LegiStorm Part 8 | What Are They Up To Now?

Keep tabs on Capitol Hill

Exercise your right to know public information.

We are nearing the end of this tour of LegiStorm.com, the site that lets you look at extensive financial information about our nation’s leaders. Now, it’s time to take a look at what’s possibly my favorite section on the site.

Click on the tab called The Score, and you can get a look at the everyday activities of Congress.

The ticker

This section has up-to-the-hour information about what’s going on in that big building on Capitol Hill. When the House is in session, the House Floor Ticker shows which motions and bills are currently being debated.

If no legislation is in play, it shows the upcoming schedule, so you can check in when your favorite bills are up for discussion. So, if you want to find out when the next round of payday loan legislation is up for debate, check it out.

The schedule

Different sections of The Score show the schedule for the House and Senate floors as well as their respective committees. Under Events it shows when the legislature will be on break and other significant meetings that aren’t listed in the above schedules.

Read up on policies

Any recent policy decisions are listed under policy reports. This is a great place to get a straight-forward account of policy decisions as they happened without any sort of media influence. You can browse the following categories: Executive Orders, Statements of Administration Policy, Congressional Budget Office Reports and GAO Reports.

What’s news?

Current news reports are available here. LegiStorm only keeps track of federal Congress, so this is a great place to read big news about states. For instance, today Vermont passed a gay marriage bill. LegiStorm posts a straight-forward news report on the move. However, there is a section for you to post comments, if you feel so inclined.

Elections

Finally, The Score keeps track of all the Federal Elections Commission’s activities. Did you know that there is a steady stream of complaints filed with the FEC?

For instance, the FEC recently closed a complaint filed against Hillary Clinton. A group complained that Sir Elton John’s performance at a fundraiser during her presidential campaign constituted  a contribution from a foreign national. The commission deemed it an act of volunteer service and threw out the complaint April 3.