How to track legislative bills with Distill

Tracking federal legislative processes is vital for citizens and organizations. It empowers informed participation, ensures compliance, and supports advocacy for aligned interests. In the US, an intricate legislative process led by elected members of Congress shapes federal laws, involving the House, Senate, and presidential decisions. Politics, party affiliations, public opinion, and competing priorities influence this vital system, which defines national policies and governance. Tracking bills is essential for staying engaged in this process and understanding its impact on society.

We’ve broken this guide into different sections so you can navigate through the topics of your interest. Here’s a look at the different sections:

1. Understanding the bill lifecycle
2. Why is bill tracking important?
3. Leveraging Tools for bill tracking
4. How to track bills on Congress.gov?

Understanding the bill lifecycle

The legislative bill cycle in the United States typically refers to the process by which a proposed bill becomes law at the federal level. In bullet points, here’s an overview of the legislative bill cycle in the USA:

• Introduction: A bill is introduced in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. Members of Congress, committees, or other sources, such as the President or advocacy groups, can initiate it.

• Committee Review: The bill is referred to one or more committees for review and possible amendments. Committees may hold hearings, gather information, and debate the bill before voting.

• Floor Consideration: If the bill passes the committee, it goes to the full chamber (House or Senate) for debate and vote. Amendments may be proposed and debated during this stage.

• Conference Committee: If the House and Senate pass different versions of the bill, a conference committee is formed to reconcile the differences and create a single version that both chambers can agree on.

• Final Passage: Once the House and Senate approve the bill in identical form, it goes to the President for approval or veto. If approved, it becomes law. If vetoed, it can be overridden by a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers of Congress.

• Implementation: Once a bill becomes law, relevant federal agencies and departments are responsible for implementing and enforcing its provisions.

• Ongoing Monitoring: Bills and laws may be subject to review, amendments, or repeal in subsequent legislative sessions, and stakeholders may continue to advocate for changes or monitor their implementation.

It’s important to note that the legislative bill cycle may vary in different states within the U.S., as each state may have its legislative processes and timelines.

Why is bill tracking important?

In the US, Congress and state legislatures see a staggering number of bills each year. For example, in the 116th Congress (2019-2020), the House introduced over 12,000 bills, the Senate over 4,600, and enacted 300+ laws. Bill volumes vary by jurisdiction and session, making tracking time-consuming. Keen citizens face challenges in keeping up with updates and changes as bills move through the process. Some of the challenges include:

• Bills can move through the legislative process quickly, with frequent updates and changes, making it challenging to keep up with each bill’s latest information and actions.

• Bills may be referred to multiple committees, making it necessary to track progress in multiple places and stay updated on committee hearings, markups, and votes.

• Access to bill-tracking tools and resources may vary depending on the jurisdiction, with some jurisdictions providing more comprehensive and user-friendly systems than others.

• Stakeholders may face challenges in effectively prioritizing and managing the large volume of bills to track, interpret and analyze proposed legislation’s impact on their interests.

In this context, page monitoring tools serve as a potent resource, significantly enhancing the efficiency of bill tracking. They play a crucial role in keeping individuals informed about legislative updates, aiding in effort prioritization, ensuring timely engagement, and simplifying the intricacies of the legislative process. Advocacy groups and lobbyists can leverage these tools to strategically influence decision-makers and effectively champion their causes.

Leveraging Tools for bill tracking

Bill-tracking tools provide easy access to information and updates on legislative developments, enhancing engagement. There are several features to look for in bill-tracking tools that can help you achieve successful tracking:

• Customization options: Tools that customize your tracking experience can help you focus on bills most relevant to your interests and priorities.

• Integration APIs: Tools that integrate with other tools and workflows you use can simplify the process of tracking bills.

• Single dashboard to track multiple bills: Having a single dashboard that tracks multiple bills can help you monitor and organize information in a more streamlined way.

• Alerts for legislative priorities: Alerts that notify you when bills related to your legislative priorities are introduced or have significant updates can help ensure you don’t miss important developments.

• Utilizing keyword-based tracking: Tracking tools that utilize keyword-based tracking can filter out irrelevant bills and highlight those that contain your specific areas of interest, making it easier for you to stay informed.

By leveraging these features, you can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your bill-tracking efforts, ultimately enabling you to stay better informed and engaged with the legislative process.

How to track bills on Congress.gov?

One of the most comprehensive sources for tracking U.S. federal legislation is Congress.gov, an official website that provides a wealth of information on current and past bills, as well as resources for researching congressional activity and legislative histories.

To track bills on Congress.gov, users can create an account and save bills to their personal trackers or use third-party apps like Distill for more efficient tracking.

This guide will cover ways to track different sections of the bills with a simple browser extension. You can expand the use-cases that are of interest to you and follow along the step-by-step instructions to set up your monitor.

1. Tracking bill feeds for updates

2. Monitor to track the status of bills

3. Monitor to track for new Actions taken against the bill

4. Monitor to track bill feed for specific states

Alternatively, you can also download the respective JSON files and import the ready-to-use monitors provided under every use-case. You can refer to Distill docs or refer to this video for a step-by-step guide on importing the JSON monitors provided below each of the use cases7

Distill allows users to add bills as trackers, customize labels for better organization, and receive notifications for status changes, making it a convenient and efficient tool for bill tracking. Below are the steps to track different sections of the bills with this simple browser extension.

Click here to install the Distill Chrome extension. This browser extension is also available on Firefox, Opera and Microsoft Edge.

Track the bill feed for Bills type (H.R. or S.) under the Introduced status of legislation for the policy area on Health : Download monitor JSON for tracking bill feed

Tracking the bill status of the Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act : Download monitor JSON to track bill status

Tracking the new Actions taken against Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act : Download monitor JSON for tracking actions and updates on a bill

Tracking the new bills introduced in Florida : Download monitor JSON for finding new bills introduced

How to create a bill-tracking dashboard

To create a bill-tracking dashboard in Distill, users can add multiple trackers for bills, assign labels, and organize them into a dashboard for easy tracking and monitoring.

Labels are a useful tool for managing large numbers of trackers and prioritizing information based on its importance or relevance. This feature in Distill allows users to organize their trackers into categories. Users can assign one or more labels to each tracker, depending on the topic, source, or other criteria they wish to use for categorization. Labels can be customized to fit user’s needs, and users can filter their trackers by label to focus on specific categories of information.

Distill also offers team features that allow multiple users to collaborate on tracking and monitoring activities while maintaining control over access to trackers. Some team features include:

• Roles and permissions: Distill allows administrators to assign roles and permissions to team members, giving them control over who can view, edit, and delete trackers.

• Shared folders: Team members can organize their trackers into shared folders, making collaborating easier on specific projects or topics.

• Activity logs: Administrators can view activity logs to see who has accessed or made changes to specific trackers, helping to maintain accountability and transparency.

• Notifications: Team members can set up notifications for specific trackers, ensuring that they receive timely updates on important information.

Hence, the features in Distill help teams collaborate more effectively on tracking and monitoring activities while maintaining control over access to trackers and ensuring accountability and transparency.

Best practices and tips for effective bill tracking

Here are some best practices and tips for effective bill tracking on Congress.gov:

• Use the Saved Searches and Alerts feature: Congress.gov allows users to save searches and set up email alerts for bills that match specific criteria, making it easier to stay up-to-date on relevant legislation.

• Monitor committee activities: Committees play a critical role in the legislative process, so monitoring committee activities, such as hearings and markups, can provide valuable insights into the status of bills.

• Pay attention to key dates: Bills have deadlines for actions such as committee consideration, floor debate, and passage. Attention to these key dates can help businesses and individuals plan their advocacy efforts and stay ahead of the legislative process.

• Engage with stakeholders: Engage with stakeholders such as lawmakers, industry associations, and other interested parties to build relationships and stay informed on the latest developments.

• Customize your search: Congress.gov provides a variety of filters and search options, allowing users to customize their search for bills that align with their interests and goals.

By following these best practices and tips, businesses and individuals can effectively track bills on Congress.gov and stay informed and engaged in the legislative process.

Conclusion

Staying informed about proposed legislation that may impact your interests is crucial, whether you are an individual or part of a business or organization. By tracking bills on Congress.gov, you can stay up-to-date on their actions and updates, proactively engage with lawmakers, and advocate for your positions. In this case, Distill can be a useful tool to monitor Congress.gov and receive real-time alerts for changes to bill status or content, making it even easier to stay informed. With Congress.gov and Distill, staying on top of the legislative process has never been easier.

You can use the Distill extension to create custom alerts for keeping track of new bills or the status of existing bills. Setting up automated checks on bill web pages saves time and effort while keeping track of multiple bills.

Distill extension is available on Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Microsoft Edge. Based on your requirement, you can browse the subscription plans for access to more frequent checks and instant alerts on the go via Distill iOS app and Android app.

You can contact us on Distill forums if you have any queries while setting up your trackers. Here we have an active community of users who will help you sort out your problem quickly.