FAQ
At its core, BillBuddy provides neutral-worded summaries of any bill introduced in the current session in the RI General Assembly. Currently, BillBuddy provides two main features: On-Demand Summaries and Email Alerts by Category. To use On-Demand Summaries (will become available as tab atop this page once the 2024 session begins), simply enter a bill number and click "Summarize" to generate a layman's summary of the bill, and a list of pros and cons for progressives and conservatives. BillBuddy can provide responses in 3 languages and if "Child" is selected, will generate a summary with language more suitable for an elementary school-aged child.
BillBuddy also offers email alerts and will notify you via email anytime a bill is introduced that fits your selected categories. You can then give your state legislators feedback on the bill in question at the click of a button. To set up your categories, click the BillBuddy Categories tab atop this page.
BillBuddy uses multiple large language models and a panel of experts framework (a total of 6 LLM iterations review each bill) to form a consensus summary based solely on the language used in the bill. The bill summary does not attempt to make a political determination or express an opinion on the bill's legitimacy or worthiness. The goal of the bill summary is to explain the bill's purpose in language that is easy for a common person to understand.
The list of Pros and Cons is derived from a set of principles associated with progressive and conservative ideologies. These principles are updated periodically to reflect the current generally-accepted ideology for each respective group as it evolves. It is important to note that progressive is not equivalent to "Democrat" and conservative is not equivalent to "Republican".
BillBuddy can summarize any bill from the current legislative session. Starting in 2024, if the General Assembly is not currently in session, it will provide summaries for bills from the most recently ended session.
Summaries are available the moment a bill is introduced and published to the State's General Assembly website.
BillBuddy does not summarize resolutions nor the annual budget bill (at 200+ pages, this bill is much too large to properly summarize) and will indicate as such when an applicable bill number is entered.
