Tracking bills is hard, especially if you rely on state legislature websites! Thousands of bills get filed in Chicago every year (and about 180,000 bills nationwide). Legislation gets introduced by bill sponsors, heard in committees, amended, passed, and becomes law. If you want to be an effective advocate, you need to know where legislation of interest stands, and act quickly.

FastDemocracy makes it easy to track legislation in Congress and all 50 states, so you don't miss legislative bill actions that are important to you. We combine this with a government advocacy and lobbying suite to develop and organize advocacy strategies, collaborate, and keep stakeholders informed. Instead of going to government websites and combing through hundreds of pages of legislation, we detect legislative patterns and help you focus on what they do best - advocate for policy change. FastDemocracy is built from the state-level up, so we have the most accurate and timely information across states and the federal government.

1. Sign up here for a free FastDemocracy account.

2. Head to Tracked Topics to select issue areas you care about.

3. Use the search bar on top if you're looking for something specific.

4. Click "Track Bill" for any legislation you'd like to monitor a bit closer. That's how you add it to your Tracked Bills. You can also click on a bill to learn more, see the bill summary, most recent actions, votes, news and tweets. You can also contact legislators or share your bills on social media.

5. You can track an unlimited number of bills for free and we'll send you a daily or weekly email if your tracked legislation moves.

6. Do you need real-time alerts, outreach tools, bill lists, and professional functions? Then FastDemocracy Professional is the right fit for you.

7. Track bills on your smartphone using our free mobile app.

You can use the Find Your Legislators tool to find them, see their voting records, and contact them.