About
State Matters
$31,509
417
State Matters
About:
There is so much happening in the State Legislature, and we want to make it easier to understand.
State legislation affects us all and plays an important role in our daily lives. We’ve been working around the clock to try to understand it - meeting with legislators, policy experts, and state employees in Springfield. It’s been eye-opening to unpack what’s going on in our state, and now we’re sharing what we’ve learned.
We’re going to select and track the most important bills in the 2018 Springfield session and produce short videos on what you should know and what you can do.
There will be two types of videos: Short explainer videos about the most important/impactful bills, and educational videos about how the state legislature works
The Illinois Legislature is in political gridlock, and the way legislation is passed is confusing, but the biggest problem is that many of us don’t know what’s going on or how we can help. We’re going to change that.
Funds from this campaign will go towards sourcing, researching, and explaining bills, having a person on the ground in Springfield, and producing videos to keep us in the loop on the laws that govern us.
Our Process:
Bill Videos
1. Research - We gather bills through submissions by legislators, our advisory board, and community.
2. Evaluate - We evaluate each bill that’s submitted based on the number of people impacted by the proposed bill, how much money it costs or saves the state/taxpayer, and the geographic/demographic spread (we’re looking to cover a wide range of topics).
3. Produce - Once a bill is selected, our creative team will create a 2 minute video explaining how the bill works.
Legislation Education Videos
1. Curriculum - We are collaborating with educators and policy experts to develop a curriculum that will educate users on how legislation works.
2. Brief - Our research team will create a brief that explains the topic.
3. Production - We will contract artists and filmmakers from around the state to create educational videos.
Why State Matters:
1. Greater Impact - Constituents can make a much greater impact at the state level.
2. Local to National - State policy can and is informed by and influences federal policy.
3. A Voice is Needed - National headlines drown out state news.
Who We Are
We’re a group of citizens, researchers, digital designers, and artists dedicated to finding out what’s happening in our State Government.
Why Support State Matters?
If you think that we shouldn’t need a law degree to figure out what’s going on in your state, then we’re asking for your help. We’re gathering supporters who want to come along for the ride in helping to back this project.
We our dedicating our time to bring this idea to life, but it’s your donations that will actually make it a reality. All donations, in any amount, mean the world to us. We’re excited to take our work to the next level.
Risks and challenges
This is a big project, and we’re really excited to tackle it, but we know that any startup will face unforeseen risks and challenges. We have recruited an Advisory Board with a variety of different backgrounds to help us work through these challenges as they arise. Here are a few of the challenges we’re thinking about:
-We’ve created a production plan that accounts for logistical hurdles, and have accumulated a vast network of partners and affiliates to support the project if and when they’re needed.
-The success of State Matters depends on our ability to quickly turn around bill videos. So, we are developing a video framework that is quick and easy to replicate, ensuring rapid production and release for every bill we feature.
-Every year, thousands of bills are introduced to the Illinois State Legislature. We know we can’t cover every bill, so we’ll be working directly with legislators, our advisory board, and have a State Matters rep in Springfield to make sure we cast our net as wide as possible.
-Because of the lack of easy-access to quality information in general, we are employing a skilled research and fact-checking team whose sole responsibility will be to find and verify information for all of our content. State Matters is an educational tool, not a political device - we will be working around the clock to make sure we are accurate and objective.
-This project is for the people of Illinois. To make sure we’re serving as many people in the state as possible, we have had and will continue to have focus groups around the state to gather feedback on State Matters, our content, and how we can continue improving.
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Funding period
- (30 days)