Finding Legislative Information on the Web

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Federal Bills, Laws, and the US Code:

Thomas – http://thomas.loc.gov

• Contains full text of US Code, bills, laws, committee reports, and the Congressional Record.

Senate website – http://www.senate.gov

• Contains a listing of senators and committee websites.

• Useful for locating text of hearings held within Senate committees.

House of Representatives website – http://www.house.gov

• Contains a listing of Representatives and committee websites.

• Useful for locating text of hearings held within Congressional committees.

Government Accountability Office – http://www.gao.gov

• Independent government agency that acts as a federal watchdog.

• Search this site for reports and testimonies concerning legislation.

Congress votes database -- http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/

• Database of congressional voting outcomes.

In-class Exercise:

• Find the full text of a bill at http://thomas.loc.gov
• Find action taken on the bill (i.e. which committee it was referred to)
• Look up committee webpage (www.senate.gov or www.house.gov)
• Search for information regarding your bill.
• Go to GAO website (http://www.gao.gov)
• Search this site for further information regarding your bill.

Georgia state Bills, Laws, and Code:

State of Georgia website – http://www.georgia.gov

• A portal for all state government websites.

Guide to Georgia Government -- http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/gagovt.htm

• An easy to use guide put together by UGA’s Carl Vinton Institute. Very useful for finding online information.

Georgia General Assembly -- http://www.legis.state.ga.us/

• Contains full text of laws and bills through 1995.

• Contains the text of the Georgia Code.

Georgia Legislative Documents -- http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zlgl

• Contains historical Georgia Legislative documents up until 1999.

Non-profit organizations and Political Advocacy groups:

Often non-profit organizations will provide information about current and past legislation as it intersects with their interests. ***BE CAREFUL FOR BIAS*** Here are some lists of non-profit organizations that are involved with US public policy:

• http://www.c-span.org/resources/policy.asp
• A list compiled by C-SPAN of important public policy organizations.

• http://www.csuchico.edu/~kcfount/
• A list of Political Advocacy groups.

• http://www.nonprofits.org/
• Contains a searchable index of 10,000 non-profit organizations.

• http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/psthink.html
• A list of Think Tanks.

• http://www.politicalindex.com/sect30.htm
• Another list of Think Tanks.

UGA-ONLY RESOURCES

In addition to the free legislative information on the web, the Library has access to three databases that contain legislative information and statistics.

LexisNexis Congressional -- http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=xcun-uga1

• Contains extensive legislative information, including histories, hearing transcripts, committee reports, full text of bills, and the Congressional Record.

LexisNexis Statistical -- http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=xstu-uga1

• Contains statistical data produced by the US government, international, and intergovernmental organizations.

Policy File -- http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=xpol-uga1

• A database of Policy reports written by non-profit organizations, think tanks, and university research programs.

Contact Information:

Elizabeth White

elwhite1@uga.edu

706-542-0516