UW Libraries Catalog |
Quick Links by Subject |
Gov Pubs A-Z List
This page points to sites providing useful government and community
information at the state and local level.
To begin searching the whole field of Washington State information, try Find-It! Washington. This search engine will guide you to both electronic information as well as published reports. You can also try Access Washington, Washington State's official website.
The following sites lead to more specific types of governmental information.
State Legislative Sources:
Go to these sites to research current and past bills, members of legislatures, legislative committees and daily legislative activity when legislatures are in session. Each site may have unique features relevant to the individual states.
State Statutes (Laws)
State Administrative Rules
State Executive Office and Agency Sources
These official state web pages provide information on state agencies and services. They may also provide information about the state such as recreational and tourist information, may link to cities and counties, or provide statistical reports about the state of the state. Each site may contain features unique to that state.
Access Washington
Oregon.gov
Idaho
Montana
State Election Information
These sites provide information on upcoming and past elections, filing procedures, voter registration procedures, and statistics about voters and voting. Each site may have features unique to that state.
Washington Elections & Voting
- Online Voters Guide: Current statewide initiatives and referendums can be found in the Online Voters Guide (the online version of the Voters and Candidates Pamphlet) prior to elections. No candidate information is included in the online version. That information is included in the printed edition of the Voters Pamphlet that covers the area in which you live.
- Archived voters pamphlets: 1997-2006
- Previous election returns: Includes a searchable database for elections 1970-2003; primary and general election results 2004-2006; voter participation statistics 1952-2006, absentee statistics 2000-2006
- Index to Initiative History and Statistics: 1914-2000 .
- UW Vote!: Information, instructions and forms for registering to vote either in Washington or in another state.
Oregon
Idaho
Montana
State Income Tax Links
Washington State Department of Revenue: The state of Washington has no individual income tax.
Oregon Department of Revenue
Idaho State Tax Commission
Montana Department of Revenue
City and County Sources
SEATTLE.GOV: The city of Seattle's public website.
Seattle Municipal Code.
Seattle Channel
"The SEATTLE CHANNEL is a Government Access Channel granted to the City of Seattle per Federal law for the purpose of cablecasting government television programs. It is administered by the SEATTLE CHANNEL unit of the City of Seattle's Department of Information Technology. Programming decisions are based solely on content, and are made independent of the Mayor and the City Council."
"Programming includes series and special features highlighting the diverse civic and cultural landscape of the Pacific Northwest's premier city. The SEATTLE CHANNEL web site (www.seattlechannel.org) offers streaming video worldwide, and includes an archive featuring video on demand of all programs."
Seattle Public Library
Includes links to their catalog, library services statewide, and Seattle
community information. The website maintains several topical webpages of value to researchers. Some examples include:
King County
This is also the source of information on the county government, county council, environmental matters and any other topic related to the governing of the county
- Metro Online: A source of transportation information for Puget Sound, such as bus schedules, bus routes and more.
- King County Code
- Legisearch: An index/finding aid to legislation considered by the Metropolitan King County Council since January 2000. Agendas and minutes from the Council and committees since May 2002 are also provided.
- Annual Growth Report gives detailed information on growth patterns in the county, both residential and commercial. It includes maps that detail this growth. In addition you will find information on festivals, cultural activities, special fairs and exhibits.
Other Useful Northwest Sites
- Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Analysis Project
This project covers Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington as well as California and Nevada. "From this web site you may access web-based programs to create graphic trends analysis of local economic indicators and generate shift-share analysis of local employment growth. View and download customized tabulations of economic data" for the regions and counties of these states. Data has been compiled by the Regional Economic Measurement Division (REMD) of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The data are annual, spanning 37 years -- from 1969 to 2005.
- Data for Local Communities
"This website is a gathering place for statistical, spatial, and descriptive information about the cities, counties and other civil, economic and natural regions of Oregon and Washington. The LocalData database lets you retrieve web-based information by topic and geography, while Additional Resources provides links to geospatial data and other organizational websites."
- Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties
"Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler, is an historically significant, seven volume compilation of U.S. treaties, laws and executive orders pertaining to Native American Indian tribes. The volumes cover U.S. Government treaties with Native Americans from 1778-1883 (Volume II) and U.S. laws and executive orders concerning Native Americans from 1871-1970 (Volumes I, III-VII). The work was first published in 1903-04 by the U.S. Government Printing Office." A complete printed set of this work may be found in UW Libraries Government Publications Reference collection under the call # E94 U6 1903-1941.
- HistoryLink.org
"
HistoryLink.org is an evolving online encyclopedia of state and local history in Washington state." It "provides a free, authoritative, and easily accessible history reference for the benefit of students, teachers, journalists, scholars, researchers, and the general public."
- Sustainable
Seattle
Founded in 1991, Sustainable Seattle is a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the long term quality of life in the Seattle / King County area. One of its missions is to "develop tools to monitor our community's progress toward long-term sustainability." The primary product of this assessment mission is The Central Puget Sound Regional Sustainability Indicator Commons
Other Indexes to Non-Governmental City, County and State Web Sites
State and Local Government on the Net
The State and Local Government on the Net Directory provides convenient one-stop access to the websites of thousands of state agencies and city and county governments in all 50 states. Only pages that are controlled and managed by state and local government agencies are included.
Municipal Research and Services Center
The Municipal Research and Services Center is an organization sponsored by cities and counties in Washington State. It is an excellent source of municipal codes, land use policies and land use documents. They maintain a collection of the growth management plans for all localities that were mandated by the Growth Management Act of the State.
Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs
This organization is a major source of crime statistics in the state and in local jurisdictions also. They also maintain the Sex Offender-Location website with which one can locate Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders by name or address/zip code.
Puget Sound Regional Council
The Puget Sound Regional Council is an association of cities, towns, counties, ports, and state agencies that serves as a forum for developing policies and making decisions about regional growth and transportation issues in the four-county central Puget Sound region.
Washington Counties
This page brings together information from the Washington Association of County Officials, the Washington State Association of Counties and the Washington Counties Risk Pool and should provide the user with access to most of the information users need from counties
Library of
Congress's Page on State and Local Governments
Collects links to government sites for all states.
Pacific Northwest Waterways Association
The PNWA advocates for federal policy in support of regional economic development. It represents multiple industries and both the public and private sectors. Members include public ports, navigation, transportation, international trade, agriculture, forest products, energy and local government interests in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.
Return to Government Publications Home Page
If you have comments about this page or questions about governments in the Pacific
Northwest please contact:
Janice Thomas, State and
Local Documents Librarian (jthomas@u.washington.edu).
Last modified: Friday February 29, 2008
