Core Bill Filters Explained

How-To Guide

What This Does

Quickly locate specific bills across states and sessions by applying a wide range of search criteria. Combining filters allows you to precisely narrow your search results to find exactly what you need.

When You’d Use This

  • You need to find all active bills related to healthcare in New York and California.
  • You want to see all bills sponsored by a specific legislator that have passed the first chamber.
  • You are looking for bills your team has assigned a High priority level and a Support position.

How To Do It

  1. Navigate to the Find Bills filter panel.
  2. Use the main search bar to search by bill number or keywords within the bill's text.
  3. Apply broad filters using the fields directly under Filter by:
    • Keywords: Select from your saved keyword lists.
    • Select states & jurisdictions: Choose one or more states to search within.
    • Groups: Filter for bills that belong to one of your saved groups.
  4. Click on a filter category to expand it and see more options. You can apply filters from multiple categories at once.
  5. Under the Bills category, filter by legislative details:
    • Session years: Select one or more legislative sessions.
    • Bill type: Choose types like Bill or Resolution.
    • Use the All bills, Active only, or Inactive only toggle to filter by the bill's activity status.
    • Category: Select from a list of bill categories.
    • Bill status: Select specific statuses, such as Introduced or Passed.
    • Legislative Progress: Filter by milestones like Passed 1st chamber. You can also add a date filter for when the progress occurred.
    • Phrase in Action: Search for specific terms within a bill's action history.
    • Latest Action by Date: Find bills with recent activity within a specific date range.
  6. Under the User preferences category, filter by your team's tracking data:
    • Tracked bills only: Toggle this on to see only bills your team is tracking.
    • Priority level: Select a priority like High or Medium.
    • Position: Select a position such as Support or Oppose.
    • Assigned to: Find bills assigned to specific team members.
    • Labels: Filter by any custom labels your team uses.
  7. Under the Additional Filters category, filter by sponsorship details:
    • Political affiliation: Select the party of the bill's sponsor.
    • Sponsors: Search for bills by their primary sponsor.
    • Co-sponsors: Search for bills by their co-sponsors.
    • Committees: Find bills referred to specific committees.

What Happens Next

The list of bills automatically updates to display only the bills that match all the criteria you have selected.

Pro Tips

  • Combine filters from different categories to create a highly specific search. For example, use Keywords from the main section, Bill status from the Bills section, and Position from the User preferences section.
  • Use the main search bar for quick lookups by bill number (e.g., HB 123) or a general keyword search.