Updated 12/12/2019 to reflect new additions to the market
When paired with grassroots advocacy software, a legislative tracking service can empower your team with the digital tools to take a comprehensive approach to advocacy strategy. Legislative tracking software allows users to follow the legislative journey of bills that are of interest to them. We've compiled a list of legislative tracking services that your organization can use in conjunction with Muster's robust advocacy communications tools:
GovHawk is a company offering "personalized legislative and regulatory tracking solution for government affairs professionals". They pride themselves on their usability, accuracy, and support with tracking covering all 50 states, Puerto Rico, DC, and the U.S. Congress.
PoliticoPro, and more specifically their Legislative Compass option, is the bill tracking tool from news giant Politico. Currently offering tracking for federal legislation covering 16 policy areas, as well as in select states (California, Florida, New Jersey, New York) it's a great choice for nonprofits, associations, lobbyists and public policy professionals.
GovTrack allows you to follow the journey of bills going through the United States House and Senate. You can sift through bills by topic, keyword, sponsor and status. The tool is free, and is useful for any small-budget organizations looking to affect change at the Federal level.
LexisNexis is a renowned legal and government research database. Although we've never encountered a client who uses their legislative tracking tool, their services should be considered by organizations looking for a reliable service.
The National Conference of State Legislatures has presented a list of bill tracking services offered by each state legislature. Each state legislature offers some form of bill tracking service, although these services are likely less wide-ranging in what they offer than the other private services listed. For example, our company, Muster, is headquartered in Virginia and many of our clients supplement Muster's powerful advocacy tools with Virginia's free service: Lobbyist-in-a-Box.
Conclusion
While not an absolute necessity, legislative tracking software can absolutely help you better understand your policy environment and streamline your advocacy efforts. If you're looking to adopt bill monitoring, legislative tracking, or any form of it, it's vital to look at all your options and find what works best for your organization.
