Reported by Walter Baumann:
The idea for the Sunlight Foundation’s, Open States Project, began in 2009. From an initial core of volunteers from several states, the project has gathered volunteer contributors from all 50 staes plus Wash. D.C. & Puerto Rico. With additional contributions of computer expertise and a grant to build the public web site, the Open States web site is now operational.
The interface allows citizens to locate their state representatives by entering an address or clicking on online maps or entering a legislator’s name. Short biographical information, plus some news stories are provided. Links to the bills that the legislator has sponsored and recent votes on other legislation are presented. Summary charts of campaign contributions are provided with links to more detailed data from followthemoney.org and opensecrets.org .
Bills for the current and several past legislative sessions can be searched by chamber, sponsor, status, type of bill or resolution, and subject ( free text not an index). The full text of the bill can be called up. Roll call votes are also accessible. There is a tracking tool called Scout from the Sunlight Foundation that alerts you when Congress or your state capitol talks about or takes action on issues you care about.
