Legistorm: Transparency's Sidekick

We have made a few changes to the LegiStorm main search feature, which we hope will improve our ability to give you the information you need.

The main search box in the top left corner of our pages has always been a handy quick search for some of our key data. You have always been able to search for a legislator or a congressional staffer's name. Or you could find the sponsor or destination for a congressional trip.

Now, if you're searching for a specific staffer on our site, the search results now show you what office each person has worked in. Previously, you had to click through each name to see where they had worked.

Election Day 2008 will take on a whole new meaning for some former congressional aides.

Tomorrow, a number of former staffers are trying to get back to Capitol Hill with a promotion as a legislator. LegiStorm has the information on how they got their political start.

Perhaps the most notable is Daniel Maffei. Maffei, a former communications aide to Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), narrowly lost to then-incumbent Jim Walsh in 2006. This time around, Walsh has announced his retirement and Maffei is expected to win the seat.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) was convicted on seven counts of making false statements on his personal financial disclosures today. Stevens failed to disclose gifts, including free home renovations, and his failure to disclose led to his conviction and may cost him his Senate seat with elections a week away.

The charges related to Stevens' personal financial disclosures from 2002-2007, all of which are available to view on LegiStorm. The original indictment, including a description of all seven charges, is also available on LegiStorm.

Steven's case underscores the importance of disclosure in government, and also the importance of making those disclosure forms widely and easily available for public viewing, in case there are discrepancies to be found.

We have expanded The Score, our handy dashboard for what's happening in and around the Congress on any given day. We now offer press releases from the Federal Election Commission. The weeks and months following an election are usually the busiest times for press release writers over at the FEC.

We have also changed the look of The Score, adding convenient links at the top of the page to quickly link to the part of The Score you want to read.

LegiStorm's The Score offers political headlines, congressional schedules, and House and Senate floor tickers, as well as legislative reports from a variety of sources, such as the GAO, CBO, OMB and White House.

LegiStorm has released the latest available congressional staff salary data from the second quarter of 2008 for the House of Representatives.

As usual, the salary data comes from the Statement of Disbursements books published quarterly by the Clerk of the House. The books are typically published three months after the quarter ends and we spend a few weeks converting the books from hard-copy to digital form.

The Senate publishes its salary data in semi-annual, not quarterly, increments. The next Senate data is not scheduled for release for another three months.