. The procedural votes are limited to one of the following:
(a) Motion Vote
(b) Tabling Vote
(c) Cloture Vote
(4) Governor's Action: This is limited to the one of the following:
(a) Signed by Governor
(b) Signed by Governor with Line Item Vetoes
(c) Became Law Without Governor's Signature
(d) Vetoed by Governor

When listing the other statuses, you must include the following information: date (use admin format: MM/DD/YYYY), chamber, stage, outcome, note (if applicable), "Yeas" and "Nays" (if it was a voice vote, list that instead), and roll call number (if applicable). It should be listed using the following format:

Here are some examples:

(1) New Hampshire - HB 648, 2009: The House Passage, Senate Passage with Amendment, House Override of Veto, and Senate Override of Veto votes were all selected. This is the "Other Statuses for Web" section of the bill summary sheet for the House Override of Veto Vote:
-03/25/2009: House Passage, Passed 234-138 (Roll Call No. 65)

This is a fairly standard "Other Statuses" section of a bill summary sheet. All of the other major statuses are included in order to provide a complete bill history: House Passage, Senate Passage with Amendment, House Nonconcurrence Vote, House Conference Report Vote, Senate Conference Report Vote, Governor's Veto, and Senate Override of Veto. Note that all of them have a roll call number listed after the "Yeas" and "Nays," except for the House Nonconcurrence Vote. This is because the "Yeas" and "Nays" were never recorded and instead passed on a voice vote.

(2) U.S. Congress - HR 3548, 2009: The House Passage, Senate Cloture Vote, and House Concurrence Vote were all selected. This is the "Other Statuses for Web" section of the bill summary sheet for the House Concurrence Vote:
-09/22/2009: House Passage, Passed 331-83 (Roll Call No. 722)

The first status (House Passage) is fairly standard: an up-or-down vote to pass the legislation.

The second status is unique because normally that would not be included in the "Other Statuses for Web" section. However, we decided to select that vote, and therefore it must be included in the "Other Statuses for Web" section. A note must be included with that status ("Cloture Vote on a Motion to Proceed") to explain what, specifically, they are voting on. If we hadn't selected this vote, it would be disregarded altogether.

The third status is unique as well because normally that, too, would not be included in the "Other Statuses for Web" section. Not only is it not an up-or-down vote to pass the legislation, but it also was not selected for coverage. However, we must include this status in order to provide an understandable bill history. The previous status (Senate Cloture Vote) was only a vote to invoke cloture on this very motion. We still want to provide this status to explain what the Motion to Proceed is. Hence the note that is applied to this status ("Motion to Proceed"). If we didn't include this stage in the bill history, it would suggest they voted to invoke cloture on a motion that was never even voted on.

The fourth status (Senate Passage with Amendment) is fairly standard since it is an up-or-down vote to pass the legislation.

Finally, the fifth status is the President's signature, which closes out the "Other Statuses for Web" section.

(3) New Mexico - HB 17, 2009: The House Passage and Senate Passage with Amendment votes were selected. This is the "Other Statuses for Web" section of the bill summary sheet for the House Passage:
-10/23/2009: Senate Passage with Amendment, Passed 31-9 (Roll Call No. 43)

The first status (Senate Passage with Amendment) is fairly standard: an up-or-down vote to pass the legislation.

The second status is the House Concurrence Vote, which is a vote that must be included in the "other statuses" section. It is listed along with the date of vote, and because the "Yeas" and "Nays" were not recorded, it is noted that it passed by voice votes. This stage, however, differs from the Senate Passage with Amendments stage because there is a note selected for this stage ("Multiple Amendment Votes [Failed]") in order to explain that the House recorded multiple votes for this stage, each on an individual amendment adopted by the Senate, and that at least one of those votes failed.

The third status is the Motion Vote in the Senate. The note that is included with this status ("Motion to Recede from Amendment[s]") explains that the Senate agreed to recede from the amendment that was rejected by the House. The inclusion of this stage is necessary to explain how the legislation made it to the Governor's desk.

Finally, the fourth status is the Governor's Action, which closes out the "Other Statuses for Web" section, and it specifies that the Governor issued line-item vetoes.


PVS Title

Think of this as the headline for the bill summary on the website. This is what appears as a link when the bill is searched for on our website. For congressional bills, you must use the official title from THOMAS. However, state bills often lack appropriate official titles, so you will have to create your own.

The title is unique in this step because it requires some original thought on your part. This means that you are not simply reproducing information onto the bill summary sheet, but must create a title based on the information that you currently have. The press is usually the most helpful in coming up with a good title. The official summary can also be helpful. An official summary, if the legislature even provides one, can be found on the legislature's website. Finally, you also have the bill text to refer to. However, the bill text is something that is dealt with more during the summary writing process, and you are advised not to spend too much time reading the bill text in order to come up with a title.

A title must meet the following guidelines:
(1) Accuracy: The title must accurately reflect what is being voted on. If a vote of "Yea" or "Nay" is listed on the website next to the title, ask yourself "would it be accurate and fair to say that Rep./Sen. [Insert Name] voted Yea/Nay on [Insert Title]?"
(2) Non-Partisan: The title must be entirely non-partisan, meaning it cannot contain partisan language (ex: "Illegal Immigration" or "Reform") nor be worded in such a way as to seemingly cast the legislation in positive or negative light.
(3) Avoiding Plagiarism: When using the press file to create a title, avoid plagiarism at all costs. The title is something that you and you alone come up with, unless you are utilizing a previous title that appears on the PVS website. Utilizing the same language contained in the official summary will not create a plagiarism issue, because an official summary published by the legislature is public information. Nonetheless, you are still instructed not to rely too heavily on the language of the official summary. As for the press, it is extremely importantly that you not duplicate a title from the press, because that is copyrighted and could subject the organization to a lawsuit.
(4) Specifics: The title must be as specific as possible without running into problems of misrepresentation or excessive length. Legislation typically falls into two categories, which can determine how specific your title should be:
(a) If you're dealing with legislation that has a single, specific objective, don't have a title that is too vague. For example, if there were legislation that increases the sales tax, the correct title would be "Sales Tax Increase" rather than simply "Sales Tax". Or, for example, if the legislation requires an individual to present photo identification at a polling place, don't type "Voter Identification" or even "Increasing Voter Identification Requirements." Instead, you would be more specific and mention that it requires photo identification. A good title would be "Requiring Photo Identification to Vote"; or
(b) If you're dealing with an omnibus piece of legislation, meaning one that is longer and contains multiple objectives, then the title will be relatively vague. When you encounter this, state the area of the law the legislation is addressing and then explain that it will be amending that section of the law. The general format for these is "[Insert Area of Law Being Addressed] Law Amendments"; for example, "Energy Law Amendments," "Education Law Amendments," "Tax Law Amendments," etc. However, this issue also comes up with budget bills. When you encounter this, remember to state the fiscal year, although you shouldn't put the words "fiscal year" into the title, and note that is a budget or budget-related bill; for example, "2010-2011 Budget," "2010-2011 Education Budget," "2009-2010 Budget Amendments," etc.
(5) Length: It is a general rule that we try to keep the titles as succinct as possible. However, that should not interfere with your efforts to provide an accurate and specific title. If, however, you feel that your title could be too long, look for a way to rephrase it without sacrificing accuracy and specifics.


PVS Synopsis
The synopsis should be thought of as an extension of the PVS title, and is intended to expand upon information already provided while still leaving the vast majority of the details for the highlights of the bill, which will come later. Instructions on a proper synopsis can be read at the PVS Synopsis instructions page.

Much like the title, a synopsis will be based on the writer's basic understanding of the bill from the press file. It should give the website user a snapshot of the bill's main provision(s).

Preparing the Second Document, If Applicable

If you selected multiple votes for one piece of legislation, proceed to prepare a bill summary sheet for the other vote selected. This was mentioned in the first step of this manual ("Creating the Document[s]"). Therefore, you should already have two documents saved in the appropriate electronic folder once you've reached this step.

Preparing the second bill summary sheet can be substantially easier than preparing the first because the following information from the first bill summary sheet can be duplicated on the second bill summary sheet, with a few exceptions listed below:
(1) State
(2) Bill Number
(3) PVS Title^
(4) Date Introduced
(5) Bill Type
(6) Categories^^
(7) PVS Synopsis
(8) Other Statuses For Web^^^

^Occasionally, a title will be modified if the differences between the two bill texts are enough to warrant a change in the title. This is extremely rare because the changes must be substantial enough to warrant a whole new title - the objective of the bill was somehow altered or vastly expanded - and this doesn't typically happen between two stages voting on the same bill.

^^It is possible that additional categories will be applied to this stage, or categories could potentially be removed from this stage. However, this is extremely rare. It only occurs when there were substantial amendments adopted, resulting in two versions of the bill text that are substantially different, thus warranting the addition or subtraction of categories. When it does happen, the two votes are usually selected on different dates. If, by some chance they are selected on the same day, then the selection sheet will indicate the differences.

^^^With respect to the Other Statuses For Web section of the bill summary sheet, you will need to remove the status dealing with the vote that you're currently preparing a bill summary sheet for. For example, if we selected the House Passage with Amendment Vote and the Senate Concurrence Vote of the same bill, and you first prepared the bill summary sheet for the House Passage with Amendment stage, then you would have the Senate Concurrence Vote included in the "Other Statuses" section. However, the Senate Concurrence Vote stage would not be included in the "Other Statuses" section of the bill summary sheet for the Senate Concurrence Vote. That status would need to be deleted from the "Other Statuses" section. The rest would be included.

The following information is unique to this vote, and therefore cannot be reproduced from the first bill summary sheet:
(1) Chamber of Vote (Level)
(2) Vote Stage
(3) "Yeas" and "Nays"
(4) Vote Outcome
(5) Date of Vote
(6) Other Statuses for Web^

^As mentioned earlier, you copy verbatim the "other statuses" from the first bill summary sheet, with one exception: the one status that you are currently preparing a bill summary sheet for. For example, the Senate Passage would list a House Passage in the "Other Statuses for Web" section, but you wouldn't need to list the House Passage in that section of the bill summary sheet for the House Passage. And from there you would add the Senate Passage.

All of the above information, except for the "other statuses," can be retrieved from the selection list. Also, remember that while this information will sometimes be the same as the first bill summary sheet, all of it must be checked against selection sheet, because it all deals with that specific vote.
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