How Information Is Organized

* This file assumes you are using FTP to access
information.*

Legislative information is organized in
several directories and subdirectories.  You
work through the levels of the directories
and subdirectories to get to the files you
wish to use.  There is one main directory for
all legislative information (the "pub"
directory) and seven other directories that
contain the files:

1.   Bill Information
2.   Revised Code of Washington
3.   Legislative Process
4.   Member
5.   Calendar
6.   Other
7.   RCW Dispositions

The Bill Information directory contains
subdirectories for the Topical Index,
Daily Digest Supplements, House
Committee Reports, Senate Committee
Reports, and Referenda.

It also contains HTM and PDF subdirectories.
This is where the bills and bill-related
documents are stored. Under both
subdirectories are subdirectories for
Amendments, Bills, Bill Reports, and
Digests. Under Bills are subdirectories for
House Bills, House Resolutions, House
Joint Memorials, House Passed
Legislation, and their Senate equivalents.
No longer are all bill-related documents
stored together in directories of 25 bills.

The Revised Code of Washington (RCW)
directory contains 98 subdirectories
corresponding to the 98 titles in the RCW. 
Each of the 98 subdirectories is broken down
into two additional levels of subdirectories.
One level contains the title digest, that is,
the list of all chapters in the title.  The
second level corresponds to the chapters in
the title; that is, there is a subdirectory
for each chapter. Each section of the RCW is
a separate file in the chapter subdirectory. 
Please note that the chapters and the
sections are not necessarily numbered
consecutively.  For instance, the first
chapter in Title 1 is Chapter 1.04; the
second chapter is Chapter 1.08.  The first
section in Chapter 1.04 is Section 1.04.010;
the second is Section 1.04.013.

The RCW directory also contains some useful
tables:

.  RCW to Bill Table
.  Bill to RCW Table
.  RCW to Session Law Table (following
   session)


The Washington Administrative Code (WAC)
directory contains 184 subdirectories
corresponding to the 184 titles in the WAC. 
Each of the 184 subdirectories is broken down
into two additional levels of subdirectories.
One level contains the title digest, that is,
the list of all chapters in the title.  The
second level corresponds to the chapters in
the title; that is, there is a subdirectory
for each chapter. Each section of the WAC is
a separate file in the chapter subdirectory. 
Please note that the chapters and the
sections are not necessarily numbered
consecutively.  For instance, the first
chapter in Title 1 is Chapter 1.04; the
second chapter is Chapter 1.06.  The first
section in Chapter 1.64 is Section 1.04.010;
the second is Section 1.06.020.

The Legislative Process directory contains
two files, a overview of the legislative
process and a glossary of legislative terms.

The Member directory contains 3
subdirectories:  House, Senate, and Sponsor. 
Under the House and Senate subdirectories are
the current member and committee rosters
for the House and Senate.  If a member of the
House or Senate has an Internet e-mail
address, it is listed in the "Internet
Address" roster in the House or Senate
subdirectory.  Under the Sponsor subdirectory
are current sponsor reports for the House,
Senate, and Requesters (various groups that
have requested legislation).

The Calendar directory contains the session
calendar (a list of calendar dates and the
corresponding legislative days, with cutoffs
noted), the monthly committee schedules for
both houses, the weekly committee schedules
for both houses, the daily committee
schedules for both houses, and the combined
calendars for both houses.  The House
combined calendar combines the Introductions,
Regular, Suspension, Concurrence & Dispute,
and Conference calendars into one file.  The
Senate combined calendar combines the
Introductions, Regular, Consent, Concurring,
Dispute, and Conference calendars into one
file.

The Other directory currently contains 1
subdirectory for the State Constitution and
the advisory opinions and complaint
dispositions of the Legislative Ethics Board.
The entire Constitution is contained in one
file.

A structural view of the directories follows.

Main Legislative Information Directory
("pub")

.    Contains README files 
     ..   Welcome to the Washington State
          Legislature Public Access System
     ..   Frequently Asked Questions
     ..   What Is the Internet?
     ..   How to Access the Internet
     ..   What Information Is Available
     ..   How Information Is Organized
     ..   User Support
.    Legislative Process subdirectory
     ..   Legislative Process Overview
     ..   Glossary of Legislative Terms
.    Bill Information subdirectory
     ..     Biennium
       ...  Contains the Topical Index
       ...  Daily Digest Supplments
       ...  House Committee Reports
       ...  Senate Committee Reports
       ...  Other
       ...  Referenda
               ....  1-99
               ....  etc.
                    (For each referendum, the
                    subdirectory contains the text
                    of the referendum.)
       ...  HTM
            ....  Amendments
               .....  House
               .....  Senate
            ....  Bills
               .....  House Bills
               .....  House Resolutions
               .....  House Joint Memorials
               .....  House Passed Legislation
               .....  Senate Bills
               .....  Initiatives
               .....  etc.
               ....  Bill Reports
               .....  House
               .....  etc.
            ....  Digests
               .....  House
               .....  Senate  
       ...  PDF
            ....  Same as HTM structure

.    RCW (Revised Code of Washington)
     subdirectory
     ..   Title 1 subdirectory
          ...  Digest for Title 1
          ...  Chapter 1 subdirectory
               .... Text of first section in
                    Title 1, Chapter 1
               .... Text of second section
               .... etc.
          ...  Chapter 2 subdirectory
               .... Text of first section in
                    Title 1, Chapter 2
               .... Text of second section
               .... etc.
          ...  etc.
     ..   Title 2 subdirectory
          ...  Digest for Title 2
          ...  Chapter 1 subdirectory
               .... Text of first section in
                    Title 2, Chapter 1
               .... Text of second section
               .... etc.
          ...  Chapter 2 subdirectory
               .... Text of first section in
                    Title 2, Chapter 2
               .... Text of second section
               .... etc.
          ...  etc.
     ..   Etc.
.    WAC (Washington Administrative Code)
     subdirectory
     ..   Title 1 subdirectory
          ...  Digest for Title 1
          ...  Chapter 1 subdirectory
               .... Text of first section in
                    Title 1, Chapter 1
               .... Text of second section
               .... etc.
          ...  Chapter 2 subdirectory
               .... Text of first section in
                    Title 1, Chapter 2
               .... Text of second section
               .... etc.
          ...  etc.
     ..   Title 2 subdirectory
          ...  Digest for Title 2
          ...  Chapter 1 subdirectory
               .... Text of first section in
                    Title 2, Chapter 1
               .... Text of second section
               .... etc.
          ...  Chapter 2 subdirectory
               .... Text of first section in
                    Title 2, Chapter 2
               .... Text of second section
               .... etc.
          ...  etc.
     ..   Etc.
.    Member subdirectory
     ..   House subdirectory
          ...  House rosters
     ..   Senate subdirectory
          ...  Senate rosters
     ..   Sponsor subdirectory
          ...  House sponsor reports
               ....  Sponsor report for
                     Member A of the House
               ....  Sponsor report for
                     Member B
               ....  etc.
          ...  Senate sponsor reports
               ....  Sponsor report for
                     Member A of the Senate
               ....  Sponsor report for
                     Member B
               ....  etc.
          ...  Requester sponsor reports
               ....  Sponsor report for
                     Organization A that  
                     has requested
                     legislation
               ....  Sponsor report for
                     Organization B
               ....  etc.
.    Calendar subdirectory
     ..   Session calendar
     ..   Daily committee schedule
     ..   Weekly committee schedule
     ..   Monthly committee schedule
     ..   House combined calendar
     ..   Senate combined calendar
.    Other subdirectory
     ..   State Constitution
     ..   Ethics opinions
          ...  Opinion 95-01
          ...  Opinion 95-02
          ...  etc.