One of my colleagues heard about Maplight when she went to the Special Libraries Association Convention in Denver.
Maplight not only tracks federal legislation, but the interest groups lined up for and against them. A user can search by Bills in Congress or the California Legislature. Other choices allow you to search Congresspersons, and get a basic idea of who has contributed to them.
Here are two
Click on the Top Organizations tab for Jan Schakowsky, and you’ll see
| Organization of contributor | Contributions |
| RETIRED | $43,300 |
| SELF-EMPLOYED | $30,700 |
| ATTORNEY | $26,925 |
| AMERICAN FEDN OF ST/CNTY/MUNIC EMPLOYEES | $10,200 |
| TEAMSTERS | $10,000 |
| MACHINISTS/AEROSPACE WORKERS | $10,000 |
| AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS | $10,000 |
| UNITED AUTO WORKERS | $10,000 |
| COLUMBIA COLLEGE/CHICAGO | $9,200 |
| SIDLEY | $8,200 |
Columbia College? Somebody please explain.
For Mark Kirk, the results would be:
| Organization of contributor | Contributions |
| RETIRED | $404,054 |
| LAKEWOOD HOMES | $39,600 |
| ATTORNEY | $33,250 |
| PHYSICIAN | $24,000 |
| MEDLINE INDUSTRIES | $23,050 |
| INVESTOR | $21,200 |
| WINSTON & STRAWN | $20,850 |
| QUICKSET INTERNATIONAL | $20,050 |
| BUSINESSMAN | $19,400 |
| EXELON CORP | $18,100 |
A user can search by Interest groups. However, the categorization isn’t organization-specific. I tried searching for Service Employees International Union. The closest category I could find was:
“Commercial Service
This category will list the top recipients of contributions.
I’d say this is a good place to START your research, and then move on to other sites such as Open Secrets or the Federal Election Commission.
Note: I haven’t forgotten the Illinois State Board of Elections disclosure site . However, when I went to check for statements from Kirk & Schakowsky, I didn’t find any.
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