The Decision Briefs series is housed in 3 boxes and is arranged chronologically by year. Within each year, the records are filed in reverse chronological order. The series consists of decision briefs, requests, recommendations, background information and supporting documents including correspondence and legislative citations.

This series documents Governor Warner's responses to requests from Executive Branch agencies for expenditure of funds from various sources controlled by the Governor's Office and approval of bond sales. Each Decision Brief usually includes: a description of the request including background material, discussion, and conclusions by the Policy Office; a recommendation from Richard D. Brown, Director, Department of Planning and Budget; and concurrence from Secretary of Finance John M. Bennett, the cabinet secretary overseeing requesting agency, and the Director of Policy (Jane N. Kusiak, 2002, Robert M. Blue, 2002-2005, and Suzette Denslow, 2005), Counselor to the Governor (Robert M. Blue, 2002-2005 and Robert Crouch, 2005-2006) and Chief of Staff (William H. Leighty, 2002-2006). If all concur, the Governor then signs the brief.

Notable decision briefs include: Department of Motor Vehicles redesign of vehicle registration renewal form (17 October 2002), renovation of the Finance and Washington Buildings (2003), State Corporation Commission expenses in the case of Falwell v. Miller (9 September 2003), City of Poquoson for Hurricane Isabel damage (9 September 2004 and 5 August 2005), Department of Emergency Management for Tropical Storm Gaston disaster costs (25 October 2004), Department of Emergency Management for Hurricane Isabel recovery (May 2004) and Tazewell Flood of 2001 (May 2004), Department of Medical Assistance for emergency spending for victims of Hurricane Katrina (5 October 2005), and Department of Emergency Management, Southwest Virginia Flood of November 2003 (26 April 2005) and Tropical Depression Jeanne (24 February 2005).

Decision Briefs related to bond sales include: Commonwealth of Virginia Transportation Revenue and Refunding Bonds, Virginia Housing and Development Authority Housing Bonds, Virginia College Building Authority Bonds, Virginia Resources Authority Bonds, General Obligation Bonds, Virginia Commonwealth University Revenue Pledge Bonds, Virginia Public Building Authority Facilities Revenue and Refunding Bonds, 9 c Higher Educational Institutions Bonds, and Virginia Small Business Financing Authority.

The Regulations series is housed in 34 boxes and is arranged by cabinet secretary and alphabetically by state agency therein. The series consists of regulation review forms, memorandums, recommendations, and summary of regulations.

This series documents the Warner Administration's executive branch review of Virginia's Regulatory Process. Before a regulation become available for public comment on Town Hall, Virginia's regulatory web site, it often undergoes review by the Department of Planning and Budget, the responsible Cabinet Secretary and the Governor (via the Policy Office). The Office of the Attorney General also may review the regulation. Each regulation reviewed by the Policy Office usually includes a Regulatory Review Form, memorandum(s) from the Department of Planning and Budget (DPB) and the Town Hall posting.

The Regulatory Review Form for each regulation includes: a summary of the regulation and all amendments, explicit legislative mandate, a fiscal impact statement, summary of the Department of Planning and Budget recommendation, agency and cabinet review, and Policy Office review with recommendation(s). The form is then initialed for approval or disapproval by a policy analyst (Jeff Bourne, Ryan Childress, Steven Gould, David Hallock, Gail Jaspen, Bill Murray, Grant Neely or Wayne Turnage), Director of Policy (Jane N. Kusiak, 2002, Robert M. Blue, 2002-2005 or Suzette Denslow, 2005), Counselor to the Governor (Robert M. Blue, 2002-2005 or Robert Crouch, 2005-2006), Chief of Staff (William H. Leighty, 2002-2006) and in some instances Governor Warner.

The memorandums from the Department of Planning and Budget were written to the Governor (through the responsible cabinet secretary) by Richard D. Brown, head of DPB. Each memo summarizes the background of each regulation and contains DPB's recommendation. The Town Hall posting includes Notice of Intended Regulatory Action (NOIRA) and includes public comments.

Regulations are from agencies under the Secretary of Administration, Secretary of Commerce and Trade, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Finance, Secretary of Health and Human Resources, Secretary of Natural Resources, Secretary of Public Safety, and Secretary of Transportation. The majority of regulations are from the Commerce and Trade and Health and Human Resources Secretariats.

The Legislative Files series is housed in 137 boxes and is arranged chronologically by legislative session. This series documents the Governor's Policy Office review of all legislation introduced by the General Assembly during the Warner administration. Each file usually contains the text of each bill including any amendments, bill tracking information, Governor's Summaries (prepared by the Division of Legislative Services), Legislative Action Summaries (for bills tabled, withdrawn or killed in committee), Governor's Policy Office Enrolled Bill Review Forms, Enrolled Bill Reviews (by Cabinet Secretary), Department of Planning and Budget Fiscal Impact Statements, Attorney General's Recommendations to the Governor and other miscellaneous legislation-related documents which explain in detail various bills brought before and voted upon by the General Assembly. In addition to providing the policy positions and decisions of the Warner administration, the Legislative Files may also be useful to researchers in determining legislative intent.

Each Governor's Summary prepared by the Division of Legislative Services contains the bill number, patron, bill summary, other information and name of reviewer. The Enrolled Bill Reviews, prepared by the agency most affected by the legislation, summarize the bill and the number of votes for passage achieved by the House and Senate. The reviews include affected constituents' summary, agency analysis and recommendations, recommendations by the appropriate cabinet secretary and notations as to whether the Governor should sign, ask to amend or veto the bill. The Governor's Policy Office Enrolled Bill Review Form contains the vote in the House and Senate, a list and explanation of any no votes, fiscal impact (if any), summary of bill and comments by a Policy Office analyst (Ryan Childress, Suzette Denslow, Steven Gould, David Hallock, Anna Healy, Gail Jaspen, William L. Murray, Grant Neely or Wayne Turnage), and recommendations to Governor Warner from the Analyst, Director of Policy (Jane N. Kusiak, 2002 and Robert M. Blue, 2002-2005) and Chief of Staff (William H. Leighty) if the Governor should sign, veto or amend the bill. Some files contain Department of Planning and Budget fiscal impact statements which detail the monetary affect any legislation might have on the budget. The Office of the Attorney General's Recommendations to the Governor contain check boxes noting if the legislation conflicts with existing law or the Virginia and Federal constitutions, as well as any suggested amendments or comments. The Attorney General's Recommendations are restricted due to attorney-client privilege. Other files also contain correspondence including e-mail messages from bill supporters and opponents related to that particular bill. Also included in this series are Legislative Action Summaries that contain agency and cabinet secretary recommendations and handwritten comments and Governor's suggested amendments and veto messages.

Notable legislation includes: Budget Bills, HB 30 (02), HB 29 (04), HB 30 (04) and HB 5001 (Special Session 2004); Educational Facility Bond Act of 2002, HB 99 (02) and SB 31 (02); creation of Virginia Information Technology Agency (VITA), HB 1926 (03) and SB 1247 (03); creation of the small, women, and minority-owned business (SWAM) program, HB 1145 (04) and SB 598 (04); the creation of the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, SB 543 (04) and the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act, SB 1327 (05).