Guest User 5/19/21 Guest User 5/19/21

NEW REPORT: How Deliberative Forums Could Improve Constituent Engagement in Congress

We worked with one Member of Congress and their staff to conduct a week-long, online, asynchronous, policy forum between the Member and a representative sample of their constituency. The goal of this forum was to pilot a new way for Members of Congress to interact with constituents using qualities found in deliberative democracies around the globe. Our new report highlights important findings from this experiment.

Anne Meeker 5/17/21 Anne Meeker 5/17/21

House vs. Senate Member-Directed Spending

Both the House and Senate have reinstated Member-Directed Spending programs (formerly known as ‘earmarks’) this year, but there are some significant differences between the chambers. Below, we’ve provided some comparison, including differences between which eligible accounts are accepting Member-Directed Spending requests in both chambers. Resolving how to handle asymmetrical eligible accounts will happen in Conference after the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have both passed spending bills.

Anne Meeker 4/27/21 Anne Meeker 4/27/21

What Congress Can Learn from Social Workers About Workplace Safety

As Congressional offices prepare to open to the public for the first time since the pandemic and with the January 6th attack still very much top of mind for many staffers, we turned to the National Association of Social Workers to learn from the experience of social workers.

POPVOX Foundation 1/21/21 POPVOX Foundation 1/21/21

POPVOX FOUNDATION, FIRST BRANCH INTERN PROJECT HOST “INTERNAPALOOZA” IN COLLABORATION WITH HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON MODERNIZATION OF CONGRESS

The POPVOX Foundation and the organizations of the First Branch Intern Project hosted the second “Internapalooza,” in collaboration with the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress (aka “ModCom”) on January 13-21.