State Legislation - Some good sites

Here are some excellent websites for keeping track of multiple states' legislation and trends:

Council of State Governments link

My all-time favorite! They publish annual reports of suggested legislation, with full text, samples from states, and studies to back them up. They have trend-spotting and a very nice website. Visit them and look at their drop-down menus. Includes links to individual states' pages, too. Very handy. An excellent organization and a wonderful resource.


Stateline.org (News, Policy and Politics) Click

So much news they have to organize by icon. Includes audio and video files. You can register for more and subscribe for even more material. Lots of their news lines appear to come from the leading newspapers of major cities in the various states, though some have bylines by Stateline staffwriters.


National Black Caucus of State Legislators link

An interstate caucus of state legislators focusing on issues of interest to the African-American community, this group has active policy and research committees and publishes studies. Not as much material is available directly on the website, but it has a wealth of contact information.


National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators link

Like the NBCSL above, this interstate and inter-territorial group focuses on issues of interest to the Hispanic community. They also have policy and research committees, and rich contact information, some publications. They also have model legislation for several issues. One helpful list is a long list of alliances, where you can find many other contacts for organizations with interests in civil rights and hispanic culture.


Association of State and Territorial Health Officials link

This is a very rich site with pdf newsletters and full reports on many health issues. The collection reaches back to 2004 to 2006 so far. Many aspects of state public health. Includes links to every state and territory's public health website. What a gem! A nice site and it loads quickly.


American Public Health Association link

Includes a lengthy section on legislation, advocacy and policy. The link above is to the State/local portion of the APHA website. The Legislation portion looks as though it includes national focus.


National Governor's Association link

A very rich site with a long list of Best Practices publications back to 1990. Note that many of these duplicate and are just state-by-state, but still it is a very impressive list covering a huge range of topics. A wide variety of documents when you poke through, from issue briefs and PowerPoint presentations to pdf reports to tiny announcements to webcast videos. Fortunately, it is indexed by 5 big topics that you can search through by title, or you can scroll the whole list, or you can search the website. Contact information, experts, policy positions, and news releases. A very good website.


Midwestern Governors Association link

Surprise! This site has some policy papers back to 1998, a bit of model legislation and the Regional Electric Transmission Protocol. More helpful than I would have guessed. A good website.


Southern Governors' Association link

Legislative priorities, documents, policies back to 2005. Press releases to 2001. Newsletters, annual reports from current back to 2000 and special reports back to 1997, quick to download in pdf. Covering issues from education to economy to conservation. Many contact links for the governors and their staff representatives and links for many related organizations. Excellent website!


Western Governors Association link

Independent of the Council of State Governments (and everybody else), this organization represents 18 western states and 3 U.S. Pacific territories. Official letters and testimony on issues from 1998 to current. Resolutions organized by topic, which seem to date from 2003 to current, in pdf. Annual reports (may be an error in this file -- I could not open it), and 14 special reports that focus on a variety of special issues of interest to the organization. Contact information available, too. Excellent website.


New England Governors' Conference link

Well, okay, these guys don't totally have it together yet, but they are trying. Keep in mind that these states are the size of many mid-western and western state's counties! They have 2 newsletters from 2005 and one report on the New England demand for Natural Gas (interesting since so many folks up here heat with oil). Excellent links to states and Canadian provinces and organizations, and to topical organizations. Watch them; once Mitt decides to run or loses finally, they might settle down and get something done.


All 50 States' Certification Links Link

Courtesy of the University of Kentucky College of Education. Thanks, folks!


The image of the 50 States US map is from http://www.50states.com/ which seems to be a yellow pages that wants to help you find business by state or capitol city.