Iowa Votes – www.iowavotes.org

Public Interest Institute announces the launch of a new website, www.iowavotes.org. Iowa Votes gives users instant access to concise, plain language and objective descriptions of every single bill, amendment, and vote that takes place in the Iowa Legislature. Unlike any other bill tracking utility, Iowa Votes is unique because all legislative actions are described – not just those selected by a particular interest group. It is searchable by Legislator, keyword, and 50 subject categories, so users can create their own custom “voting record guide.”

Iowa Votes has all these features:

Concise, plain-language, objective and accurate descriptions of every bill, amendment, roll call vote, and voice vote.
Ability to track all the votes of a particular Legislator, or search by bill number, category, or keyword.
Ability to view all the bills and amendments introduced by a particular Legislator.
Ability to post a public comment, view others’ comments, and participate in citizen surveys on each bill.
Automatically e-mail Legislators or others about a bill.
Ability to follow action in any one or more of 50 different categories of legislation (such as Education or Land Use or Taxes).
Ability to sign up for e-mail notifications of action on any bill or subject area of interest, including new bill introductions.

Iowa Votes also provides citizens with an on-line forum where they can exchange views with others about specific bills or other Iowa public policy or political issues. A “point of view neutral” blog invites users to post comments on topical issues of the day. Specialized wikis concentrate the dispersed knowledge of many users to create even greater transparency regarding individual Legislators, Iowa judges, local units of government, and school districts. Finally, a blog aggregator displays the latest posts from Iowa’s leading political and public policy blogs, right, left, and center.

Iowa Votes is a free public service of the Public Interest Institute, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and educational institution. Its purpose is to inform citizens, community leaders, business people, media, and public officials about legislation that affects their families, schools, jobs, and communities. The site empowers citizens to take a more active part in the democratic process, and hold their elected representatives accountable.

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