How Bloomberg Government Demystifies the Who, What, and Why of State Government Affairs
Keeping track of the action in state government can feel like an insurmountable task. Among the 50 states there are 99 chambers, and approximately 230,000 bills are introduced every two years. For government affairs professionals, sifting through new bills and regulations in search of those most relevant to their organization’s mission is a heavy lift.
“The scale and speed of policy making at the state level is so different from what we see on the federal level,” said Will Matthews, Bloomberg Government research analysis manager. “You need more advanced tools to keep up.”
The What: Efficiently Track New Legislation and Regulations
Tracking state legislative and regulatory developments with the speed and accuracy necessary to stay ahead in a competitive landscape requires a comprehensive solution such as Bloomberg Government: State. Distilling only the most relevant details from large volumes of information is essential. Custom smart searches and keyword alerts mean government affairs professionals get those updates delivered right to their inboxes as they happen.
“State bills can change dramatically and quickly,” Matthews said. “But we have every version the same day it’s posted to a state’s website.” In one convenient location, users can see the bill summary, all versions of the full text, a timeline of actions, related legislative documents, and bill sponsors and co-sponsors.
A BGOV client, director of government affairs at a biopharmaceutical company, underlined the importance of moving quickly to stay ahead of changes in the industry. While they have people on the ground working in individual states, as well as contacts in industry trade groups to help them stay on top of new developments, there are always “potential blind spots.”
“If a state files a bill to update or change their HIV testing laws, for example, that’s something we would want to know about quickly, to be able to track and potentially weigh in on it. One way we might keep track of that is by having an alert set up for that topic and that state.”
The Who: Search Legislators and Their Staffers With Ease
Of course, it’s not enough to be aware of the latest action in state legislatures – knowing exactly whom to contact about each policy, bill, and regulation is key. To that end, Bloomberg Government: State users can access directories of approximately 7,300 state legislators and 15,000 of their staff members.
For legislators, filter searches by name, state, committee, party, and more. For staffers, search by job title, state, committee, staffer type, and other criteria to efficiently and easily find the right person at the right time.
With thousands of lawmakers and staffers between the 50 states and D.C., it would be easy for government affairs professionals to spend hours upon hours trying to track down the best contact for any given policy. Having a tool that can do most of the searching for you means more time to craft the perfect outreach message.
Stay on top of the state legislative and regulatory landscape
with Bloomberg Government: State.
The Why: Search Thousands of News Sources to Learn Why Policies Matter
The legislative and regulatory tracking, searching, and alerts, combined with directories, provide the “what” and the “who” of state government, but there’s still a piece missing: Why does it matter? What sets Bloomberg Government apart is a proprietary tool that aggregates local news from a vast array of sources.
“It’s one thing to see that a particular legislator has co-sponsored or introduced a new bill,” Matthews said. “But we pair that with the story on the ground, either from BGOV reporters or from any of our 35,000 external news sources, to give you the relevant quotes, a sense of the context in which the bill is being introduced, and a better feel of what’s actually happening than just the bill is going to give you.”
If “all politics is local,” understanding what’s happening in the communities most affected by the issues is crucial to expertly communicating why policies should matter to the politicians representing those communities.
The full suite of tools in Bloomberg Government: State gives government affairs professionals a competitive edge in staying on top of the latest state legislative developments as they are happening. Tracking, sorting, and setting alerts for key bills and policy areas helps them stay in the know. Quickly and efficiently finding the best legislators and staffers to contact means less time searching and more time for outreach. Analyzing curated news sources is the final piece, enabling them to substantively and effectively communicate why their mission matters.
[Bloomberg Government offers news, analysis, and data-driven tools to help government affairs professionals track legislative developments and maximize their efficiency. To learn more, request a demo.]