Open States API

v3.openstates.org · Government

Government API Key Free Tier Legal Legislation Government

US state legislative data — bills, votes, legislators, and committees from all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. Real-time tracking of state legislation. Free API key.

Authentication

API Key Free API key at openstates.org/accounts/profile/. Pass as X-API-KEY header.

Sample Requests

GET Search bills

Search California bills about climate.

https://v3.openstates.org/bills?q=climate&per_page=5&jurisdiction=California

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

Headers — extra info sent with the request

X-API-KEY

YOUR_KEY

curl -X GET "https://v3.openstates.org/bills?q=climate&per_page=5&jurisdiction=California" \
  -H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_KEY"

import requests
params = {
    "q": "climate",
    "per_page": "5",
    "jurisdiction": "California"
}
headers = {
    "X-API-KEY": "YOUR_KEY"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://v3.openstates.org/bills",
    params=params,
    headers=headers,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://v3.openstates.org/bills');
url.searchParams.set('q', 'climate');
url.searchParams.set('per_page', '5');
url.searchParams.set('jurisdiction', 'California');

const response = await fetch(url, {
  headers: {
    'X-API-KEY': 'YOUR_KEY'
  },
}); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://v3.openstates.org/bills")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("q", "climate")
	q.Set("per_page", "5")
	q.Set("jurisdiction", "California")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)
	req.Header.Set("X-API-KEY", "YOUR_KEY")

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://v3.openstates.org/bills")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "q" => "climate",
  "per_page" => "5",
  "jurisdiction" => "California"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["X-API-KEY"] = "YOUR_KEY"

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://v3.openstates.org/bills?" . http_build_query([
    "q" => "climate",
    "per_page" => "5",
    "jurisdiction" => "California"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
    "header" => implode("\r\n", [
        "X-API-KEY: YOUR_KEY"
    ]),
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Find legislators

Get Texas state legislators.

https://v3.openstates.org/people?per_page=5&jurisdiction=Texas

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

Headers — extra info sent with the request

X-API-KEY

YOUR_KEY

curl -X GET "https://v3.openstates.org/people?per_page=5&jurisdiction=Texas" \
  -H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_KEY"

import requests
params = {
    "per_page": "5",
    "jurisdiction": "Texas"
}
headers = {
    "X-API-KEY": "YOUR_KEY"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://v3.openstates.org/people",
    params=params,
    headers=headers,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://v3.openstates.org/people');
url.searchParams.set('per_page', '5');
url.searchParams.set('jurisdiction', 'Texas');

const response = await fetch(url, {
  headers: {
    'X-API-KEY': 'YOUR_KEY'
  },
}); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://v3.openstates.org/people")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("per_page", "5")
	q.Set("jurisdiction", "Texas")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)
	req.Header.Set("X-API-KEY", "YOUR_KEY")

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://v3.openstates.org/people")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "per_page" => "5",
  "jurisdiction" => "Texas"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["X-API-KEY"] = "YOUR_KEY"

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://v3.openstates.org/people?" . http_build_query([
    "per_page" => "5",
    "jurisdiction" => "Texas"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
    "header" => implode("\r\n", [
        "X-API-KEY: YOUR_KEY"
    ]),
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

Postman Setup Guide

Get Postman ↗

Get a free API key at openstates.org/accounts/profile/
Set X-API-KEY: YOUR_KEY header
Bills: GET /bills?jurisdiction=New+York&q=housing&per_page=10
Legislators: GET /people?jurisdiction=Florida&per_page=10
Jurisdictions: use state names or abbreviations

Open documentation ↗