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Citizen Access Page |
| Senate Votes, PA Laws and Lobbyist Reports Posted Online |
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Pennsylvania Senate votes, debates, bills and statutes - as well as live video of Senate floor activity - can now be accessed online via one site, the Citizen Access Page. The general public can read bills and amendments, review text of floor debates, and see how senators voted. Information is available for votes in committee and the full Senate. Citizens can also track who is
lobbying, who individual lobbyists are representing, and how
they are spending their money. They can also see the number
of clients each lobbyist has and what each one is spending
per client. |
What is the Citizen Access Page? Click here
There are three ways to find and view bills, as well as how legislators voted: by bill number, keyword or date.
To read transcripts of debates and other activity from the floor of the Senate, click on Senate Legislative Journals, which are posted by date. (Journals are posted upon Senate approval or within 45 days, whichever is earlier.) The Journals chronicle each day's activity on the floor of the Senate, including communications with the House of Representatives and Governor's Office, amendments offered on the floor, remarks by senators, debates and vote tallies. |
A list of lobbyists
and related information are posted on the
Pennsylvania State Senate website under "Topics
of Special Interest." Under Act 134 of 2006, the Department of State must update the list by May 1 of each odd-numbered year. Random audits will be conducted on the registrations every two years. Lobbyists who violate the law will be subject to civil fines of up to $2,000 and the possibility of being prohibited from paid lobbying for up to five years. Groups that retain lobbyists and intentionally violate the law could receive a fine of up to $25,000.
As part of its effort to make state government more transparent, the Senate now requires the placement of Pennsylvania's consolidated statutes on the Internet. For the first time, citizens are able to search Pennsylvania's laws online, dating back to 1975. To look up statutes, go to the official Pennsylvania General Assembly website and look for "Law Information." From there you can choose from enacted legislation, rules and regulations, the PA Bulletin, Legislative Reference Bureau and Consolidated Statutes. You can search by year, legislative session, act number, or type of legislation. You can even view bills that were vetoed before becoming law.
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