A new tool for the toolbox: followthemoney.org. Free State Colorado's look at the funding for Prop 131 and Amendment 79. Also, speak up to help keep beef on the plate.
A new tool for your toolbox.
Like to know who is getting money and from where? There is the Secretary of State's TRACER page which I've touched on previously, but I found another site that you can use to do similar looking.
I started out looking for the site "National Institute on Money in Politics" and found that it merged with a couple others to become the site you see linked below: Followthemoney.org.
It's another good tool to put in your toolbox because it's a little more intuitive to navigate and has more nationwide information (if you're curious to see more Federal/national political money).
Let's poke around a little together by way of giving you some samples of what you can see. By clicking on Colorado in the map on the site's front page, you get what I link to second below, the Colorado overview page.
There are some pretty cool, albeit blank because there's no data, graphs and tables on this front page you can toggle through. For example, the disparity in 2023/2024 spending for ballot measure committees vs. party committees (see screenshot 1) is striking.
Returning to the original page, scrolling down to "My Legislature" and setting it to Colorado, brings up the page with all the current state legislators. See screenshot 2.
Clicking on the link for Steven Woodrow (because he appears in the screenshot) brings up screenshot 3. I highlighted all the handy things you can find on an individual's page in blue.
Last thing I want to put a word in for: lobbying and spending by outside groups. Really easy to get a rundown on these topics by returning to the main page, scrolling down and setting the three lobbying/independent spending tabs to Colorado. See screenshot 4.
Follow the money is apt here, both in terms of the site's name and in terms of something you should be doing. If you find something worth sharing, please let me know!
https://www.followthemoney.org/
https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=2024&s=CO
Who is spending for Prop 131 and Amendment 79?
In keeping with the theme from the first post, I wanted to share Free State Colorado's recent coverage on who is behind Prop 131 and Amendment 79 and where the spending is.
Deep look at who is funding and how much.
Beef belongs on the plate!
A reader sent me a link to something from the Colorado Cattleman's Association. It was a press release about how the upcoming federal dietary guidelines (which affects more than you'd think) might recommend replacing beef with more veg.
The press release on this issue had a link to where you could send an email to your Federal representatives and senators. That is linked first below.
Few quick notes
--The link to send an email is not on the Colorado Cattleman's site, it's the National Cattleman's site. Not necessarily bad or wrong, but be aware.
--The link will also, unless you make a point of unchecking the boxes, put you on mailing lists.
--Having spoken in a variety of contexts, I am not sure of the value of a form email. The sheer number arriving says something, so in that sense they have value. On the other hand, they're easy to click past if you're a recipient.
What else can you do? What could you do instead?
In addition to (or instead of) the above, you should consider providing thoughts directly to the folks making the policy. You'll find that in the second link below. Scroll down a bit to see it, it's labeled "Get Involved".
You can also make a direct phone call to Sen Hickenlooper and Sen Bennett, along with your congressional representation. Tell them your thoughts in your own words.
Take your chance to speak up.
https://p2a.co/xldfn7v
https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/work-under-way