Resources about the State and Local Government.

State and Local Government

• State Government Information from Library of Congress
• Federal, State, & Local Governments from U.S. Census Bureau
• State Constitutions from Ballotpedia

State Tax Revenue

• 1993 through 2008 from Frank Keegan

Open Records

• State sunshine laws.   State Government, County Governments, Open Meeting, Open Records, State Spending.  Transparency report card by state, counties, cities, school districts.
• State FOI Laws from National Freedom of Information Coalition
• Ballotpedia:  Find your officials and legislature and read about local ballot measures
  
• Index of State Disclosure Agencies
• Campaign Disclosure Project:  Grading State Disclosure
• State FOI Resources from National Freedom of Information Coalition

Effective FOIA –

Elected Officials

• National Association of Attorneys General:   Information related to the AGs

Ethics

• State Ethics Oversight Agencies by the National Conference of State Legislatures
• Member of Congress Financial Disclosures by State from Legistorm
  
• Privately Financed Congressional Travel by Destination State from Legistorm
• Document Warehouse of personal financial disclosure statements from the Center for Public Integrity
• Disclosure statements of state legislators from the Center for Public Integrity.  Rankings by state.

State Legislatures

• NOLA.  Legislative information source for America.

State Courts and Law

• U.S. State Constitutions and Web Sites
• Electronic access to court records
• Judgepedia:  Courts by State
  

Political Money

• Google map to locate State Campaign Finance Databases
• FollowtheMoney.org
• National Institute on Money in State Politics
  • Select State on U.S. Map and drill down to specific candidates
  • Novel PULSE diagram (Political contribUtion Logarithmic Scatterplot profilE) to compare campaigns.  See PULSE example of 125 State Rep races in Kansas in 2008.
• State Limits on Contributions to Candidates, National Conference of State Legislatures.   Table.  Map.

Federal Spending

• Earmarks by Receiving State from Legistorm
• Stimulus Grants to State Arts Agencies and Regional Arts Organizations (National Endowment for the Arts)
• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Direct Grants (National Endowment for the Arts)

State information maintained by Federal Government

• Bureau of Labor Statistics:
  • Regional and State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly)
  • State and Metro Area Employment, Hours & Earnings
  • Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
• Census Bureau:
  • State and Local Government Finances
  • State Government Tax Collections
  • State statistical abstracts
  • State & Local Government Employee Retirement Systems
• Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration datasets
• FDIC
  • FDIC State Profiles by Quarter:  summary of banking and economic conditions of each state
• GAO – State and Local Government Retiree Health Benefits
• USGS:  State Minerals Statistics and Information

Statistics

• Farm Subsidy Database by State
• MapStats by State:  Population, Business Stats, Geography
• State Health Facts
• U.S. Census
  • State Median Income

State Policy Network

• Directory by State

Taxes

• Tax Data from the Tax Foundation
• State and Local Tax Burdens from Federation of Tax Administrators
• Summaries of Property Taxes by State from Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Budgets

• Fiscal Survey of States, National Governors Association
• State Budget Update from National Conference of State Legislatures
• State Budget Watch from Institute for Truth in Accounting

Freedom

• Freedom in the 50 States:  Index of Personal and Economic Freedom

Transparency

• NHOpenGov.org
• State and Local Spending Transparency Efforts from Americans for tax Reform