Collections API returning an outdated 'lastModified' date for many bills after 12-21-18 about api HOT 2 CLOSED

Question: is the lastModified date of the package supposed to be the same as the updateDate of the billstatus (and the formattedLastModified field in the query to https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/json/BILLSTATUS)?

from api.

@aih - no, the lastModified date for the bills package will not be the same as the dates associated with the BILLSTATUS package. Each version of the bill is stored as a separate package, containing the content and metadata associated with that version ( such as the Enrolled Bill you referenced above).

The BILLSTATUS package looks at the bill across the various versions, including actions related to the bill, so the updates for the BILLSTATUS file will not directly line up with any one version of the BILLS, especially in the case of actions that do not create or modify an existing bill version.

For instance, “Became Public Law” and “Signed by President” are actions associated with the bill overall, but would not affect the content or metadata within an individual Bill version.

Let me know if there’s anything I can clarify.

from api.