Web 2.0 Transparency At Its Best: Money and Politics

SAN FRANCISCO -- A new non-profit service based in Berkeley, Calif., has launched a Web site, MAPlight.org, that pulls together information about California lawmakers and money contributions they have received. The site breaks down state bills by interest group and combines bill texts and legislative voting records, supporting and opposing interests for each bill, and campaign contribution data from the Institute on Money in State Politics and the Center for Responsive Politics.

Real estate is among the special interest groups analyzed at the site. Users can see a breakdown of the pass/kill rate of bills supported/opposed by subgroups, including real estate agents and managers, developers, title insurance, mortgage brokers and bankers, and others.

MAPlight.org (MAP = Money And Politics) next month will be expanding the service to include U.S. Congress data and other state legislatures. The site builds on OpenSecrets.org and makes the information easy to search and compare.

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