Many organizations across the country utilize software to track legislation at their state capitol. Whether you are monitoring bills on behalf of an association, a state agency, or an institution of higher education, you need to closely monitor the goings on at the capitol to ensure that the issues that concern your organization are represented fairly in new legislation. As a result, many online legislative tracking systems offer “single state” systems that only deliver state legislation. Is this really enough? The fact of the matter is that state legislation is often not the only legislation that could have an effect on an organization. Federal legislation, such as the Affordable Care Act, can make sweeping changes to state regulations that could impact your organization. Additionally, legislation has a tendency to move across the country, and bills that are introduced in one state can eventually end up in your state as well. Does your legislative tracking system limit you to only receive legislation from your state?
Federal Legislation
While your organization may be focused on state legislation only, there will inevitably be a handful of federal bills each year that you need to keep an eye on. As a result, you need to make sure that your legislative tracking system is able to track federal legislation. Just like you would with state legislation, your system should enable you to create portfolios of bills, write analysis, and get feedback on federal legislation from your audience. We suggest finding a tracking system that keeps federal and state legislation separate so that the two are not confused with eachother. Our legislative tracking system gives users two separate environments that keep the federal legislation on one side of the system and state legislation on the other. With a simple mouse click you can switch your entire system over to monitor federal legislation. All the same features you have with state legislation are available, including assigning bills to tracking levels, sending out bill emails, and the “officials database”.
Legislation in Other States
As we stated before, legislation tends to move across the country. We’ve seen a great example over the past few years with a bill that would enable students and teachers to carry concealed weapons on college campuses. This “pack and carry” law was originally introduced in one state has spread across the country, coming up for debate in multiple states. As a result, colleges and universities that could be affected by these laws needed to be able to view the legislation in other states to monitor the situation. Your legislative tracking system should enable you to view legislation in all 50 states to ensure that you are able to keep up with the issues that concern your organization in your state and across the country.
Your organization is not in a bubble. Legislation that is passed in other states and at the federal level could impact the way your do business or advocate for your issues. If your current legislative tracking system does not deliver federal legislation or doesn’t give you access to legislation in all 50 states then it may be time to look for a better solution.