1  Arizona Legislature RTS Checklist

1.

If you are new to the RTS system and/or you find these instructions too terse, you can find more information here:
https://www.cebv.us/rts.html

1a.

That page links to a form you can fill out to obtain an account. Beware that there can be a multi-day delay before the account is activated.

1b.

That page also links to an instructional video. The video mentions some things you might want to do once, as a first-time user, things that are not covered by this checklist.

2.

Assuming you already have an account, log in:

2a.

Go to https://apps.azleg.gov/.

2b.

Click where it says “Sign On” (near the right of the top navigation bar). Provide your email@address and password.

3.

It really pays to have two tabs (or two windows) open at the same time, especially if you plan on dealing with more than one bill. See note B.

3a.

On the existing (first) tab, click on Applications → Bill Status Inquiry (BSI) (at the right of the top navigation bar).

3b.

Open a second tab, then again go to https://apps.azleg.gov/.

3c.

You should already be logged in.

3d.

On the new tab, click on Applications → Request to Speak (RTS) (at the right of the top navigation bar).

4.

To file a comment using words, go to your Bill Status tab.

4a.

Type in a bill number in the form HB1234 or the like (with no spaces) and click Search. See note C and note D.

4b.

Click on Documents tab.

4c.

Click on HTML ... read the bill ... then close the HTML window.

4d.

Click the big blue “Update Comments” button ... type in your Personal Bill Comment in the popup window ... then click SAVE. See note E and note F.

Beware: Do not click ☠ CLOSE ☠ because that will throw away the comment you just entered. Click SAVE instead.

5.

To file a qualitative (For/Neutral/Against) position, go to your Request to Speak tab.

5a.

Click on “My Bill Positions” (in the left-margin navigation bar). See note G and note I.

5b.

Start typing the bill number in the form HB1234, SB1234, HCR1234, or the like (with no spaces). When the full description shows up in the help-text flyout, select it (either by clicking on it or tabbing to it). See note C, note H, and note I.

5c.

Select your position ... then click the Add button.

5d.

Wait for your selection to take effect before moving on. See note J.

6.

To deal with more bills, repeat step 4 and step 5 as needed.

7.

Click on your name (near the right of the top navigation bar) and sign out.

2  Remarks

A.

I’ve seen some bad user interfaces in my day, but the Arizona Legislature Request-to-Speak (RTS) system is astoundingly horrible.

B.

You can navigate the site using only one tab, but it’s sometimes quite slow. You spend a lot of time waiting for it to load and reload the page you want.

If you insist on using a single tab, you can do it as follows:

• Click on Applications → Bill Status Inquiry (BSI) (on the right of the top navigation bar), then proceed with the sub-steps of step 4 above.
• Click on Applications → Request to Speak (RTS), then proceed with the sub-steps of step 5 above.

C.

When it asks for a “Bill Number”, it’s best to identify the bill as SB1234, HB1234, or the like. The letters matter; SB is different from HB, SR, SCR, et cetera. Sometimes you can get away with typing just the digits, but that’s risky.

D.

When typing in something like “HB1234”, the letters must be followed by the digits with no spaces, even though most legislative documents include a space. Bad UI design.

E.

You have to click the “Update Comments” button before you can enter a comment on the Bill Status page. There is a bubble that looks like a place to enter comments, but it doesn’t work. You have to click, then enter your comment in the popup window. Bad UI design.

F.

Sometimes the system logs you out with no clear indication. Bad UI design.

In particular, if you are not logged in, everything will look more-or-less normal until you try to enter a comment. Specifically: If no “Update Comments” button is visible, double-check that you are signed in. Look near the right of the top navigation bar. If your name appears, you are signed in; if it instead says “Sign In” then you need to sign in again. This is not a very clear indication. Bad UI design.

G.

When arriving on the Bill Positions page, you can see your old Bill Positions, but you have to click on “My Bill Positions” before you can enter anything new. Bad UI design.

H.

On the Bill Positions page, in the Bill Number box, typing in the number is not sufficient. You have to actually select the full description in the flyout (either by clicking on it or tabbing to it). If the flyout is not visible, clear the box, re-enter the number, and click on the flyout when it appears. See also note I. Terrible UI design.

I.

Sometimes the flyout refuses to appear after you have entered a bill number on the Bill Positions page. Try re-entering the bill number and waiting a second or two; sometimes the flyout appears late. If that doesn’t work, try re-entering the bill number and using the down-arrow key to highlight the desired full description. If that doesn’t work, reload the page. Terrible UI implementation.

J.

On the Bill Position page, it’s hard to know when your selection takes effect. You have to know what to look for:

• The rippling progress bar has gone away;
• The Bill Number box clears itself;
• The radio button you used to make your selection clears itself; and
• Most importantly, the new position appears in your list of bill positions. However, beware: If the list is more than a couple of elements long, the new step might be out of sight, beyond the bottom of the screen, so you may need to use the browser search function to find it. Search for the bill number.

Again, this is terribly bad UI design.