David Lombardo is reporting for Capitol Confidential those interested in tracking legislation in Albany now have a free option. Last summer the state Senate rolled out a program that allows registered users to keep track of bills and committees during the legislative session. “The New York State Senate’s bill status alerts make it easy for you to stay up-to-date on the bills that are important to you in the New York State Legislature. Subscribers receive timely email notifications for important milestones in the life cycle of a bill,” according to the website. To use the Senate’s program, you must supply a name, valid address and email address. Almost 30,000 people have signed up to track legislation so far, and the most popular bill has more than 2,000 followers. Users can enroll to receive an email alert when a bill is referred to a committee, amended, voted on, delivered to the governor and most other significant steps along the way to becoming a law. The service is available at NYSenate [dot] gov. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.