Elements of the Search Page
Simple Searches
The simplest way to search for information is to type a keyword or number into the Search box, and hit the Enter key or click the Search button. The last action related to that bill(s) for the selected year and chamber will be displayed.
Example:
When cat is entered into the search box, and the search button is clicked,
three search results are displayed showing last actions for bills containing
the word cat. They are shown below.
Example:
When 124 is entered into the search box, and the search button is clicked,
21 results are displayed showing last actions for bill 124. The first three returns are shown below.
If a search for your typed word or phrase did not turn up what you were
looking for, try rephrasing your query. For example, searches on car
and motor vehicle return different sets of results. flsenate.gov
only searches for pages that exactly match your search terms.
Stemming
Your search result may contain suffixes of the word used. This is called
stemming. For example: If you search for the word bicycle, your search
will return a broad result on bicycle, bicycles, and bicycling.
Wildcards
If stemming does not return a broad enough result, use an asterisk (*)
as a wildcard at the end or beginning of a word, or for a portion of a
word. For example: If you type govern* in the Search box, the search
will return a broad result on Govern, governs, governed, governing, government,
governmental, governor. To fill in a missing variable, use a question
mark as a wild card at the end, beginning or anywhere within a portion
of a word. For example: search for fi?? will result in finding
documents for file, firm, film, etc.
Advanced Searches
To narrow the search results, use multiple-words, a number or a phrase to
find the exact document needed. Multiple-word searches are two or more words separated by spaces.
Example:
When minority business is typed into the search box, 11 returns appear. The first three results are shown below.
Example:
When 287.063 is entered into the search box, the results include linked references to bills that contain that number in the text.
Boolean Operators
Specify words, exclude words, or add complex combinations of words to
be queried by using Boolean Operators. Boolean Operators should be represented
by words (and, or, not) and not symbols (&, |, ^). For example, a search
for dog and cat will result in documents with both dog and
cat.
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