What we're up to

PAST SUCCESSES

Legislative Information System (LIS)

DLAS is directed in the Code of Virginia to provide an electronic legislative information system for all state agencies, political subdivisions, and the public, as well as the General Assembly and its agencies. The Legislative Information System (LIS) is a free internet service that provides public information on the work of committees and the General Assembly members during the legislative session.

Lobbyist-in-a-Box (LIAB)

Active participants in Virginia's legislative process need to track multiple bills, across a variety of subjects, and be notified of any status changes or procedural actions. Lobbyist-in-a-Box (LIAB) gives the user tools to identify and categorize bills and resolutions of interest and create reports. LIAB is integrated into the DLAS' Legislative Information System so the user can be confident that they are getting the most up-to-date and accurate information about the General Assembly session.

Virginia Law Portal

The Virginia Law Portal is a public website, designed for desktop and mobile devices, that makes the laws of Virginia easier to search, navigate, and find. The Virginia Law Portal is the online home of the Constitution of Virginia, Code of Virginia, Uncodified Acts of Assembly, Regulations of Virginia, Charters and Authorities of Virginia's Localities, and Compacts of Virginia. It features easy navigation, readable presentation of content, as well as persistent and meaningful URLs. Visitors can search across all of Virginia Law to find the information they want, without having to know where the information resides. The Virginia Law Portal earned the 2015 Governor's Technology Award for Best Citizen Portal.

Virginia State Budget Portal

The Virginia State Budget Portal is a public website, designed for desktop and mobile devices, that makes Virginia's budget information easier to search, navigate, and find. The portal offers an easy-to-use interface to view Budget Bills, Budget Amendments, and Committee Reports related to the budget, present and in the past. The site features easy navigation and readable presentation of content. Visitors can search by keyword to find the information they want, without having to know where the information resides. The Virginia State Budget Portal earned the 2016 Governor's Technology Award for Best Citizen Portal.

Budget Amendment System

The Budget Amendment System is the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations committee staff primary tool to craft amendments to Virginia's biennial Budget Bill. The current system was developed in 1995 using Lotus Notes as both the backend database and data entry user interface. During each stage of the budget amendment process, amendments are prepared for internet presentation and inclusion into the printed House and Senate Journal.

Budget Development System

LIS components, referred to as the Budget Bill System, are used to develop the budget bill, as it progresses through the legislative process. During a typical session, there will be an introduced version, an enrolled version, and a chapter version of the budget bill. Each of these versions are printed using Compuset, the hardcopy is reproduced on a large scale by a contract printing vendor, and copies are distributed from the Legislative Bill Room.

Cumulative Index

The Cumulative Index is a public website, designed for desktop and mobile devices, that makes Virginia's in-process legislation easier to search, navigate, and find. The Cumulative Index organizes index entries for in-process legislation by subject headings. Index entries provide a description of the legislation, indicate the status of the legislation, and describe how the legislation impacts Code of Virginia sections.

 

Reports to the General Assembly System

DLAS is charged with oversight of Reports to the General Assembly (RGA), which is publicly available as an online application and a print publication. A Report to the General Assembly can either be defined as a legislative study (House or Senate Document) or a recurring report (Report Document). DLAS issues publication guidelines to promote format consistency, control cost of reproduction, and provide similar information components (i.e., preface, executive summary).

RIS 2.0

RIS 2.0 makes it easier for state agencies to file their regulatory actions with the Registrar's Office, and for the Registrar's Office to produce the bi-weekly Register of Regulations.

 

Web-enable Business and Office Applications

The ability to work anywhere, anytime is good for both the organization and the employee. Organizations can consolidate workspace, spend less on supplies, have fewer phone lines, etc. Employees don't have to fight traffic or put in the late nights at the office. Telework initiatives seek to achieve these goals by putting fewer people on the road (less pollution and traffic) and leveraging their investment in technology. If people are prepared to work away from the office, they are prepared to continue to work in a disaster. If you can't get to work, then work can literally come to you. By Web-enabling applications, DLAS can help the Commonwealth to realize significant savings while improving worker productivity.

CURRENT CHALLENGES

LIS Rewrite

Older technology, such as DB2, Cobol, CICS, and Compuset, currently drives the Legislative Information System, and agency support of this technology is limited. A rewrite of LIS is underway to modernize the front and back-ends of this system. The new system will make it easier to find and track legislation. Web services will allow programmers to use LIS data in their own environments.