An API for Federal Legislation

Sounds like a good idea. Will earmarks (and who put them in) be part of it? [Link]

Congress has apparently listened to the public's complaints about lack of convenient access to government data.

The new Omnibus Appropriations Bill includes a section, introduced by Rep. Mike Honda (D-California), that would mark the first tangible move toward making federal legislative data available to the public in bulk, so third parties can mash it up and redistribute it in innovative and accessible ways.

This would include all the data currently distributed through the Library of Congress's Thomas web site -- bill status and summary information, lists of sponsors, tracking timelines, voting records, etc.

“In our web 2.0 world, we can empower the public by providing them with raw data that they can remix and reuse in new and innovative ways," says Honda, who is vice chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch. "With these tools, the public can collaborate on projects that can help legislators to create better policies to address the pressing challenges facing our nation.”

Anyone who uses the Thomas site knows how clunky it can be -- data searches time out, and there's no convenient way to track changes to bills by comparing text side by side.

Although sites like Govtrack and OpenCongress improve on these limitations, the sites get their data by scraping Thomas. Their information is, therefore, limited to what can be grabbed in a scrape and isn't always up to date.