How it works

The words school meals are typed into a search box, and three matching bills appear from Congress, Minnesota and Colorado.

Search once, across 52 governments.

Type an issue, a lawmaker or a company. Bills come back from Congress, every state legislature and the DC Council.

A bill’s stage fills in from introduced to committee, then the members of the committee holding it appear, the chair first.

Its stage, its text, its sponsors, the committee it was sent to and every recorded action, with dates.

Bars grow for three organisations’ reported lobbying spend, then a mark shows that two of their reports name the bill.

Lobbying reports, campaign giving and the organizations behind them. 52 shows what was filed and lets you read it.

A website address is typed, three kinds of law it touches appear, then three bills from different legislatures.

Paste your website. 52 works out which laws touch your work and lists the bills that bear on it.

A briefing lists three followed bills; one of them is marked as having passed committee.

Following, briefings and folios come with a plan. Try every one free for 14 days, no card needed.

A bill is not a law. Check its stage before you share it. Most bills never leave committee.
A contribution is not a motive. Money records show who gave and who lobbied, not why.
Dates tell you how fresh a record is. Every action carries the date it was recorded.
Pick a state on the home page map to see only its bills.
Press ⌘K, or Ctrl K on Windows, on any page to search or jump to a page.