BillTrack50 Help Center

** By Michael O'Brien, BillTrack50 regulatory expert and founder MOB Advocacy**

As a professional regulation tracker, I have created my own template for tracking the regulations I care about. You may also find something similar to be useful.

Creating a New Template

By default, your account will use the standard Regulation Template which includes columns for the state, regulation name, page number, version and added dates and the state link. As a power regulation tracker you will want to add a lot more columns! You can edit your existing template but it's best to create a whole new one so you can revert back to the original template if you want to.

First, click your name on the top right and choose RegulationSheet Templates:

Then click Add Template in the top right:

This takes you to the new template screen. Give your template a name, and you can also configure the existing columns - you can re-organize them using the cross to the left, set the width, include or exclude them and set the initial sort:

Create Custom Columns

Once you have your template, you can begin creating your custom columns to add in to it. Click Add Column on the main regulation template screen:

You can now select the type of data you will want to add into the column from the drop down list. This can be text, numbers, dates, links or drop down menus:

Then type the title of your column in the Column Header text box. If you have selected single or multiple select dropdown, then you'll need to add the options into the Dropdown Values box, pressing ENTER after each entry. Don't forget to click Save when you're done!

You can now edit the new template you created to add your custom column. On the main regulation template screen, click Edit next to the regulation sheet:

Then find your new column in the list and click the Visible box to add it to the template. You can also set the width and use the cross on the left to put it in the best location.

My Template

Now you know how to create a template and add custom columns, what columns should you add? There are several broad sections that you'll need to effectively track regulations. These are what I use, you may want more or fewer.

Reporting Section

This helps you separate what has changed since your last report. I generally use two columns:

Notification [single select dropdown menu]

What are looking at this reporting period? Dropdown options:

• New (for a new proposal or notice regardless of status),
• Update (for changes to regulations that I am currently tracking).

Status [single select dropdown menu]

The different types and stages of regulations. Dropdown options:

• Notice
• Emergency / Temporary
• Prefile
• Proposal
• Update
• Final
• Withdrawn
• Rule Review

Information Section

This includes the “Who’s?” the "What's” and the “Why’s?”. There are nine columns here:

State [Standard BillTrack50 column]

Document Reference [Standard BillTrack50 column]

Called 'State Link'.

Page [Standard BillTrack50 column]

Version Date [Standard BillTrack50 column]

Rule Identifier [Text]

Some states use unique identifiers and some just use code section identifiers. Keep in mind that not all states that use unique identifiers carry the same unique identifiers all the way through, but give unique identifiers to each step in the process.

Rule Title [Text]

Some states give titles, some just use section titles.

Agency [Text]

You can choose what level - the highest agency or the sub-agency section.

Legislative Reference [Text]

Bill Number and Session Number. This isn’t often given, but can be helpful when it is.

Summary [Text]

This is often listed right in the notice, and can be cut and pasted from the register.

Here's that section of the template in action:

Status Section

Looking at our statuses above, they naturally fall into two categories - prefiles and proposals. It is a personal choice if Rule Reviews fall in prefiles or under proposals. I tend to think prefiles. Some notices have opportunities to comment, some don’t. I would include a comment period. I make three columns:

Prefile Date [Date]

Register Date.

Prefile Link [URL]

Comments Due [Date]

Some states have hearings for every proposal (including rule reviews, hence the flexibility in placement), some only do comments. I make columns for all situations:

Proposal Date [Date]

Register Date.

Proposal Link [URL]

Hearing Date [Date]

Comments Due [Date]

Update Section

Not every state provides updates throughout the process. Even the ones that do, don’t do it for every regulatory change. Some states have hearings for every proposal, some only do comments. I make columns for all situations. I can’t think of a time when I saw more than two updates. These rarely have hearings. You can add additional hearings in the notes section if necessary.

Update 1 Date [Date]

Register Date.

Update 1 Link [URL]

Update 2 Date [Date]

Register Date.

Update 2 Link [URL]

Here's how that looks:

Final Section

The final section covers Withdrawn, Emergency, and Temporary Rules that are (almost) always final when filed or published. 

Final or Emergency Date [Date]

Final or Emergency Link [URL]

Effective Date [Date]

Concluding Section

Agency Contact [Text]

Self explanatory. This is almost always available, and typically includes name, title, address, phone number and Email. 

Notes [Text]

I include things like website links to make comments on rule changes, links to regulatory changes if not in the register, dates for temporary and emergency actions (which while final upon filing are never really permanent).

Here's that on the screen:

And here's a quick video showing the template.

If you engage in a lot of regulatory advocacy, you might want to add some columns to keep on top of what action has been taken. You could have columns including:

Reviewed By [Text]

Reviewed Date [Date]

Reviewer Notes [Text]

Action Taken [Text]

Action Date [Date]

Link to Testimony [URL]

And that's it! While it may take some time and effort to keep it all up to date, it will be worth it to become a power regulation tracker.