Florida House in Your Hands: New Mobile App Puts You There, Says Will Weatherford

Who needs newspapers for the goings-on of the Florida House? Not you, if you've got a smart phone or tablet.

House speaker Will Weatherford announced Thursday the advent of a new mobile app that will allow you to read bills, contact your state lawmaker or watch committee meetings -- all on instruments you can hold in your hand.

The House-only app will have about 80 different features to keep House business not only transparent and convenient, but live.

"FL House" will be available the first week of the 2013 legislative session, according to the speaker's office.

The Florida House of Representatives is proud to provide Floridians with new and exciting ways to access information about our chamber by launching the FL House app for iOS and Android devices."

Senate action via app will not be available for a while yet.

-- Contact members of the House by accessing his or her email address, phone number and office location under the Members tab

-- Browse House committees to find bills

-- View House calendars, including the Chamber Calendar, Committee Calendar and Events Calendar and plan to attend House of Representative public events when visiting the Florida Capitol

-- Watch the Florida House live by accessing streaming live video (only available during interim committee weeks and the regular legislative session)

-- View member picture galleries, updated throughout the regular legislative session

-- Look up bills and track them by subscribing to push notifications on all bill actions

-- Access House publications including the House telephone directory, Clerks manual, leadership directory, administrative directory and committee directory

-- Read the House rules

-- Access Florida lobbyist registration

-- Read the Florida House Guide to Government.

The app is home grown, developed by Echo, an Orlando-based mobile app development company. Echo was chosen from a field of 12 companies that applied for the job.

Get more information or receive updates on "FL House" by visiting MyFloridaHouse.gov.