This R package, legihelpR, is meant to use the legiscan API to help track legislative actions.
Installation & Load
You can install the development version of legihelpR from GitHub with:
API Registration
Requests to legiscan require an API key to function. You can register for an API key on the legiscan website.
You can store your API key into your environment using setlegiKey. To permanently store your legiscan API key in your environment use the argument ‘install = TRUE’.
setlegiKey(
APIkey = "< 32 character API Key >",
install = TRUE
)Once you have set up your API key all other legihelpR functions will use getlegiKey to check your stored environment file by default. You can use getlegiKey to check which API key you have stored. You can overwrite your existing key by using ‘overwrite = TRUE’ in setlegiKey.
Sessions
Receive a dataframe of all sessions in legiscan’s database using getSessions to return unique Session IDs for the provided state.
getSessions(state = "MA")
#> # A tibble: 8 × 14
#> session_id state_id year_start year_end prefile sine_die prior special
#> <int> <int> <int> <int> <int> <int> <int> <int>
#> 1 2026 21 2023 2024 0 0 0 0
#> 2 1807 21 2021 2022 0 1 1 0
#> 3 1637 21 2019 2020 0 1 1 0
#> 4 1413 21 2017 2018 0 1 1 0
#> 5 1134 21 2015 2016 0 1 1 0
#> 6 1006 21 2013 2014 0 1 1 0
#> 7 99 21 2011 2012 0 1 1 0
#> 8 28 21 2009 2010 0 1 1 0
#> # ℹ 6 more variables: session_tag <chr>, session_title <chr>,
#> # session_name <chr>, dataset_hash <chr>, session_hash <chr>, name <chr>Master List
For receiving a Master List from legiscan’s API you can use getMasterlist. You can provide a unique session ID or you can provide the state abbreviation to return the most recent regular session from that state.
getMasterList(session = 2108)
#> [1] "88th Legislature 4th Special Session"
#> # A tibble: 399 × 10
#> bill_id number change_hash url status_date status last_action_date
#> <int> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <int> <chr>
#> 1 1782999 HB1 a7dd8ab0cbac7f28afa… http… 2023-11-07 1 2023-11-17
#> 2 1783170 HB2 4da362887d807b94bf0… http… 2023-11-20 2 2023-11-21
#> 3 1783002 HB3 8056938ff2b255cc490… http… 2023-11-07 1 2023-11-10
#> 4 1783007 HB4 17459d166806c526c46… http… 2023-11-07 1 2023-11-13
#> 5 1783053 HB11 c74da0cc9f83206bd2d… http… 2023-11-07 1 2023-11-07
#> 6 1783070 HB12 eed274a463bb592c254… http… 2023-11-07 1 2023-11-07
#> 7 1783056 HB13 8aba11f7a402ff084d8… http… 2023-11-07 1 2023-11-07
#> 8 1783054 HB14 a3f1a2e1372be27dde6… http… 2023-11-07 1 2023-11-07
#> 9 1783060 HB15 54068d5092f6d5dbb10… http… 2023-11-07 1 2023-11-07
#> 10 1783015 HB16 c3af43bf73d6302a2db… http… 2023-11-07 1 2023-11-07
#> # ℹ 389 more rows
#> # ℹ 3 more variables: last_action <chr>, title <chr>, description <chr>legiSearch
Return a dataframe of search results from legiscan using the legiSearch function. Reference legiscan’s documentation for assistance with additional search syntax. You can specify dates, status, type, & more using legiscan’s search filters in the ‘query’ argument.
legiSearch(
query = "workers compensation",
state = "TX"
)
#> 126 Results Found
#> # A tibble: 126 × 11
#> relevance state bill_number bill_id change_hash url text_url research_url
#> <int> <chr> <chr> <int> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr>
#> 1 100 TX HB351 1632612 dd8a4d0ce42d… http… https:/… https://leg…
#> 2 99 TX HB4389 1731515 0cead4ca815c… http… https:/… https://leg…
#> 3 99 TX HB778 1633853 15f1b71b4aa3… http… https:/… https://leg…
#> 4 99 TX HB3335 1726032 aa237860109e… http… https:/… https://leg…
#> 5 98 TX HB4147 1730763 f0d956d2c38e… http… https:/… https://leg…
#> 6 98 TX HB790 1634033 f24304e018fb… http… https:/… https://leg…
#> 7 98 TX HB102 1632560 e63dc9a79415… http… https:/… https://leg…
#> 8 98 TX HB2314 1706966 999038a29872… http… https:/… https://leg…
#> 9 98 TX HB2702 1719196 41789a475d09… http… https:/… https://leg…
#> 10 98 TX SB1776 1729262 9cf2c498fd6d… http… https:/… https://leg…
#> # ℹ 116 more rows
#> # ℹ 3 more variables: last_action_date <chr>, last_action <chr>, title <chr>Session People
Return a dataframe of basic information for people from the provided session id.
getSessionPeople(session = 2108)
#> [1] "88th Legislature 4th Special Session"
#> # A tibble: 180 × 23
#> people_id person_hash party_id state_id party role_id role name first_name
#> <int> <chr> <chr> <int> <chr> <int> <chr> <chr> <chr>
#> 1 5848 3b040ho3 1 43 D 1 Rep Alma … Alma
#> 2 5850 mcnms1e8 1 43 D 2 Sen Carol… Carol
#> 3 5851 i5zt5f3s 1 43 D 1 Rep Rafae… Rafael
#> 4 5852 0iywahqt 2 43 R 1 Rep Charl… Charles
#> 5 5862 2oz7ngk6 2 43 R 1 Rep Angie… Angie
#> 6 5874 afzjvlgk 2 43 R 1 Rep Tom C… Tom
#> 7 5875 d8zu56yg 2 43 R 2 Sen Charl… Charles
#> 8 5877 x0l0s73o 2 43 R 1 Rep Drew … Drew
#> 9 5879 gel8m81o 1 43 D 1 Rep Yvonn… Yvonne
#> 10 5884 1pzqjv8g 1 43 D 1 Rep Harol… Harold
#> # ℹ 170 more rows
#> # ℹ 14 more variables: middle_name <chr>, last_name <chr>, suffix <chr>,
#> # nickname <chr>, district <chr>, ftm_eid <int>, votesmart_id <int>,
#> # opensecrets_id <chr>, knowwho_pid <int>, ballotpedia <chr>,
#> # bioguide_id <chr>, committee_sponsor <int>, committee_id <int>,
#> # state_federal <int>