|
Home
> Bills
> Lobbyist-In-A-Box Information
> Instructions
Lobbyist-In-A-Box Instructions
Set Up your Profile(s)
Profiles are the "key" to making this application work.
A profile is where you store all of the information that you are
tracking on legislative bills.
There are four (4) steps involved in setting up your profile(s):
- Naming the profile - a short, yet descriptive title for your
profile
- Assigning a description (optional) - a longer explanation
of profile contents
- Providing a keyword - one keyword or search phrase may be
stored with your profile.
- Entering in Bill Numbers - the bill number you wish to track
(if known).
- Viewing New Profile -
* Note: You must enter at least a keyword OR bill number, although
you always have the option of entering both.
To create a profile, click on the Create Profile tab on the Lobbyist-In-A-Box
main page.
1. Naming the Profile
Every profile created must contain a "profile" name.
You are allowed to call your profile anything you want, but we
recommend one (or both) of the following ways:
-
Client Name
If your client were the Kansas Oil Company, then the profile
would be named "Kansas Oil Company."
-
Topic (or subject matter)
If you were creating a profile that monitored legislation
pertaining to Kansas Property Tax, you would name the profile
"Kansas Property Tax" or "Property Tax."
2. Assigning a description (optional)
This is simply an area where you may expand on the profile name.
If you have named your profile "Kansas Property Tax,"
you could then provide a longer explanation.
3. Providing a keyword
The Keyword or phrase search function allows you to search for
a specific word, or multiple words or phrases. This is the keyword
that stays with the profile. If you wish to change the current
keyword that is with the profile, it will need to be changed from
the Update Profile tab (please refer to the Update Profile
section for further information).
For example, if you create a profile that is going to track farming
issues, then you might enter in the keyword "Cattle".
This keyword is now directly linked with the profile. Each night
after the nightly process, "Cattle" will be checked
against all the bills that were introduced or worked on, that
day in the legislature. If any new bills were introduced or changes
made to bills containing that keyword, you will be alerted to
that fact the next day.
4. Entering Bill Numbers
The Bill Number field for LIAB allows you to add specific bills
to your profile. You will be alerted to changes in the status
of a bill added to your profile after the nightly update. All
legislative information is updated on a nightly basis. You can
enter bills in the following manner:
- Separate bills with a comma or space. Example: 23,14,324
- It is not necessary to enter the bill numbers with an "H",
"HB", "S", "SB". If you do enter
in any preceding letters, the program will ignore them.
Adding Bills to your New Profile
After you have input all the criteria for your profile, you will
click on the "Create Profile" button. The program
will take you to a screen listing ALL bills associated with that
profile created.
To select a bill to add to your profile, select the checkbox.
After all selections are made, select the "Add Selected Bills"
button at the bottom of the screen.
The LIAB homepage will display your profile with the added bills ready
to be tracked.
Step 2: Maintain and Update your Profile(s)
You will now need to go into your Maintenance area where you
can:
- Add or delete the bills from your keyword search (if used)
to your profile.
- Edit notes for the bills in your profile
- Delete bills from your profile or your keyword search that
you do not wish to keep.
- Edit and/or change your Profile name, keyword search and search
default.
- Delete an entire profile
- Enter bills for your profile to search for by bill number.
If you make any additions or changes you will need to click the
"Update Profile"
button.
Also note that each bill number and bill note is hyperlinked.
This allows you to click on the bill number to view the full text
of the bill and also Edit Notes for the Bill should you choose
to add notes. Edit Notes will take you to a separate screen where
you can edit, add or review your notes.
Checking Profiles
Once you have created a profile, you may want to check the profiles
for changes that may have occurred. You may also wish to find if
any new bills have been introduced meeting your profile's criteria. Your
profiles are listed in alphabetical order on the main page of
the Lobbyist-In-A-Box program. This is where you are notified
of whether or not there are changes to any of your profiles.
Keyword Changes
If any bills had changes or were introduced, that contained your
keyword and is not currently in your profile, the bold checkmark
located in the Keyword column will alert you to the fact. Clicking
on the bold checkmark will run a process producing a listing of all
bills containing the keyword associated with the profile. (Refer
to the section Adding Bills to New Profile for further instruction). If the
checkmark is grayed out, there are no new bills fitting your profile description.
Checking the status of Profiles
To check the status of your profiles, first select an option
within the Status menu on the profile list page. You may choose
from the following:
- Full Text and Bill Tracking
- Full text
- Full History
- Last Action
- Last Three Actions
After selecting the desired option, click on the $1 icon button
to the right of the Status field.
After the process has run you are presented with a screen
which provides several options to view the information
contained within your profile.
Full Text-
Changed or Unchanged
Provides the Full text of every bill in your profile whether
they have been changed or unchanged.
Bill Tracking-
All Bill Tracking For This Profile or All Bill Tracking For
This Profile with Bill Notes
Displays the Bill Tracking of all the bills in your profile.You
may also choose to include Bill Notes.
Changed or Unchanged (with Bill Notes if chosen)
Displays only the bills in your profile that have either changes
or are unchanged depending on the option that you choose. Also
gives you the option to include Bill Notes.
If you opted to check the "Full Text and Bill Tracking"
status of your profile, you may select the All Full Text and
Bill Tracking information (changed and unchanged) option.
This will display all the Full Text and all the Bill Tracking
of every bill in your profile whether the information is changed
or unchanged.
This area allows you to view the contents of your profile. It
is recommended that you print out this contents sheet of each
profile weekly. This is a safety procedure for you. Should you
delete a profile by mistake, you can then re-build the profile
from the information contained here.
Profile Contents
The Contents displays the following:
- Profile Name
- Profile Description (optional)
- Keyword (optional)
- Bill(s) in Profile
- Notes that you have attached to your bills (optional)
- Search Default
- Last check of Full Text Information
- Last Check of Bill Tracking Information
Bills In Committee:
Each night, during the nightly processing of Legislative
information, the bills in your profiles will be checked against
the House and/or Senate Calendar. If a bill contained in any of
your profiles is scheduled for a hearing, you will be notified
from the Lobbyist-In-A-Box main page.
The information that will be presented to you is:
- Bill Number
- Profile Name
- Committee Name
- Date and Time of Meeting
- Location of Meeting
Cross Reference
With a click of a button, this feature allows you to view all
your profiles that contain one common bill - all of it at a glance!
|
Skip navigation
