Questions people ask
What 52 covers, and what its records do and don’t tell you.
52 follows public decisions across American government: the bills, the people who can move them and the money around them. The name is the count: Congress, the 50 states and Washington, DC.
From public records: Congress.gov and GovInfo, the House and Senate, federal lobbying disclosures, the FEC, state legislatures and state campaign-finance agencies, plus public-interest datasets such as Open States that 52 checks against official sources.
52 is independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any agency or organization listed here.
Records are refreshed from their sources on a schedule, and every action shows the date it was recorded. A bill’s latest action tells you how recent its record is.
No. Every public record page, and search across Congress, all 50 states and DC, is free to read without one. Following issues, briefings, folios, standing questions and exports come with a plan, and every new account starts with a 14-day free trial, no card needed. You sign in with a one-time code sent to your email; there is no password.
No. A contribution is not proof of a motive, and a lobbying report that names a bill says it was lobbied on, not for which side. 52 shows what was filed so you can read it yourself.
It is the furthest step its record shows: introduced, in committee, passed a chamber, or law. A proposal is not a law, and most bills never leave committee.
Legislatures file very different numbers of bills, and their public records reach back different distances. The home page map is shaded by the bills 52 holds for each.
Partly. Some county and city agendas are included where they are published online, but local coverage is uneven, and 52 does not claim to cover every local government.
Send the link and what you expected through the contact page. If a record does not match its official source, it gets corrected or removed.