Category «Legislation»

GPO issues digital release of statue compilations

“U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) releases an initial set of 40 Statute Compilations as a pilot on govinfo, GPO’s website that offers public access to Federal Government information. These publications are compilations of public laws that either do not appear in the U.S. Code or that have been classified to a title of the U.S. …

Subjects: Congress, E-Government, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

NCSL’s Redistricting Legislation Database

National Conference of State Legislatures: “This database contains state legislation related to redistricting. Bills found here deal with redistricting-related issues from 2018 onward. Bill information for the current year is updated each Tuesday. New measures are added as they are introduced or identified by NCSL staff. Bills may appear twice in carry-over states. In these …

Subjects: Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Congress Considers Possible Responses to the Disappearance of a Saudi Journalist

EveryCRSReport.com – Congress Considers Possible Responses to the Disappearance of a Saudi Journalist October 18, 2018. IN10983. “Congress is considering potential responses to the disappearance and reported death of prominent Saudi Arabian journalist and former diplomatic advisor Jamal Khashoggi. Some members of Congress have requested additional information from the executive branch, raised the prospect of …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Are There Any Systemically Important Nonbanks?

EveryCRSreport.com – Are There Any Systemically Important Nonbanks?, October 17, 2018. IN10982. “During the 2008 financial crisis, problems at AIG, Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers led to broader financial instability or government “bailouts” in order to prevent instability. At the time, these firms were nonbank financial institutions and not generally subject to effective safety and …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Appeals Court Says Georgia’s Laws (Including Annotations) Are Not Protected By Copyright And Free To Share

techdirt: “The 11th Circuit appeals court has just overturned a lower court ruling and said that Georgia’s laws, including annotations, are not covered by copyright, and it is not infringing to post them online. This is big, and a huge win for online information activist Carl Malamud whose Public.Resource.org was the unfortunate defendant in a …

Subjects: Copyright, Courts, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries

USDA’s enforcement of animal welfare laws plummeted in 2018

Washington Post: “Two years ago, the Agriculture Department issued 192 written warnings to breeders, exhibitors and research labs that allegedly violated animal welfare laws, and the agency filed official complaints against 23, according to agency data. This year, those figures plummeted: The department had issued 39 warnings in the first three-quarters of fiscal 2018, and …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

What’s new to Congress.gov in October?

In Custodia Legis: “For this release the Congress.gov Enhancements include: Enhancement – Advanced Legislation Search – Committee selection pages list all names When you choose all Congresses on the Advanced Legislation Search, the committee selection pages show committee name changes. Enhancement – Search Results Navigation – Page through all amendments for a specific bill From the Amendments tab …

Subjects: Congress, E-Government, Legal Research, Legislation

Membership of the 115th Congress: A Profile

EveryCRSReport.com: Membership of the 115th Congress: A Profile, October 1, 2018 “This report presents a profile of the membership of the 115th Congress (2017-2018) as of October 1, 2018. Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party affiliation, average age, occupation, education, length of congressional service, religious affiliation, gender, ethnicity, …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

FDsys Website to be Retired This December

“This December, the transition from GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) to govinfo will be complete with the retirement of the FDsys website. In preparation for the retirement of FDsys in December, the two most important things to know about the transition are the following: Although the FDsys website is being replaced with the new, modern …

Subjects: E-Government, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

New Experimental Congress.gov Chrome Browser Extension

In Custodia Legis: “Have you ever found yourself reading a news story about legislation, and wished that you could quickly discover the primary source that the article discusses? With that use case in mind, we are excited to bring you an experimental, open source Google Chrome browser extension that will provide you with enhanced access to Congress.gov …

Subjects: Congress, E-Government, Legal Research, Legislation

Important update about LC Public Access Portal for CRS Reports

Follow up to previous posting – LC Launches Portal for Public Access to Official CRS Reports – with additional pertinent information for researchers Via Steven Aftergood – Secrecy News/FAS: “The Congressional Research Service launched its new public portal this morning, with an initial installment of 628 reports dating back to January of this year. The back …

Subjects: Congress, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation