California: leginfo and Cal-Access.
PolicySpan sources California legislative data (bills, votes, analyses) from the Legislature's own system, and California campaign finance and lobbying from the Secretary of State. These are two separate government systems, and we keep them clearly apart.
PolicySpan is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of these agencies. We name their systems because that is where the public records live. Data reviewed as accessed 2026-07-19.
Both systems are ingested directly from the primary source. No third-party aggregators are used. For why direct sourcing matters, see the Data & Sourcing overview.
leginfo — California legislative data
What it is
California Legislative Information (leginfo) is the Legislature's official system for bill text and versions, bill history, committee and floor analyses, votes, and the state codes. It is maintained by the Legislative Counsel of California.
What PolicySpan ingests
| Record type | Coverage | Historical range |
|---|---|---|
| Bill text and versions | Statewide legislative | 2025-2026 session |
| Bill history and status | Statewide legislative | 2025-2026 session |
| Committee and floor analyses | Statewide legislative | 2025-2026 session |
| Roll-call votes (per legislator) | Statewide legislative | 2025-2026 session |
Sourcing
Primary source: California Legislative Information, maintained by the Legislative Counsel. Official access point: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, with bulk data published through the site's official Downloadable Data Files. Ingested directly from the official data files, no aggregator and no scraping.
Good to know
- The Legislature's own record. Vote codes, analyses, and histories are shown as the Legislature published them, never re-derived.
- Timing follows the legislative calendar. Versions, analyses, and vote records appear when the Legislature publishes them.
- Legislative only. This covers bills, votes, and analyses. California campaign finance and lobbying come from a separate system, described next.
Cal-Access — California campaign finance and lobbying
What it is
Cal-Access is California's campaign finance and lobbying disclosure system, run by the California Secretary of State under the Political Reform Act. It holds contributions, expenditures, independent expenditures, and lobbying activity filed by committees, candidates, and lobbying entities.
What PolicySpan ingests
| Record type | Coverage | Historical range |
|---|---|---|
| Contributions and expenditures | Statewide | 2000 to present |
| Independent expenditures | Statewide | 2000 to present |
| Lobbying activity and payments | Statewide | 2000 to present |
Sourcing
Primary source: California Secretary of State, Cal-Access. Official access point: the Secretary of State's raw campaign finance and lobbying activity data files, published at sos.ca.gov/campaign-lobbying. Ingested directly from the official bulk raw-data files, no aggregator and no scraping.
Good to know
- Shown as filed. Figures come straight from what committees and lobbying entities filed with the state. We report the record; we do not adjust it.
- Individual donor detail is handled with care. Named individual detail sits inside your authenticated tools; public and map views stay at the ZIP or aggregate level.
- Lobbying spend is organization-level, not per-bill. Same as Oregon: we never split a lobbying total across bills to invent a per-bill number.
- System transition ahead. California is replacing Cal-Access with a successor system expected after November 2026. This page describes the current system, and we will update it when the new one is live.
Every figure on this page traces to a public California source that can be checked independently. Questions about a specific figure or its source? Reach out at rj@policyspan.ai.