Simple Search

1. Introduction
2. Simple Search Video
3. How to Perform a Simple Search
4. Search Results Information
5. Research Features
6. Best Practices 1-Pager

Introduction

FiscalNote is leveraged for more than tracking specific policy documents.  Many organizations employ what we call a Simple Search to gather key information on topics of interest.  Simple Searches are broad in nature and allow you to collect data such as total bills or regulations introduced per legislature(s), better understand general policy landscapes, and gather general intel for other research purposes. 

Simple Search - Video

How to Perform a Simple Search

For any Search, you first need to select the data that you want to browse, such as State Bills:

To perform a Simple Search once a selection is made, use keywords as opposed to specific bill numbers or regulation titles.  Simple searches are most informative when using a small amount of keywords, if not one. 

If using more than one keyword, use Search Helpers to combine them.  For example, if using the Exact Phrase Search Helper, we would type the phrase Vehicle Safety in quotation marks before clicking Search: "Vehicle Safety".  This tells FiscalNote: Find all State Bills that mention both Vehicle and Safety when the two words are listed directly next to one another in the bill text. 

*Click Here to learn more about Search Helpers.

In this example, we will use the Exact Phrase Search Helper to better understand the state-level policy landscape about safety, specifically when referring to vehicles:

Valuable Research Information:

The Search Results page will immediately tell you the following:

1.) Total bills introduced this session: 

2.) Total bills introduced per legislature with both a filter and interactive map: 

3.) Bill Statuses with both a filter and interactive map:

4.) Bill Types:

5.) Totals by Chamber: 

6.) Categories:

Other Filters used for Research purposes:

1.) Bill Count by Session to understand historical trends: 

2.) Sponsorship and Cosponsorship totals.  Filter by name to understand an official's legislative trends:

3.) Date Range to browse distinct periods of Last Activity:

Best Practices 1-Pager (click here to download)