Brief · Use case · Public Affairs

US Policy Horizon Scan.

LiveScan

List the pending US federal bills, proposed federal rules and state measures that would affect a product class, each with its stage and who is moving it, and how the scan was run.

FieldPending US federal and state measures for one product class

ReaderGovernment affairs and public affairs leads

ExpertGlobal Government Affairs Director

Not askedA view on what to do about each measure

LengthStandard

US Policy Horizon Scan is a ready-made use case for Public Affairs. It ships under the Scan template.

For government affairs leads who need to know what is coming in the United States. You get the boundary, each pending bill, proposed rule and named-state measure with its stage in the process's own terms. Entries are cited to the issuing body or marked as gaps.

Add it to your library to reuse from New → From template. Edit the saved copy in your library on the service form.

The decision

Which pending federal bills, proposed federal rules and state measures in the United States would affect a named product class, at what stage is each, and who is moving it?

Where the scan looks

A US policy scan is bounded by level of government, instrument and stage. Each pending measure is listed once with its source, and the scan says where a stage could not be confirmed.

Source	What it holds	What the scan does with it
Bills in Congress	Lists each bill with its chamber and the stage it has reached, in the congressional process’s own terms.^{1Congressional Research Service. Introduction to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress (R42843). First published 30 November 2012; last updated 19 November 2025.}	Introduction and referral, committee hearings and markups, floor consideration, resolving differences between the chambers and presidential action.
Proposed federal rules	Lists each notice of proposed rulemaking with its agency, the comment period it states and whether a final rule has issued.^{2Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Rulemaking (Wex): notice-and-comment rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act.}	The Federal Register notice and the public docket.
State measures	Lists measures in the states named in the boundary, with the stage the state’s own pages show.	The named states’ legislature and agency pages; states not named are out of scope.

What the scan does

Stage in the process’s own terms. The scan records where each bill sits in the congressional process and where each rule sits in notice and comment. It says plainly that the path of a bill is rarely predictable and varies from bill to bill, so a stage is a position and not a forecast.^{1Congressional Research Service. Introduction to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress (R42843). First published 30 November 2012; last updated 19 November 2025.}

A proposed rule is not a final rule. A notice of proposed rulemaking opens a comment period; a final rule follows after the agency reviews the comments. The scan keeps the two apart and lists the comment period the notice states.^{2Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Rulemaking (Wex): notice-and-comment rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act.}

Maturity as judgment. Each measure is labeled Established, Emerging or Weak signal, as analyst judgment, so a bill in committee is not read as a measure about to apply.

Recommended length

Standard

The product class, the level of government and the states are bounded, and the list is short. Standard carries the boundary, the items and what stands out; Comprehensive adds how the scan was run and suits a standing watch.

You can pick another length on the form. The other two stay available.

Assumptions the scan checks

The scan states the assumptions its boundary and its sources rest on, and the closing section says what they leave out. Examples for this subject:

The product class falls inside the bills, rules and states the scan searched.
The Federal Register and congressional pages are current on the date of the scan.
State measures outside the named states are covered by a separate scan.

Standards, guidance and sources

Process and sources

Congressional Research Service, Introduction to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress (R42843).^{1Congressional Research Service. Introduction to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress (R42843). First published 30 November 2012; last updated 19 November 2025.}
Notice-and-comment rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act.^{2Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Rulemaking (Wex): notice-and-comment rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act.}

The decision practice behind the memo itself is on the template page.

What gets flagged

Any measure whose stage could not be confirmed on the issuing body’s own page, any rule listed without its comment period, and any state measure known only from a press report. Any term or position given without the document that states it and that document’s date.

What arrives

Scope and boundary
How the scan was run
What is out there
How the field divides
What stands out
What this does not cover

What it will not do

It does not rank or score the items it finds, and it does not recommend one. A scan lists what exists; when you need a view on it, run a Comparison or a Decision Memo on the items you choose.

It does not predict whether a bill or rule will be adopted, and it does not cover state laws outside the states named.

It does not rank or score the items. A scan says what exists; it does not say which item is preferable.

It is a snapshot of one date. It does not monitor the field after that date.

It lists what it could find in the sources it names. Items in sources it could not open are listed as not covered.

References

[1] Congressional Research Service. Introduction to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress (R42843). First published 30 November 2012; last updated 19 November 2025. Read. The report describes introduction and referral, committee consideration (hearings and markups), floor scheduling and consideration in each chamber, resolving differences between the chambers, and presidential action. It says the process by which a bill becomes law is rarely predictable and can vary significantly from bill to bill.
[2] Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Rulemaking (Wex): notice-and-comment rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act. Read. The page describes a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, written comments often submitted through the public docket on Regulations.gov, and a final rule with a statement of its basis and purpose; a substantive rule usually takes effect at least 30 days after publication, with statutory exceptions.

Links checked 12 October 2026

These are the sources the template drew on. None of their authors or issuers has reviewed it.

About the Brief service

A Brief is a written answer from one specialist, at the depth you asked for. It arrives with its sources, and it closes by saying plainly what would change the conclusion. Nothing is hidden behind a summary, and anything the expert could not source is marked as a gap rather than filled in.

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