Bills

Bill Explorer displays introduced bills and Legislative Counsel (LC) drafts for the selected legislative session.

Use the search bar to quickly find legislation by:

• Bill number – for example, HB 2 or HB2
• LC draft number – for example, LC 123
• Keywords from the bill short title
• Legislator or requester name

Select a bill or LC number from the results to view its detailed information.

Select Filters to narrow the bills and LC drafts displayed in the results table. Multiple filters can be combined to create a more specific search.

Available filters include:

• Session – Select a current or archived legislative session.
• Chamber – Filter by House, Senate, or other applicable chamber.
• Bill Type – Filter by bill, resolution, referendum, or LC draft type.
• Chapter – Find legislation associated with a chapter number.
• Subject – Filter by assigned legislative subjects.
• Requester – Find legislation requested by a legislator, agency, organization, or other requester.
• Sponsor – Find bills sponsored by selected legislators.
• Carrier – Find bills assigned to selected legislative carriers.
• Committee – Find bills associated with selected committees.
• Party – Filter by the primary sponsor’s political party.
• Progress – Find bills at selected stages of the legislative process. Start and end dates may also be used.
• Status – Find bills with selected legislative actions or statuses.
• Other – Filter by amendments, legal reviews, preintroduction requirements, drafter, or deadline category.

Using Multiple Filters

Many filters allow more than one selection. Available choices may automatically adjust based on your current selections so that options returning no results are hidden.

Selected filters appear above the results table. Select an individual filter to remove it, or select Clear Filters to remove all filters.

Your selected filters are also included in the page URL. This allows you to bookmark or share a filtered set of results.

Select Select Columns above the results table to choose which information is displayed.

• Check a column to display it.
• Uncheck a column to hide it.
• Select Reset to Defaults to restore the recommended columns for the selected legislative session or stage.

Your column selections are saved in your browser and will normally remain selected when you return.

Select a table heading to sort by that column when sorting is available. Table headings remain visible while scrolling through longer status and amendment tables.

Signed-in users can also display a Favorites column. An amendment icon may appear beside bills that have amendment documents available.

Select a bill or LC number in the results table to view detailed legislative information.

Available sections vary depending on the legislation and session and may include:

• Summary – Bill or LC information, requester, sponsor, co-sponsors, carrier, subjects, and other summary information.
• Bill Text / LC Text – Available versions of the bill or Legislative Counsel draft.
• Status – Legislative actions, committees, hearings, votes, and vote results.
• Fiscal – Fiscal note status, dates, actions, and related documents.
• Amendments – Amendment documents, related committees, vote counts, and links to Vote History when available.
• Documents & Links – Additional documents, links, document types, and posted dates.

A Changed label identifies hearings where the scheduled time or location has changed.

A video icon is displayed with hearing or meeting information when video is available.

Bill Explorer provides options to download, print, or export legislative information.

Export Results

Use the export options above the results table to export available information in CSV or PDF format.

Download or Print Bill and LC Text

Open the Bill Text or LC Text section and select the ellipsis (…) menu in the document viewer to access available print and download options.

CSV Files

If column contents are not fully visible after opening a CSV file in Excel or Google Sheets, use the spreadsheet application’s AutoFit or Fit to Data option to resize the columns.

Format Excel
To automatically adjust column widths to fit the content in Excel:

1. Select the column or columns you want to resize.
2. Go to Home > Cells > Format.
3. Under Cell Size, select AutoFit Column Width.

You can also use the keyboard shortcut Alt + H + O + I in Excel to autofit the selected columns.
Google Sheets
To automatically adjust column widths to fit the content in Google Sheets:

1. Select the column or columns you want to resize.
2. Right-click a selected column heading.
3. Select Resize column.
4. Select Fit to data, then select OK.

Make URLs Clickable

URLs may automatically display as clickable links in Excel or Google Sheets. If a URL is not clickable, select the cell and use the application’s Insert Link option to create a hyperlink.

Sign in to Bill Explorer to save and track legislation using Favorites, Lists, Saved Filters, and Notifications.

Favorites

Select the star next to a bill to add it to your Favorites. Select it again to remove the bill. Use Only Favorites to display only bills you have favorited.

Lists

Create custom Lists to save groups of bills you want to follow or reference later. Lists can be searched, updated, renamed, shared, or deleted.

Saved Filters

Save your current filter selections to quickly run the same search again. At least one filter must be selected before a Saved Filter can be created.

Lists & Notifications

Select Lists & Notifications in the header to manage your Lists, Favorites, Saved Filters, sharing, and notification settings.

Sharing

Lists and Saved Filters can be shared with other Bill Explorer users by email. You can also use the Copy button when available to copy a shareable link.

Email Notifications

Notification options are available for:

• Amendments
• Bill versions
• Fiscal notes
• Status changes
• Events and hearings
• Votes