Esper FAQs

Initiate and Name Rulemaking

Creating a new rulemaking in Esper is a guided process. To start, click the Add button at the top-right of the Workspace and select Rulemaking from the dropdown.

The first step is to name the rulemaking and to select its department. Then, click Continue.

Policy Builder

Assign Rulemaking

Select an assignee from your department by searching the persons name or email or by choosing from the available list of people, then click Continue. The assignee will be the primary owner of the rulemaking.

Set Rulemaking Type

Specify the type of rulemaking and specific rule citations to modify. For a new rule, you will be asked to provide both a title and citation. If you choose Repeal or Amendment, you can search for and select an existing regulation by citation. To add multiple rulemaking drafts, click Add Rulemaking Draft. Note, only one is required in order to move to the next step by clicking Continue.

Set Milestones

Esper enables users to add one or more milestones to a rulemaking. Milestones track key dates associated with the policymaking process. Select from pre-populated milestones or create a custom one by typing the Milestone Name and clicking Enter. You may click Continue with or without milestones.

Save Rulemaking

Review the information and then clickCreate Rulemaking. The step-by-step process concludes on the Rulemaking Overview page.Here, the new rulemaking will have the status Under Review. Click on Regulation Texton the left-hand pane to be directed to the to begin editing the rulemaking. On the Workspace, the rulemaking can be found in the In Progress column.

The Dashboard displays an overview of regulatory analytics across your jurisdiction.

Regulation Status Information

Esper tags regulations with specific statuses to give you more information on your administrative code. These statuses include:

Up to date

Proposed

Under Review

Flagged for Review

View the distribution of statuses across your jurisdiction and compare and visualize the statuses of individual agencys rules.

Administrative Code Information

Esper provides data on the administrative code including total regulations, total page length, and the longest regulation by character count. You can filter by a specific title in the administrative code to get more specific information.

Repealed References and Expiring Soon

Under the Code Length section, there are lists showing rules with repealed references as well as the rules that are expiring soon (if applicable). These are listed from the greatest number of repealed references and expiring soonest. These lists correspond to the Title filter under Code Information.

In the Code Information section, the default view is the analytics of the length of your jurisdiction's administrative code. To view your agency's code length, click the dropdown under Filter By and scroll to choose the agency. As you add titles, the totals under Code Length will be the sum of all chosen titles.

Repealed References and Expiring Soon

Under the Code Length section, there are lists of Repealed References and Expiring Sooncorresponding withthe chosen title(s) filter. These are listed from the greatest number of repealed references and expiring soonest.To view the complete list of either repealed references or expiring soon, clickView top 50 polices.

Please note that jurisdictions without sunset rules will not have any rules listed under Expiring Soon.

Esper automatically flags rules in need of review, with repealed references, expiring soon, and up to date.Easily visualize the statuses of the rules in your jurisdiction under Total Distribution of Statuses.

To compare the distribution of your agency's rules to another agency in your jurisdiction, click +Add a title and choose from the dropdown list. ClickSaveand it will be added. Hover over a color of the bar to view the analytics.

Once a rulemaking has been submitted for review, the reviewer can take action on it, either Approve or Request Edits.

To request edits, click Request Edits. There will be an option to include a note to the assignee. Click Request Edits again in the popup to complete the action. Note: you are only able to request edits if you have the appropriate permissions.

Navigate to the Regulation Overview page by clicking a rulemaking task card on the Workspace followed by clicking Review Regulation. This will take you to the Rulemaking Overview page. On this page, you can add participants to the rulemaking, add impacted industries, and add milestones.

To add participants to the rulemaking, click Share with Colleagues. Choose a collaborator from the list or search the list manually by entering a name or email. Once each collaborator is chosen, click Submit to add them to the rulemaking.

Add a Milestone

Esper enables users to add one or more milestones to a rulemaking to track key dates associated with the rulemaking process. From the Rulemaking Overview, add a milestone by clicking Add Milestone.

Delete a Milestone

Click the X to the right of the milestone you wish to remove. Then, click Delete to delete the milestone.

Complete a Milestone

Once a milestone is completed, check the box to the left of that milestone. The due date will turn green and denote as completed.

Add Impacted Industry

Specify industries impacted by a rulemaking using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). To add an impacted industry to an existing rulemaking, navigate to the Rulemaking Overview tab and click Add on the Impacted Industries section. This will open a popup allowing you to choose industries.

Search for an industry name and click it to add it to the rulemaking, click Update to save.

Remove Impacted Industry

To remove an impacted industry, navigate to the Rulemaking Overview tab and click Edit on the Impacted Industries section. The current industries are at the top of this popup, click the X on the industry tag to remove it and click Update to save.

In jurisdictions that allow multiple drafts per rulemaking, the user has the ability to add a new draft. Click Regulation Text on the sidebar, then click the AddDraft button at the top right to add a new draft to the rulemaking. Select the draft type, input the citation, and clickAddto create a new draft rulemaking.

Leave a comment on the regulation text by highlighting a line of text and clicking the comment icon on the toolbar.

There is an option to include a suggested change to the text. Click the Include suggested change box and input the language to which to change the text. Another collaborator is able to view the suggestion and accept the new language. Note: the suggested change goes in the bottom text box, and you must populate the top comment box as well.

Collaborators can accept the change by clicking Accept Change. Click the button again to revert the suggested change to its previous state.

Espers version comparison tool helps compare versions of a rulemaking with quantitative analytics including character count and restrictiveness.

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Select Drafts for Comparison

To use the version comparison tool, to the Policy Builder and select Regulation Text on the left sidebar. A rulemaking must have two or more versions in order to compare documents. By default, the version comparison tool selects the earliest saved version as the base version for comparison and the live text in the Esper text editor as the later version.

To change the versions being compared, click the dropdown menu in the compare drafts section to select among available drafts. Once a version is chosen, the left dropdown under compare draftswill present all versions earlier than the version selected in the right dropdown. Reciprocally, the right dropdown will present all versions later than the version selected in the left dropdown.

Document View Type

When comparing two versions of a document, Esper will generate a third version called the Diff depending on jurisdiction this is also referred to as the redline or the dirty version. By default, the two versions of the document presented are the Final Draft (most recent), and the Diff. Clicking the Compare dropdown allows the user to choose among the following view options:

Original Draft and Final Draft

Original Draft and Diff

Final Draft and Diff

To view the selected documents in full-screen, simply click Full Screen Preview

Esper Magic

When comparing two versions, Esper automatically generates a comparative document analysis with the following information:

The character count for both versions being compared

The net change in character count between versions

The raw count for restrictive words in the most recent selected version

The net change in restrictive words between versions

The percentile score for reading level for each version

Reading level percentile is calculated against the top-level parent corpus of policies to which the rule belongs (i.e the Texas Administrative Code for a rule or regulation in the state of Texas).

The number of financial mentions included in each version

Financial Mentions include: $, Fee, Fees, Fine, Fines, Fined, Tax, Taxes, Taxed, Dollar, Dollars, Levy

There are two ways to export a rulemaking in Esper.

One way to export is to navigate to Generate Preview on the policy builder page. On the bottom right, there is a blue download button. Click it to download the regulation's redline and rulemaking documents in a Word document.

Export is also found on the Rulemaking Overview page. On this page, click Export and the regulation and all the required forms from Rulemaking Documents will be downloaded. Here, the rulemaking packet is exported in a zip file that contains Word documents.

Esper stores all historical versions of a rulemaking text in the timeslider. Find and restore deleted text by following these steps:

As you edit the text, click the star in the top right to save that version to the timeslider

Click the clock icon at the top right of the regulation text editor

Use the time slider to go back in time until you find the text you want restored

Click Revert and choose either a starred version (saved version) or manually enter a version number

Click Submit to restore the regulation text to that version

A review for that particular regulation is already underway in your agency. If this is the case, you must request access to that review from the user who is currently in the review process.

The regulation is out of your jurisdiction. You are not able to start the rulemaking process for regulations that are outside of your jurisdiction.

The policy is a bill or law rather than a regulation. The rulemaking review process only applies to regulations. There is not an option to start a review of policies that are not regulations.

You do not have permission to access rulemaking features. If you suspect that this is incorrect, and the other three options do not apply in this case, please contact your administrator about your user permissions.

Esper automatically identifies references your rulemaking makes to other federal and state policies as well as rules and policies that reference your rulemaking. The list of Detected References and Referenced By are found in Resources in the Policy Builder.

Add Policy

The Esper Policy Builder allows a user to save policies under a rulemaking for future reference. To add a new policy, go to the Resources tab on the Policy Builder sidebar, then click Add Policy and enter the regulation citation. You can add citations from any policy in any jurisdiction.

Remove Policy

Remove a saved policy by clicking the Xto the right of the citationand then clickRemoveto complete the deletion.

Supporting Material

In Resources, users are able to upload additional materials to easily reference for research or supporting documents to the rulemaking. ClickUpload Materials and then drag and drop or choose file(s) from your computer to save them to the rulemaking.

You must request access to view a rulemaking for which you are not a participant. Select the rulemaking task card in the Workspace to open the rulemaking preview pane, then click Request Access. The current assignee and users with administrative privileges will be notified and can approve your request.

Confirm or deny pending collaborator requests from the Rulemaking Overview. Only the current assignee to a rulemaking or users with administrative privileges as specified by their Esper user role are able to confirm or deny requests. Confirming a collaborator request adds the requestor as a collaborator to the rulemaking.

Add and edit required rulemaking forms in Esper. From the Rulemaking Documents tab, clickAdd Form. Select from the dropdown the form to add to the rulemaking. To edit the form, click on it and input text. All documents in Rulemaking Documents will export with the rulemaking.

"A NAICS (pronounced NAKES) Code is a classification within the North American Industry Classification System.The NAICS System was developed for use by Federal Statistical Agencies for the collection, analysis, and publication of statistical data related to the USEconomy."

Source: NAICS.com

Why use NAICS codes?

Esper enables users to associate NAICS codes to rulemakings. Esper cross-references the indicated NAICS code(s) with data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) to provide data-driven insights about affected industries and facilitate the creation of Regulatory Impact Statements.

Click the Save button in the regulation text editor to save a new version of a draft. Name the new version and confirm by clicking Create. Once saved, the new version is available to use in the V ersion Comparison Tool and to share with external stakeholders using Espers Public Comment functionality.

When working on regulation text, the Esper text editor automatically keeps track of authorship by highlighting new text in a unique color for each contributor. The authors' names are highlighted in their corresponding colors.

After making edits to the regulation text, click the clock icon at the top right of the regulation text editor to view the regulation text history. Navigate through each text edit one-by-one by dragging the dark bar, or press the play button to view the animated text history. Note, each author is assigned a unique color id to easily denote that user's edits.

Once a rulemaking has been submitted for review its status changes. The reviewer will have a red (!) on the rulemaking task card in the Workspace indicating the rulemaking requires attention. Thereviewer can either Approve or Request Edits from the Rulemaking Overview page.

A reviewer approves a rulemaking by clicking Approve.This includes a prompt to add an optional note. Click the Approve button in the popup to complete the approval.

Esper allows the assignee to route the rulemaking to the appropriate reviewer upon submission. From the Rulemaking Overview, click Submit.A popup form is presented to select one or more authorized approvers and the option to include a submission note. Check or uncheck approvers as appropriate and click Submit to complete the rulemaking submission. Upon submittal, the rulemakings status will change.

Once a rulemaking is submitted, it is up to the selected reviewer to either Request Edits or Approve the rulemaking.

The Activity Log enables participants in a rulemaking to view the full history of actions associated with a rulemaking. Tracked actions include:

Sharing a rulemaking

Approving a participant request

Rulemaking status changes

Submission of rulemaking

Updates to Impacted Industries

Updates to Additional Research

Updates to External Versions

Updates to Regulation Text

Updates to policies saved as Additional Research

Changes in the rulemaking status

Esper Magic is a document analysis feature that calculates the character count, reading level, financial mentions and restrictiveness of the regulation text.

Reading level is calculated using syllable, word, and sentence count. The outputLow, Medium, or High is benchmarked against the distribution of reading levels across the entire Esper document library (more than 250,000 pages of regulation).

Financial Mentions are calculated by the number of references to words and symbols such as fees, fines, $, etc.

Restrictiveness is calculated upon the number of restrictive words and phrases contained in the Regulation Text that are typically used in legal language to create binding obligations or prohibitions. Examples: shall, must, and may not.

Esper Magic is found in Resources or in Comparison in Regulation Text.

Access the regulation text editor by navigating to Regulation Text from the Policy Builder sidebar. To edit the regulation, enter the changes directly into the text. Note, to view the formatted redline document clickGenerate Preview.

Access the Policy Builder for any policy in which you are a participant (assignee or collaborator). First, select the rulemaking task card in the Workspace. This opens the rulemaking preview pane. From here, click View Rulemaking to access the Policy Builder.

If you are not a participant in the selected rulemaking, request access to the rulemaking.

Yes! Espers system follows the same cadence as the official publication source for your state. In extenuating circumstances, there could be a short lag time between the appearance of a regulation on the official publication source and when it appears in Esper, but we will always be transparent about the recency of our information.

Esper lists the date it last updated on every Policy Page and on the Dashboard. On the Policy Page, it is found at the end of the policy text next to a link to the original data source.

The last updated date is located on the top right of the Rulemaking Activity section on the Dashboard.

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Q: When I am trying to repeal a citation, why am I required to provide "new regulation details"?

A:Esper requires the New Regulation Details per KRS 13A.310, which mandates the creation of a new administrative regulation in order to repeal one or more existing regulations.

Esper denotes the status of policies.

A policy that is not in need of a rulemaking.

A policy that has an ongoing rulemaking in Esper.

The policy needs review, as determined by the jurisdiction's rolling review guidelines, because itis set to expire soon due to a sunset law,contains statutory references to invalid or outdated policies, oris explicitly tagged by the jurisdiction as needing review.

Indicator for instances of references to repealed statutory authority, legalese or other state-prohibited language.

The cited reference has been updated more recently than the regulation being viewed.

The policy page allows a user to review the full text of a policy, bookmark the policy, see relevant dates to the policy, find similar regulations in other jurisdictions (state and federal), view policies that reference or are referenced by the policy, and explore industry insights.

The numbers in green to the left of each category reflect the number of results correlating to the category. Note, the actions buttons on the top right, Amend, Repeal, and Add Industries, are only available if the policy is in your agency or department.

To bookmark a policy, clickthe bookmark icon. The policy will be saved to the Workspace, appearing on the left-hand pane.

Easily view the date the policy was created, updated, and last reviewed. If applicable, the date the policy expires will also be included.

Blue action buttons are available if the policy being viewed is in your agency. To take action on the policy, select Amend, Repeal, or Add Industries. Choosing amend or repeal starts the rulemaking process. Choosing Add Industries presents a pop-up with a selection of industries to tag to the policy.

The Similar Regulations feature provides a list of policies that Esper has identified as similar in content to the policy being viewed. These policies are from a variety of states as well as the federal government.

This list is intended as a useful resource for completing research and gaining insights into policies enacted in other jurisdictions. This list does not imply any explicit link or relationship between the policies, only that they may contain similar content or regulate a similar topic.

The entire list of similar policies is shown by clicking Similar Regulations found on the left pane ofthe Policy Page.This list is sortable by the table's headers, Citation, Name, Jurisdiction, Title, and Status.

Quickly find policies that reference or are referenced by the policy on the Policy Page. ClickReferenced By to view all regulations that directly reference the policy being viewed.

ClickReferencesto view all regulations that are cited in the policy being viewed. The list of references as well as the list of referenced by are sortable by column.

The Industry Insights tab shows the latest data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics for employment, wages, and number of businesses in your jurisdiction. To view the data, NAICS codes must be associated with the policy. This tool is designed to support economic impact analyses for rulemakings.

Add Industries

To add industry insights to a policy from the Policy Page, click Industry Insights in the pane on the left of the page, then select Add Industries. Either search using keywords or select the industries that the policy impacts from the pop-up list. Graphical data will appear based on the chosen industries. Use the Chart dropdown menu to toggle between the Businesses, Employment, and Wages charts. An industry is denoted by a unique color.

Remove Industries

To remove one or more industries, clickEdit Industries followed by theX on the industry to delete. ClickUpdate, to view updated charts based on the change.

To sort the tasks on your Workspace, selectSort at the top-right and choosea rule (Citation, Due Date, Assignee, Alphabetical, or Rulemaking Stage) from the Sort menu.

There is an optionto apply a variety of filters to your Workspace tasks. Click Filter at the top right and choose a criterion (Just my tasks, Due this week, or Needs my review) from the dropdown to apply the filter.

Once a search term or empty search is submitted, a table appears with all the relevant policies. To narrow the results, first, select what jurisdiction(s) to browse including the federal government.

Next, click Title. To choose a title, type the name of the title or browse the dropdown list and select one or many by clicking on the box next to the title's name.

Once a title is chosen, a dropdown menu to search chapter(s) appears. Click Chapter and type or select a specific section of government code. The table of results updates based on the selected search criteria. Click any policy from the table to select it.

Sort search results based on any column (Citation, Name, Jurisdiction, Title, Status, Expiration Date, and Repealed References) by clicking on the name of the column. For example, sort by Repealed References (most-to-least) to identify rules potentially in need of repeal or amendment.

The search bar in the top right corner of Esper is an easy place to search laws, bills, and regulations in a specific jurisdiction(s), including both state and federal.

Click on the search bar of any Esper page and type a search term using citation number, keyword(s), or the name of a policy. After clicking Enter, a list of search results will appear. The results are filterable by laws, regulations, or bills and by jurisdiction, title, chapter, and status. Additionally, you can sort the items by column headings.

Esper returns search results that include all relevant regulations, laws, and bills on the platform. ClickRegulations, Laws, or Bills,to view the table of results of the corresponding policy category.

To create a task, clickAddat the top-right of the Workspace and select Task from the dropdown. From here,give the task a name and description, select an assignee in your department, and include policy references by citation.

At the bottom,you have the option to include attachments, add additional citations, or assign a due date.When you are finished, click Create Task. The newtask will appear in the To Do column of the Workspace.

To remove a comment that you have left on a task, open the preview pane for the task and hover over the comment. Click the X button at the right, and the comment will be removed.

To manually reorder tasks and rulemakings, first ensure the Sort dropdown is set to None. Then drag and drop a card within a column or move it across columns.

Save a default layout on your Workspace by clicking the three horizontal dots at the top right next to the Filter and Sort, and then by clicking Save layout as default.

This will save the active Filter and Sort combination as your default layout. Anytime you open the Workspace your saved Filter and Sort will be applied by default.