USA.gov The U.S. Government’s Official Web Portal. Searches more than just the federal government--state, tribal, and local: any government entity that has a web presence. Searching can be limited to a specific domain. A search for your topic will results in, more often than not, the agencies that have an interest in it.
Catalog of Government Publications. Much like a library catalog, but only for government publications. Committee websites (linked down this page) often leave out large parts of hearings. The published versions will eventually appear here in their entirety.
DiscoverGov. Search across 72 federal government resources with this portal (runs off the same platform as NMU's OneSearch).
Govinfo Online resource from the Government Publishing Office. Many resources are available from this site.
Congress.gov Provided by the Library of Congress, this resource offers access to legislative information including bills (and their history), public laws, the Congressional Record, House and Senate Committee reports, proposed legislation, roll call votes, etc. Locate a bill by Policy Area (this is a very broad search) or by Legislative Subject Area.
You might find these legislative tracking resources friendlier: GovTrack, OpenStates, and LegiScan (these also track state legislation). Similar to Congress.gov in that you can track current legislation, but contains additional commentary, and links.
How are laws made? GovTrack has an explanation. Who writes those laws? It probably isn't the elected official.
Regulations.gov. A resource created in 2003 for the public to easily search for proposed regulations and comment on them. You can sign up for alerts about a specific regulation and subscribe to RSS feeds by agency of newly posted Federal Register notices.
RegInfo.gov. Complimentary to Regulations.gov, but aimed more at federal government agencies. Available here is the "Reg Map", a flowchart showing the informal rulemaking process.
The Unified Agenda "The Unified Agenda provides uniform reporting of data on regulatory and deregulatory activities under development throughout the Federal Government, covering approximately 60 departments, agencies, and commissions. Each edition of the Unified Agenda includes regulatory agendas from all Federal entities that currently have regulations under development or review. Agencies of the United States Congress are not included. Fall editions of the Unified Agenda include The Regulatory Plan, which presents agency statements of regulatory priorities and additional information about the most significant regulatory activities planned for the coming year."
Legislative Influence and how your elected official voted: Follow the Money, GovTrack (mentioned earlier), OpenSecrets.
Updated constantly, the Brookings Institute has a website Tracking Regulatory Changes in the Second Trump Administration.
Department of Health and Human Services The United States government's principal agency for protecting the health of Americans and providing essential human services. This is the big one; many government agencies related to social work listed below fall under this department.
Administration for Community Living. The Administration for Community Living was created around the fundamental principle that older adults and people of all ages with disabilities should be able to live where they choose, with the people they choose, and with the ability to participate fully in their communities..
Administration for Children and Families “Federal agency funding state, territory, local, and tribal organizations to provide family assistance (welfare), child support, child care, Head Start, child welfare, and other programs relating to children and families”. Part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality This is the lead agency charged with supporting research designed to improve the quality of healthcare, reduce its cost, improve patient safety, decrease medical errors, and broaden access to essential services.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services This is the federal agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Health Resources and Services Administration Among the goals of this agency are improving public health and health care systems, the elimination of health disparities, and improve health outcomes.
MedlinePLUS Bringing together authoritative information from the National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH), United States Pharmacopeia Drug Information, and the A.D.A.M Medical Encyclopedia.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Also falling under the NIH umbrella, this agency offers information on a variety of alcohol-related issues and work.
National Institute on Drug Abuse Since 1974, this agency’s mission is to “lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction”.
National Institute of Mental Health Another agency falling under the National Institute of Health (NIH). Since 1946, this agency offers information on clinical trials, funding opportunities and current research, and is tailored to both consumers and practitioners in the field of mental health.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration This agency was created in 1993 to focus attention, programs, and funding on improving the lives of people with or at risk for mental and substance abuse disorders.
Social Security Online The Social Security Administration.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development This department’s mission is to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination.
The Michigan Legislature websites allows you to search for specific bills in the current session. Register for email updates on those bills you are interested in. There are links to the House and Senate and the committees therein.
Pdf link "Tools for Tracking Michigan Legislation". Glossary of Terms used, from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Legiscan and Open States track legislation for all states. The links here take you to Michigan, but you can easily change to another state.
The State of Michigan's Official Website. The state Executive Branch contains the bulk of the agencies concerning Social Work, including the Department of Community Health, and the Michigan Rehabilitation Services. Searching for what you are looking for on the state website will often show you what agency is responsible. The same can be said for USA.gov so long as you use Michigan somewhere in your search terms.
For grants, search for "grants" or "grant opportunities" under the particular Michigan agency, or across all agencies at Michigan.gov.
Michigan Administrative Code. From the Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs (LARA). Links to pending rules activity and updates can be found here.
The Michigan Register contains copies of all proposed administrative rules, notices of public hearings on proposed administrative rules, and administrative rules filed with the secretary of state as submitted by Michigan departments and agencies.
Three think tanks in Michigan: The Mackinac Center "a nonprofit institute that advances the principles of free markets and limited government", the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR) "applies research to pressing public policy issues and builds problem-solving relationships between the academic and policymaker communities", and the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, which for over 100 years has provided "factual, unbiased independent information on significant issues concerning state and local government organization and finance" There are many others in the state and MSU has a list of them here.
Gongwer News Service. Michigan state government news and political information since 1906. NMU doesn't have a subscription, but you can get a hint at what's happening.
MLive.com--Politics & Elections. The political section of "Michigan's Leading Web Site for News, Information and Community Interaction". Other news site: Bridge, Michigan Radio.
Where does your lawmaker stand on an issue? VoteSmart's ISpy (includes state legislators).
Michigan Campaign Finance Network. "The Michigan Campaign Finance Network is a nonpartisan, nonprofit coalition of organizations and individuals concerned about the influence of money in politics and the need for campaign finance reform in Michigan. MCFN conducts research on campaign contributions and their relationship to election outcomes and issues of public policy, supports access to campaign finance information and develops educational initiatives for the public on the subject of campaign finance reform."
Contacting the Congress: cheat sheet from Emily Ellsworth detailing how to effectively talk to your member of Congress. Also, from the MSU Extension, Meeting with your legislator: 10 tips to help you prepare for your meeting.
What district (in Michigan) do you live in? Find out here. Or this website, whoismyrepresentative, which is nationwide. GovTrack is another locator. U.S. House: Find your Representative. U.S. Senate: Contact your Senator.
State Level: Find Your Legislator from MichiganVotes.org.
CQ Researcher, a publication from CQ Press. Delves into the background of issues.
Free resources concerning politics: RollCall, Politico, The Hill. Where do you get your news? Via what sources? Who or what is it from? Do you trust where that news story came from or what it was about? Take a few moments to check it out
Often groups such as these track legislation that matters to the field of Social Work at the national and state levels.
The National Association of Social Workers has a page on Advocacy (linked from the top bar). Their Michigan chapter is linked here.
Association of Social Work Boards. ASWB is the nonprofit organization composed of the social work regulatory boards and colleges of all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and all 10 Canadian provinces.
Michigan Association of School Social Workers. The only professional organization in Michigan wholly dedicated to the advocacy and support of school social work services.
Michigan Social Work Continuing Education Collaborative (CEC). Supporting Michigan social workers and ensuring that all of the continuing educational programs, trainings and practice needs meet the guidelines established in the Social Work Licensure law.
Social Workers of Michigan Facebook group (private: requires registration).
Michigan County Social Services Association (MCSSA). MCSSA is a statewide organization whose members are Department of Health and Human Services county directors, county child welfare directors, district managers, supervisors, and board members from all 83 counties. Two-thirds of the board members are appointed by county commissioners and one-third are appointed by the Governor. MCSSA represents community social and economic concerns, advocates on social services issues, represents the front-line DHHS services delivery perspective, and advocates for DHHS client populations.