What's a website without a links page? Here are some other websites that you may find helpful.
The Basics
Check out the Civics 101 primer from citizenJoe or Government 101 from Project Vote Smart to learn how a bill becomes a law. It's so much more interesting than you learned in grade school!
Sunlight's Insanely Useful Websites list indexes some of the most important independent websites providing a view into Congress and the White House.
Primary Sources
THOMAS is the official website for the status of U.S. federal legislation. It is run by the Library of Congress of the U.S. government. The Government Printing Office (GPO) also has official government documents, including the Congressional Record. GovTrack derives most of its data from these sources.
Official information about the membership of Congress and voting records can be found on the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives websites. Additionally, bioguide.congress.gov has brief biographical summaries of everyone who has ever served in Congress.
The full text of the United States Code is on the Cornell Legal Information Institute website. You can also get the Code from the GPO and The House.
Websites Using Data from GovTrack
GovTrack brings together data from various sources and packages it up so that other websites can freely reuse and remix the information in new ways. These sites do that:
OpenCongress.org: Similar to GovTrack, but hopefully heading toward a focus on collaborative analysis.
MAPLight.org: Aligns campaign contribution data with voting records for the U.S. Congress and California.
WhereABill.org: Mixes legislative status with Google Maps to visually explore the path through Washington, D.C. that pending legislation has taken on its way to becoming law.
OpenHearings.org: Schedule of congressional hearings.
Secondary and Other Sources
CitizenJoe tracks the major issues in play on Capitol Hill, with concise and accessible explanations of the issues.
Project Vote Smart collects information on candidates for office at the state and federal levels. They maintain photos, biographical information, and issue stances for candidates.
WashingtonWatch.com is another bill tracker, with user comments and a bill wiki. It is also where we stole the idea here to display the cost of bills to taxpayers.
LegiStorm publishes Congressional staff salaries.
Congressional Committees Project is a group of volunteers each paying close attention to the happenings within a particular congressional committee.
State and Local Legislation
MapLight.org combines campaign contributions and voting records for the U.S. Congress and the California state legislature.
AroundTheCapitol publishes detailed information about California state legislation.
Iowa General Assembly bill tracking and reference
RichmondSunlight: Tracking Virginia's General Assembly.
OpenMass.org: The OpenCongress for Massachusetts
National Conference of State Legislatures: Tracking web resources
Full-text state statutes and legislation on the Internet
The Other Branches of Government
OpenGavel collects information on court decisions.
