Frequently Asked Questions

Q.  How do I know where to find a bill from the 1997-1998 session? Will it appear in the 1997 session or 1998 session?

A:  This is dependent upon whether a bill is from a carry-over or non-carryover state. For instance, if a bill from a non-carryover state is introduced in 1998 but isn't signed until 1999, it will be in the archive file, not the current year's file. If it is from a carryover state and is introduced in 1998 it will be in the current session file since it can still be acted upon in 1999. An outline of what states have carryover v. non-carryover bills is included in the information retrieved when you choose View the State Legislative Calendar.

Q.  When I search "bill tracking by keyword" and "bill text by keyword", there is an option to select a specific session AND a time period. What is the purpose of the date option and can I select a period that spans longer than one year?

A:  The date option is intended for the user to narrow the search to a time period less than one year. Entering dates that span more than one session will not expand the search results beyond the session selected.   For instance, if you are searching bill text by keyword in the 1998 session, your search could result in over 1,000 documents.  If you know you want to find only bills from the end of the year, you can click on Dates and enter "10/1/98 - 12/31/98" to narrow your search.

Q:  What is the logical display order within bill tracking and bill text? Alpha by state? reverse chron by session?

A:  The display order is alphabetical by state; then by bill number with House or Assembly bills first and Senate bills second. We will add this information to the help text.

Q:  When I conduct a search under Proposed Regulations, my results contain some final regulations.  Why?

A:  The proposed regulations are obtained from a company called RegAlert.  The RegAlert files contain some final regulations in addition to the proposed regulations.

Q:  We need to know what State Administrative Codes are available. For the states that are not available, please tell us why they are not available.....

A:  Here's a quick rundown of which states are currently available in this product.

State Administrative Codes:

Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming

A: With some of the state newspapers, there are licensing issues which prevent us from including them in State Capital.

Q.  If state codes are updated irregularly (in many cases, they are only updated annually), then how can the code be considered current because recently passed laws are not included?

A: The code files you are searching on State Capital includes something called the Advance Legislative Service (ALS).  ALS contains the full text of all laws enacted during a legislative session.  The code files you are searching on State Capital contain only those laws that have been enacted since the code was last updated.

Q.  How do I know what types of bills are introduced in each state?

A: Specific information is included in Help regarding the types of bills that are introduced in each state.  Here is the list:

Type of bills introduced in each state