Federal legislative research tools

There was a time when federal government action did not impact the daily duties of a residential property manager.  Our legislative concerns were almost exclusively focused on local and state action.  But in the last decade that has changed.  Today more and more, the federal government is passing laws which impact residential property management. 

There is currently no one size fits all solution to monitoring action at the federal level.  The California Apartment Association, the state’s largest representative of residential property owners and managers, is no longer associated with the National Apartment Association.  Large residential property owners and managers are generally members of the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC), but the entry membership fee is steep if you own only a few units or a single building.  The National Association of Property Managers (NARPM) is primarily focused on property management companies who manage single family homes and condominiums. So, if you are an owner who manages exclusively your own units regardless of the building size, or a property manager who manages buildings with 5 and more units, the focus of these advocacy groups will not align with your focus. 

So, what can you do?  If you are willing to monitor the federal government actions yourself, here are some Internet tools to assist you.

From the Library of Congress:  Thomas

http://thomas.loc.gov/

“THOMAS was launched in January of 1995, at the inception of the 104th Congress. The leadership of the 104th Congress directed the Library of Congress to make federal legislative information freely available to the public. Since that time THOMAS has expanded the scope of its offerings ….”

 Government Track

http://www.govtrack.us/

• Members: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd
• Committees and Assignments: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/committee.xpd
• Bills and Resolutions: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/legislation.xpd
• Voting Record: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes.x

Open Congress

http://www.opencongress.org/

Learn about using Open Congress:  http://www.opencongress.org/#pitch

Includes information regarding political donations.  From their web site:

“OpenCongress makes it possible to draw connections between campaign contributions, the specific content of bills, and important votes by Members of Congress.  Figures below are individual contributions from 2008, which is the most recent data set available because Congress refuses to report its contributions in timely, digital formats. (More detailed info on PAC contributions is coming soon.)”

The OpenProject Wiki  http://www.opencongress.org/wiki/Wiki_Home

• Members:
• Senators:  http://www.opencongress.org/people/senators
• Representatives:  http://www.opencongress.org/people/representatives
• Bills:  http://www.opencongress.org/bill/all
• Votes:  http://www.opencongress.org/roll_call/all
• Committees:  http://www.opencongress.org/committee

  Tools to separate fact from fiction! 

PolitiFact from the St. Petersburg Times  http://www.politifact.com/

from their web site:

“PolitiFact is a project of the St. Petersburg Times to help you find the truth in American politics. Reporters and editors from the Times fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups and rate them on our Truth-O-Meter. We’re also tracking more than 500 of Barack Obama’s campaign promises and are rating their progress on our new Obameter. “ 

Open Secrets

http://www.opensecrets.org/

focuses on political donations 

Want to follow the Tweets of Congress?

Tweet Congress

• Directory of members of Congress on Twitter, with links to their official accounts

http://tweetcongress.org/

• A blog about Congressional Tweeters -Twitter Room http://thehill.com/blogs/twitter-room