For those interested in keeping up with specific legislation, there’s a new mobile application for that.
FastDemocracy, a St. Louis-based startup that created a legislative tracking software for lobbyists, nonprofits, and government institutions, has released a mobile app to match its traditional web-based platform. The app allows subscribers to track both state and federal legislation on the go and is synchronized with a FastDemocracy web account so users can access crucial legislative information from any device.
“FastDemocracy’s clients are busy people. They’re on the go and they need to be able to track bills and access legislative information at a moment’s notice so we’re giving folks all the tools they need to be successful,” Anatolij Gelimson, FastDemocracy’s chief technology officer, said. “Our mobile app has all the bill-tracking functionality of the FastDemocracy platform but available in the palm of your hand.”
The new mobile platform allows subscribers to track legislation, lookup legislator and committee info, categorize and comment on bills, access voting records, and build customized reports — similar to the traditional web-based platform. Groups and individuals can utilize FastDemocracy to get real-time updates on bills as they move through the legislative process, from when it is filed by a legislator to when it’s signed by the governor or president.
Both paid and free versions of the software are available.
The free version allows users to track state and federal bills, customize and download reports, contact legislators, and save notes to each bill while the paid version boasts other tools, such as customizable instant alerts, side-by-side bill text comparison, whip counts, and more. FastDemocracy said it created the free version in order to help individuals stay on top of their representatives and the bills that matter to them without the typical cost associated with a legislative tracking tool.
The paid version is geared toward organizations and lobbying firms to keep members, employees, and followers updated through embeddable website widgets and collaborative communication tools.
The platform, released in 2017, was built out of frustration with the hours spent by co-founder and chief innovation officer Sara Baker updating her own legislative tracker as she focused on the Missouri General Assembly’s legislative session. She expressed her frustration to her husband, Tolij, who created what would eventually become FastDemocracy. The two now run FastDemocracy together along with Jill Kline, the company’s CEO.
FastDemocracy can track legislation in all 50 state houses as well as at the federal level. The mobile app is available for download on both the Apple App Store and Google Play.