REPORTS

There are two ways of reporting on GovWatch - real-time and printed.

Real-time reports are small and delivered to your screen. The information should be consumed and used instantly because it can change at any time. This type of report is used by lobbyists and liaisons.

Printed reports are distributed to one or more people as an overview. Because a printed report is a slice of time, the information contained in that report is changing constantly. Consequently this type of report is generally used by management or by clients of a firm as a general representation of current status.

There are literally hundreds of reports that can be created on GovWatch and each has a different purpose. Most of them fall into one of the categories below.

Bill Status

The most common reports are either last action or action since a specific date although there are a number of other options. Status reports can be run on all bills, single tracks, or a combination of tracks. Reports can include your personal remarks or analyses, tracking information, a progress chart, and even have links pointing to the state site so the report can be exported to non-GovWatch subscribers.

Meetings

This is the most common report run because of the dynamic nature of the posting, suspension, and modification of meeting agendas. Possible report options include all meetings or only meetings with tracked legislation, full agenda or only tracked agenda items, tracking information, your personal remarks or analyses, members of the committee, and also links that can point to GovWatch or to the state site if the report is to be exported to non-GovWatch subscribers.

Calendars

Personalized versions of the House and Senate Calendars and Local Calendars that include tracking information and personal remarks or analyses.

Contributions

Detailed contribution information can be compiled for each candidate, each member, and each contributor. There are multiple report formats that can include complete addresses and sorts by zip code, contribution amount, date, name, and election race and district. Additionally there are graphical representations of economic sector contributions sorted by consolidated contribution amount.

Research

This represents a myriad of options such as the Advanced Search functions, voting statistics, voting clusters, and companion analysis. Each of these reports is designed to provide intelligence for the decision making process so your bill has the greatest statistical chance for passage and how to best prevent passage of legislation that is harmful to your organization.

Analytics

There are a number of tools that interpret the massive amount of data compiled each legislative session and over numerous sessions. Analytics, much like research, help you choose which members should carry your legislation, what actions should be taken at a certain point of the legislative process, which handful of members to consult in order to swing a majority vote in the House, or which members that have committed to vote for your legislation have a propensity for walking recorded votes, just to name a few.

Understanding the report options that are available, when they should be used, and how they should be used, will help to ensure a successful legislative session.