POLITICAL HQ

What's New

Recent updates and improvements to Political HQ.

July 23, 2026

Legislation is now open to explore

  • Everyone signed in can now browse the Legislation explorer — search U.S. federal and Alabama state bills and see sponsors, votes, and full bill text. It used to be limited to certain roles.
  • New: get a plain-language AI summary of any bill with a subscription, in your choice of reading level — from a simple “ELI5” explanation up to college level, plus a laid-back “Podcast Bro” take.
July 22, 2026

Census Map: compare two measures

  • On the Census Map you can now pick a second indicator under “Compare with…” to compare two measures at once — for example, poverty rate against uninsured rate.
  • Flip the map between the two with the “Show on map” toggle, and a scatter chart plots all 67 counties so you can see whether the two measures move together, with a plain-language readout of how strong the relationship is.
  • Hover a county on the map or a dot on the chart and the other lights up too, so it’s easy to spot where a county sits on both measures.
July 22, 2026

Maps: new statewide Census Map

  • The Maps page now has a “Census Map” tab alongside the Voter Heat Map. Pick any of 80+ U.S. Census indicators — income, poverty, housing, jobs, education, health coverage, demographics, and more — and the whole state shades county by county so you can see where a measure runs high or low at a glance.
  • Hover a county for its value, or click it for a plain-language explanation and a link to that county’s full profile in the Cost of Living County Data explorer.
  • We also made the Census metric names clearer everywhere they appear — for example, “Median household income” now reads plainly against “Average household income.”
July 21, 2026

Cost of Living: county snapshot

  • The Cost of Living calculator now shows a “County snapshot” for the county you pick — poverty rate, the share of people on public insurance, the uninsured rate, and unemployment, straight from the U.S. Census.
  • It also shows housing cost burden: the share of renters and homeowners paying 30% or more of their income on housing.
July 21, 2026

Heat Map: State House & Senate districts

  • The Heat Map now has statewide Alabama State Senate and State House district overlays you can toggle on, plus a “Fit to Alabama” button to frame the whole state.
  • Clicking a district highlights it on the map, and you can now lock a selection so an accidental click won’t clear it.