Hekman Library: Government Documents: Explore Levels of Government

Featured Resources for Different Levels of Government

Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow's web page
Michigan Senator Gary Peters' web page
Michigan's 3rd Congressional District Representative Hilary Scholten
Calvin University is in this district.
United States Senate
United States House of Representatives
Government Publishing Office
THOMAS
Congressional Budget Office
Government Accountability Office
GAO supports the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and helps to improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government. It provides Congress with timely information that is objective, fact-based, nonpartisan, fair, and balanced.
Library of Congress

The White House
Federal Exectuvie Branch
USA.gov's list of federal executive agencies.

Supreme Court of the United States
The official site of the U.S. Supreme Court gives information about the Court, Docket, Calendar, Rules, Case Handling Guides, Opinions, Orders, Bar Admissions, Visiting the Court, Public Information, and includes links to related web sites.
FindLaw
FindLaw's searchable database of the Supreme Court decisions since 1893 (U.S. Supreme Court Decisions: U.S. Reports 150-, 1893-). Browsable by year and U.S. Reports volume number, and searchable by citation, case title and full text.
Oyez Project
A multimedia database from Northwestern University, covers constitutional law only and provides arguments to selected cases in RealAudio format. This site also gives a virtual tour of the Supreme Court building.

State Government Information (Library of Congress)
State Blue Books
State Government Information Index (Louis J. Blume LIbrary, St. Mary's University)
State and Local Government on the Net
Council of State Governments
CSG is a region-based forum that fosters the exchange of insights and ideas to help state officials shape public policy.

Official State of Michigan Web Site
Site provides links to branches and agencies in Michigan government
Michigan Legislature
Allows user to browse bills, view tables of Public Acts (since 1997), check the calendars of the Michigan Senate and House, and link to other useful sites.
Michigan Electronic Library's Michigan Legal Resources
The Library of Michigan
This site is designed to serve the legislature and government, libraries, and citizens of Michigan.
Guide to US Facts on the Web by States
Resource of basic facts and quick links for all 50 states.

Basic government information and services for

City of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Overview of Grand Rapids' city government, services, and departments as well as a community calendar and links to other sites.
Family Resource Guide (Kent Cty, MI)
Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce
The Right Place
The Right Place, Inc. is a regional non-profit economic development organization whose mission is to promote wealth creation and economic growth in West Michigan.

Special Resource: Congressional Research Service Reports

CRS is committed to supporting an informed national legislature by developing creative approaches to policy analysis, anticipating legislative needs, and responding to specific requests from legislators in a timely manner.

Search CRS Reports
Congressional Research Service provides the public with access to research products produced by the CRS for the United States Congress. By law, CRS works exclusively for Congress, providing timely, objective, and authoritative research and analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of political party affiliation.
Federation of American Scientists
Congressional Research Service Reports on Foreign Policy and Regional Affairs.
Congressional Research Service Reports - University of North Texas
Organized by subject area, such as immigration, abortion, labor, religion and defense (to name a few). These can then be broken down into subsets by date, region, or country.

How a Bill Becomes a Law

Youtube Video - How a Bill Becomes a Law