A website created by the New York State Legislature, which sells lobbyists public information about the legislative process, creates a system of information haves and have-nots, its critics say.

New Yorkers who want to influence legislation, or even those who simply want to know more about what their lawmakers are doing, have two online options to guide their efforts: a free site providing basic information and a paid site for more influential users at costs starting around $2,000 a year.

And this tiered system has continued despite an increasing emphasis on the importance of transparency as a means of restoring public confidence in government.

A citizen can use the state’s public information site, which provides most of the same bill information as the paid site, but the presentation makes it hard to follow a bill’s development — or even find out if a specific bill exists.

This is in sharp contrast to the paid site, called the Legislative Retrieval System; it provides simple keyword searches for bills, offers e-mail alerts on bill progress, allows for customizing lists of tracked bills, highlights bills that will be on the floor of either house on that day and allows you to see changes in bills.