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Compilation Resources (info about all 50 states)
State Ballot Issues and Candidates
Ballotpedia is an online encyclopedia about American politics and elections, that connects people to politics by providing information about politics at the local, state, and federal level.
Project Vote Smart's mission is to provide free, factual, unbiased information on candidates and elected officials to ALL Americans. Biographical information, voting records, issue positions, ratings by various interest groups, speeches and disclosed funding/contributions are provided for candidates and incumbents at federal, state, and local levels of government.
State Legislatures
OpenStates.org "...aggregates legislative information from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico ... OpenStates.org enables individuals to find out who represents them, look up information on an important bill that’s been in the news, discover how their representatives are voting ..." Links are provided to official versions of legislative documents such as bills, bill summaries, or testimony before legislative committees (where provided).
LegiScan provides both free and supplemental fee-based access to legislative actions from all of the 50 states and Congress. Registration is required for free searching of bill status. Search for actions of individual states, or compare activities across the states on an issue.
National Conference of State Legislatures - conducts research on policy issues acted on by legislatures of the 50 states and territories. Provides topical bill tracking databases to support comparative analysis of issues.
Council of State Governments (CSG) is a nonpartisan organization serving all three branches of state elected and appointed officials. The mission of CSG is to champion excellence in state government. CSG compiles information on issues affecting all the states. CSG also publishes the annual Book of the States - digital editions 1982-present, that provides the who, what, and how for all three branches of state government for all the 50 states. Texts of state constitutions, directories of elected and career officials, statistics, topical articles, and analysis of issues.
StateLine - news coverage on politics and policy from the 50 states. From the Pew Charitable Trust. As newspapers are reducing the number of reporters covering state legislatures and issues, StateLine provides important news coverage of state issues and actions.
State Legislative History Research Guides Inventory, compiled by librarians at the Jerome Hall Law Library, Indiana University Bloomington. This guide links to resources that explain how each state legislature works, and how it documents its work, which is key to researching how laws are passed and policy enacted.
State Government Info Collections
- State Agency Databases ProjectLinks to databases created by the various states, arranged both by state name and subject. Subjects A-Z include (but are not limited to) Business Finance & Economy, Earth & Environment, Health Medicine & Safety, Statistics Data & Mapping/GIS.
- LLMC: U.S. States & TerritoriesDigitized legal materials difficult to find elsewhere. Use in conjunction with HeinOnline and Nexis Uni which have state court decisions and state laws.
- LGBTQ Equality By StateCompilation of laws and policies for the 50 states, D.C.. and 5 territories related to LGBTQ equality. The major categories of laws covered by the policy tally include: Relationship & Parental Recognition, Nondiscrimination, Religious Exemptions, LGBTQ Youth, Health Care, Criminal Justice, and Identity Documents.
- Voting Rights Laws by StateDemocracy Maps track state election laws and policies and create a detailed roadmap of how states can optimize civic engagement and protect the security, integrity and independence of our elections.
- Identity Documents & Privacy: National Center for Trransgender EqualityOne of many topics addressed by this organization which seeks to monitor, analyze, and equalize policies.
National Survey of State Laws
- National Survey of State Laws, 7th edition via HeinOnlineComparative summary of legal topics across the 50 states. Topics covered are organized in these broad categories: business & consumer law, criminal law, education law, employment law, family law, civil law, real estate law, and tax law.
- National Survey of State Laws byCall Number: Large 348.73 N277Publication Date: 2015 at Law; 2008 6th edition at Main Library ReferencePrint edition available to non-NU affiliated users who cannot access the online edition.
- National Conference of State LegislaturesExplore the topics under RESEARCH which include research briefs on trends in state policy and, on occasion, customized databases of multi-state legislation, to support topical analysis.
State Blue Books
"Blue Book" is a generic title for a state publication that provides information about the organization and function of a state's government. These publications go by a variety of titles and typically provide contact information for government agencies and elected officials along with state facts (important dates, statistics, the state song), elected officials to national offices, and elections. However be aware, not all states publish "Blue Books."
The information for this guide was gathered from the State Blue Book & Encyclopedias guide which also includes links to state encyclopedias and statistical abstracts, where available.
ALABAMA - Alabama Department of Archives and History
ALASKA - Handbook On Alaska State Government
ARIZONA - Arizona Blue Book
CALIFORNIA - California Statistical Abstract
COLORADO
- Ballot Blue Book (Latest Only)
- Colorado Information
CONNECTICUT
- Connecticut State Register & Manual
- Economic Report of the Governor (Biennium)
- Economic Report of the Governor (Midterm)
DELAWARE
FLORIDA - Guide to Florida Government
GEORGIA
- Georgia Official and Statistical Register (Published from 1923-1990)
- Official Directory of United States Congressman State and County Officers
HAWAII - Guide to Government in Hawaii
IDAHO - Idaho Blue Book
ILLINOIS - Illinois Blue Book
INDIANA - My.IN.Gov
IOWA - Iowa Official Register
KANSAS
KENTUCKY - Executive Branch of Kentucky State Government
LOUISIANA
- State and Local Government in Louisiana
- Orientation Guide for legislators
- Your Louisiana Government: An owners Guide
MAINE
MARYLAND - Maryland Manual
MICHIGAN - Michigan Manual
MINNESOTA - Minnesota Legislative Manual (Blue Book)
MISSISSIPPI - Blue Book: Mississippi Official & Statistical Register
MISSOURI - Official Manual State of Missouri
MONTANA - Montana Government
NEBRASKA - Nebraska Blue Book
NEVADA - Nevada Legislative Manual
NEW HAMPSHIRE
NEW JERSEY - New Jersey State Government Information
NEW MEXICO - New Mexico Blue Book and the New Mexico Roster of Officials
NEW YORK - New York Statistical Yearbook
NORTH CAROLINA - North Carolina Manual
NORTH DAKOTA - North Dakota Blue Book
OHIO - Ohio Facts & History
OKLAHOMA - Oklahoma Almanac
OREGON - Oregon Blue Book
PENNSYLVANIA - Pennsylvania Manual
RHODE ISLAND - Rhode Island Government Owner's Manual
SOUTH CAROLINA - South Carolina Legislative Manual
SOUTH DAKOTA - Legislative Manual (Blue Book)
TENNESSEE - Tennessee Blue Book
TEXAS
VERMONT - Vermont Legislative Directory
VIRGINIA - Report of the Secretary of the Commonwealth (Blue Book)
WASHINGTON
WISCONSIN - Wisconsin Blue Book
WYOMING - Wyoming State Government Directory
COVID-19 Resources
- State Action on CoronaVirus (COVID-19)Bills related to and responding to COVID-19 that have been introduced in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Created by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
- COVID-19 and Workers CompensationArticle from the National Council of State Legislatures dated 5/13/2020
"Every state has its own unique workers’ compensation policy landscape" - Legislative Oversight of Emergency Executive PowersArticle from the National Council of State Legislatures dated 5/2/2020
- State Actions on CoronaVirus Relief FundsThe National Conference of State Legislatures created a database detailing CRF actions. This database provides up-to-date, real-time information in the 50 states.