By one count, the number of in-person journalists covering the CA legislature has fallen from peak of 134 to 17 due to budget cuts to state and local news. With the old model broken, we need new tools for state govt oversight.
Seeing this, we funded starting in 2015 to create a tool tracking every word spoken in public hearings, political donation, bill introduced, and vote cast in the CA legislature. This info had been hard or impossible to get previously.
Ten years on from our first support, legendary investigative journalist just called it "one of the most interesting recent developments in local news." Now using AI, the tool is primed to scale, first to Texas and Hawaii and hopefully to dozens more states in the coming years with support from us and others.
Robust statehouse reporting is necessary for a vibrant democracy. While coverage of national issues has never been stronger, the papers covering state and local politics continue to struggle. Tools like Digital Democracy lower the cost and hurdles to statehouse reporting.
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Bringing Digital Democracy to California and Beyond: A Conversation with Neil Chase of CalMatters
dicktofel.substack.com/p/bringing-dig
That requires there to be news to cover. "Progressive Democrats do batshit crazy thing and drag hapless conservative Californian residents off the cliff with them" is not news.
Good luck. It would probably help if the California GOP didn't have its head up its rear so much.
Read our next article in this ongoing investigation that shows how the government's seizure of this private property and arrest of its owner further exposes the eco-tyranny happening in California...
Bravo and congratulations to both organizations. Wishing much success in bringing the solution to states across the country.
Imagine a government where big government doesn't burden your future with excessive spending, taxes, and regulations. Here's how... 
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If I listed every thing in the world that worries me, neither private equity owning < 1% of U.S. homes nor Chinese investors owning < 0.1% of U.S. farmland would be on it.
ICE tortured a German green card holder living in New Hampshire in an attempt to make him give up his greencard. Outrageous third world behavior by these agents. Everybody involved here should be fired and charged with the maximum criminal offenses.
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