Administrative Rules of Montana Initiative

1
Administrative Rules of MontanaInitiative

• MT Rules!
• ARMed for Success
• www.mtrules.org

2
MT Rules!

• ARMI is a technology initiative to
• Automate state agency rule submittals
• Streamline the publishing processes of the
  Montana Administrative Register and
  Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM)
  publications, and
• Enhance online publications and services

3
Business Drivers

• Operation costs exceed current revenues.
• Growing online customer base with new needs.
• Declining number of print subscribers.
• State agency customers wanted online tools.
• Lack of confidence in online version of ARM.
• Complex program and slow process to update online
  ARM.
• State agencies duplicating web services.
• Inventory seven years out of date and costly to
  update.
• No centralized rules database.

4
What we did

• Secured top management commitment
• Brought together the stakeholders our staff,
  agency users, and customers from the real world
• Stakeholders defined about 140 requirements
• Issued Request for Proposal to build system
• Awarded contract to CommerNet, Inc.

5
What our users wanted

• More timely updating of ARM
• State-of-the-art searching options
• To see versions of a rule in the past
• The ability to track rule changes
• The ability to navigate easily within ARM

6
What our state agencies wanted

• Simpler submittal process
• Online tools
• Standardized templates
• Instructions
• Single authoritative database for rules
• Maintain print version

7
What our office wanted

• Streamline publishing processes
• Increase public access to administrative rules
• Encourage public participation in rulemaking
  process
• Gain administrative efficiencies
• Reduce in-house inventory with print-on- demand
• Ability to archive digitally

8
What we decided on

• A one stop web portal
• A flexible centralized database
• Simple agency interface
• Online tools for users
• Keep printing

9
Creation of the database

• Conversion challenges
• Loss of tabs, leader dots, double spaces
• Tables
• Images
• Source data
• Quality assurance process
• Flexible

10
Using the Public Interface

• Fast, versatile searching
• Presentation by rule with versioning
• Direct links to Montana Code Annotated and other
  rules within rule text
• Personal eBook
• eNotification service
• Online comments
• ADA Compliant

11
Montana Rulemaking

• Agencies follow the Montana Administrative
  Procedure Act
• A speedy rulemaking process
• Electronic submission of files

12
Publishing

• Montana Administrative Register
• Published twice a month
• 115 hard copy subscribers
• Prior to May 2008, online PDF of the Register
• Administrative Rules of Montana
• 29 three-ring binders for 20 state agencies
• Total of about 18,000 pages and updated quarterly
  
• 440 hard copy subscribers to full set or extra
  title
• Maintain inventory of 25 full sets
• Prior to May 2008, online presentation was
  page-based to replicate the hard copy EXACTLY.

13
System Features

• Secure state agency login
• Home page for agency users
• User tracking
• Able to add editors notes
• Special reports biennial review, multiple users

14
Secure Login
mopetersen_at_mt.gov
15
Agency Home Page
16
General Tasks

• Modify department info
• Manage interested party list
• View/Edit agency users list

17
ARM Tasks

• Updating rules
• Modify Chapter, Subchapter, and Rule Titles
• Biennial Review Report
• View Returned Filings

18
Register Features

• Intuitive workflow
• Templates with self-populating fields
• Easy to find rule text

19
Register Tasks

• Start a rule cycle
• Notices in progress
• View returned filings
• Review and reply to comments
• Multiple Check Out Rule Report

20
Building the Register

• Start a rule cycle

21
Create a New Notice Cycle
22
Starting a Notice Cycle
23
Choosing Actions and Rules
X
24
Choosing the Chapter and Rule
25
Starting a Notice
26
Choosing a Template
27
Notice Edit

• Agency constructs notice information

28
Notice Edit

• Calendars help agency users construct notice

29
A Notice is generated
30
Latest version of rule in the text
31
Easy to use editor

• Recognizable features
• Functionality like Word
• Agencies can easily change the notice

32
Submit to ARM

• Notice is submitted to SOS

33
SOS receives email notice

• Staff clicks on Review Submitted Notices

34
Confirmation

• SOS staff member can View or Edit the notice
• Choose to Confirm or Return it.

35
Register Published Online

• The system automatically generates a Table of
  Contents
• SOS staff create the special notice and table
  sections to complete the TOC
• Publish online with the click of a button

36
Publishing the Register print copy

• Web-based interface
• Automatic pagination
• No special software needed

37
Basic steps

• Confirm starting page number
• Create page files for all notices
• Generate Table of Contents

38
Choose to edit by notice
39
Review and edit page-by-page
40
Publish Register issue print copy
41
Updating the ARM

• Rule-based rather than page-based
• Prepopulation of rules to be amended
• Can view registers when working on the rule

42
Step 1 New rule numbering
43
Step 2 Update rule history
44
Step 3 Edit rule content
45
Step 4 Review and submit
46
SOS takes over the process

• SOS clicks Review Submitted Rule Filings

47

• Accept and Publish
• Reject and Return with
• Post-It Note feature

48

• Manage Admin Users
• Manage Email Templates
• Manage Security Roles
• Create or Edit System FAQ
• Send Alert Emails

49
System architecture

• Cliff Li, CEO of CommerNet, Inc.

50
(No Transcript)
51
What we did right

• Did our homework at the start and listened to
  customers
• Claimed ownership with centralized database
• Improved online presentation with links and
  versioning
• Better online tools for public users searching,
  alerts
• Simplified process for agencies with online
  templates
• Confirmed quality of the database

52
Opportunities and challenges

• Documenting new work processes
• Requires new skills, such as HTML
• Online publishing requires more staff effort
• Keeping database current and maintaining
  integrity of data
• New system will require ongoing training and
  support for state agencies
• Print process is still a work in progress

53
Simply Good Government

• Making it easier for the public to access rule
  information
• and to participate in rulemaking process can
• Improve regulatory decisions and increase quality
  of administrative rules
• Increase compliance
• Enhance ability of government agencies to achieve
  program and policy goals

54
(No Transcript)
55
So join us in Big Sky for the NASS Conference in
July of 2010
56
Questions

• Contact information
• Website www.mtrules.org

Jean Branscum jabranscum_at_mt.gov
Molly Petersen mopetersen_at_mt.gov
Kathleen Ely kely_at_mt.gov