Check out the action yourself

Posted by Editorial_Page_Staff

Posted: February 19, 2007 - 6:00 pm

For a citizen who wants to keep an eye on an issue or a legislator in Juneau, the Internet offers an indispensable tool. The Legislature’s web site, http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/, has a user-friendly way to track what’s going on.

You can search for legislation by bill number, by subject or by legislator who sponsors it. Bills in the database show the full sections of the laws affected by changes, not just obscure references like “strike that word and insert this word instead.” (You still have to decode the legalistic lingo of the bill to figure out what it does. Unfortunately, no “plain English” translation is available.)

Once you find a bill, you can track it through every step in the Legislature’s process (or find out where it stalled). There’s even a link to sign up for email alerts whenever a bill sees action. You can find out who is on which committee, what the committee’s meeting schedule and agenda is, and see minutes of past committee action. The House and Senate journals, with summaries of the action each day, are also just a couple of clicks away. You can check on legislative action dating all the way back to 1993.

About the only thing the legislature’s web site doesn’t tell you is which lobbyists and special interests are pushing for a bill and why. (Too bad!)

The Legislature’s web info is a lot easier for a citizen to use and digest than Congress or the Anchorage Assembly’s. The Library of Congress site, (http://thomas.loc.gov), is actually a little easier to search by topic or by sponsor but the text of bills is harder to decipher. That’s because bills or bill amendments in Congress only mention the exact words that are stricken or added. You don’t get any sense of what is being changed unless you have a copy of U.S. statutes handy.

The Anchorage Assembly’s website (http://www.muni.org/assembly2/index.cfm), has the full text of measures that are being considered on the current week’s agenda. But there is no easy way to look up legislation, past or present, by subject or sponsor. The Assembly website is gradually improving, but it has a ways to go to match the ease, breadth and depth of the Legislature’s.

Have you used any of these websites? Post your thoughts here.

Are you watching a particular legislator or bill in Juneau? If so, share what you know here on the blog.

-- Matt Zencey

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Legislative Website

BASIS is an excellent tool for keeping track of and researching current as well as past legislation and committee hearings.

I would encourage anyone interested in legislative matters to go to the legislative website: www.legis.state.ak.us.

Not only can BASIS be found at that site, but you can also find contact information for legislators and other state officials, committee hearing schedules, and a myriad of other helpful links.

There you'll find a link to the Legislative Budget and Audit website that has a "Stranded Gas Act document log" that was established under former LB&A co chair Senator Therriault. This log includes many consultant reports, legal opinions, and other presentations, and is the most comprehensive collection of information on gasline related issues I know of.

The Legislative Affairs Agency, that is responsible for the legislative website, does an heroic job of keeping BASIS up to date and an invaluable research tool for anyone with an interest, a computer and the most basic internet skills. My compliments and gratitude for the great work of the LAA.

1 February 25, 2007 - 8:52am | etolin

Other BASIS features

Good start on BASIS features. Additionally, there is a sponsor summary to see which legislator or committee has filed what in terms of bills and resolutions.

The subject summary is good for various topics such as seafood, transportation or energy to name a few.

House and senate calendars, except for the end of session, will detail the legislation on the calendar for a specific day. Up to date calendar information is generally available on the actual session day.

BASIS stands for Bill Action and Status Inquiry System. It been in existence for at least twenty years, but am uncertain how long its been published on the web.

A very useful tool for tracking legislation.

Check out the action yourself

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