Step 4. Writing a Bill Summary, Synopsis, and Highlights:
You will be responsible for all the votes for a handful of states. Check the Spreadsheet for your states. Remember to:
- Work on older votes first (check selection date).
- Check to see if someone else in the office has done an earlier vote on the same bill (in which case have them do the later one as well). This also applies to votes on earlier versions of substitute bills.
- Change the vote to blue in the Spreadsheet so no one else starts working on it.
A Bill Summary Template is located in the States folder.
Filling out a Bill Summary:
- Summary By: Your Name
- State: State Name
- Bill Number: This is a prefix (ex: HB) followed by a number. The easiest way to find this is to look it up on the legislative site. If the prefix you need is unavailable, ask your supervisor to add it to Admin for you.
- Title: It is the popular title in non-partisan language. If the state legislature provides a short title that is nonpartisan and explains what the vote is about: use that. However, if that does not exist make up a title. It should be short 3 - 4 words, give the gist of what the bill is about and be nonpartisan, keep in mind that if you go to an individual Representative or Senator's voting record page all that will show up is the date, this title and whether they voted Yea or Nay.
- Official Title: Should be at the top of the bill, it generally starts with "An act . . .
- Sponsor: Will be the first person listed, if they do not designate one person as the sponsor or can be the committee the bill is by. Be careful of substitute bills, the sponsor generally changes from the original sponsor (as does the bill number ie: from SB 104 to SCS SB 104).
- Co-sponsors: Include additional people called sponsor, because we do not have the capability of having more than one sponsor. Anyone after that first person will be included here. Be careful of substitute bills here too.
- Date Introduced: Either when it says introduced or first reading, the first time the entire chamber saw the bill. For amendments and substitute bills it should be the date that specific part of the bill was introduced not when the original bill was introduced.
- Type: Legislation, Legislation-Appropriation, Constitutional Amendment, Legislation - Joint Resolution, Nomination, Legislation-Resolution. Please note: do not select Constitutional Amendment, it is an option but would make the outcome on our website: Amendment Adopted. Most Constitutional Amendments are Joint Resolution or Resolutions, you can tell by the prefix select the type that corresponds with the prefix ie: SJR - choose Joint Resolution, SR - Resolution, S or SB - Legislation. Legislation-Appropriation should be selected when it is the budget or only deals with appropriations, do not select this if it is a bill that only does a small amount of appropriation at the end.
- Chamber/Level: House or Senate
- Stage: (Passage, Override of Veto, Tabling Vote, Conference Report Vote, Amendment Vote, Motion Vote, Cloture Vote, Concurrence Vote, Non-concurrence Vote)(Introduced, Referred to Committee show up as options they are not key votes actions but rather status actions)
- Roll Number: Can be called a Sequence Number, Roll Number or just be shown at the corner of the vote break down. However, not all states have them, so leave it blank if you cannot locate it.
- Yeas and Nays: On the actual sheet you may simply list the actual numbers but make sure to include a hardcopy of the actual breakdown in the vote's file. We include No Votes in the votes that are entered for specific Representative's and Senators but not in the vote spread. Keep in mind when you are entering votes that a No Vote includes: absent, present, excused. (Some vote breakdowns do not include a list of No Votes, ie. South Carolina, so you will have to compare lists to make sure someone was not voting). We do not take unofficial votes for example votes that are taken after the Roll Call or are corrections to the roll call but the individual was not present to vote. These people should be included as a no vote when you enter the vote, unless they paired which is an option - Paired Yeas or Paired Nay.
- Out Come: Passed/Failed
- Date of Action: Day the vote took place, this should be a calendar day not a legislative day.
- Category or Categories: This is one of the ways users can search for a bill. The categories will be decided in a selection meeting, but you may add additional categories if necessary after discussing it with your supervisor. Please remember to think about where people with opposite takes on the bill would look for and put it in all the categories that any side would look for it in.
- Note: We use notes to explain legislative procedure that need to be explained but doesn't below in the synopsis. For example we have notes for Veto Overrides, about the number of people needed to pass a bill, for substitute bills, for motion votes that explain what exactly the motion is. Options for notes in the state you are working on will show up at the bottom of the Admin screen, if you need a new note ask your supervisor.
- Official Synopsis: This can be called something different by the State Legislature's page, often Summary, Digest or within the Fiscal Analysis. Please note: it should only be included if it's for the version you are summarizing, since the bill generally changes the introduced synopsis should not be used unless no amendments have been made. If the official synopsis is extremely long sometimes we cut it down. Make sure you use ellipses to indicate that you cut something
- Actions for Web (Please Designate Selected Votes): Should include first Passage in Each Chamber, Final Passage in Each Chamber, Final Action on the bill, including Governor's action if it occurred and it is possible to enter into admin. If it died in committee, we post the referred to committee action. The purpose of this is to indicate what happened to the bill before and after the key vote. If another vote on the bill was key it will also be listed here, be sure to indicate that it is a key vote when you include it in the list.
- Bill Text Version that should be Attached: Should always be the version voted on. Please save it in whatever form the legislature makes it available. If there are format choices, the first choice is HTML, then PDF, then Word.
Decide on the most important parts of the version of the bill you are covering before writing your synopsis and highlights.
Answer the following questions:
1. Has the bill been amended since the introduced version? If no use the introduced version, if yes you need a different version of the bill
2. Has the bill passed one chamber and then been amended by the chamber you are looking at? If no you can use the same version that passed the first chamber, if yes you need a later version of the bill
3. Has the bill gone to the Governor? Was the vote you are covering the last vote in one of the chambers before it went to the Governor? If yes use the final version of the bill (normally called Enrolled), if no you need an earlier version of the bill.
Start synopsis with the following depending on the type of legislation:
- Vote to pass a bill that
- Vote to adopt an amendment that
- Vote to pass a resolution that
- Vote to pass a resolution/ joint resolution that
- Vote to override a veto that
- Vote to concur with Senate or House amendments and pass a bill that
- Vote to adopt a conference report that
- Vote on a motion to
If the bill you are summarizing does not fit the above actions ask your supervisor for the proper wording.
Then in one to three sentences summarize the most important part of the legislation. Do no take facts from the press. AVOID ANY PARTISAN LANGUAGE.
Highlights give the reader more specific information about the bill, such as dates, amounts, and penalties. Read through the defense materials and skim the bill text to help you decide what's important enough to be highlighted. If you find information in the press make sure you can verify it in the text. Start each highlight with a verb (unless it's an appropriations bill, in which case list dollar amounts first). Make sure to cite each highlight.
To create sub-points or lists in highlights you can use some simple html:
-This bill requires the following stuff:<ul>-One
-Two
-Three</ul>-Next Highlight
