| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, August 27, 1997 |
CONTACT: Kim Alexander, (916) 325-2120 |
INTERNET GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA'S LEGISLATURE
DEBUTS ON THE WEB
CALIFORNIA VOTER FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES
PARTNERSHIP WITH UC DAVIS
Sacramento -- Today the California Voter Foundation unveiled the Internet Guide to Californiaâs Legislature, built through a new partnership between the California Voter Foundation (CVF) and the University of California at Davis. The new web site can be found at:
CVFâs latest, non-partisan guide makes its Internet debut just in time for the
end-of-session rush, when a flurry of bills are considered and voted upon before
the Legislature adjourns for the year on September 12th.
ãThe Legislature will consider hundreds of bills in the coming weeks. Our new Internet
Guide to Californiaâs Legislature will help the people of California better understand
and participate in this process,ä said Kim Alexander, executive director of CVF and
the architect of the guide. ãTime, distance and understanding have for too long limited
political participation in this state to only those who can afford it,ä she continued,
noting that 74 percent of Californiaâs population lives more than 100 miles away
from the State Capitol in Sacramento. ãThe Internet provides a way for people to
overcome those barriers and help level the playing field between citizens and professional
lobbyists.ä
Some of the resources available through the new site include:
ð Rosters of the Assembly and Senate members, including hyperlinked email addresses, phone and Capitol room numbers, and the region represented by each member;
ð Directions to the State Capitol and information about where to park;
ð Tips on how to be an effective citizen lobbyist and how to work with the news media;
ð A glossary of legislative terms;
ð The 1997-98 Legislative Calendar;
ð Links to dozens of California-based news organizations;
ð Links to every state legislative web site in the country.
The Internet Guide to Californiaâs Legislature is the first product of
a new partnership between CVF and UC Davisâ Department of Political Science and SunTREC
laboratory. Last spring, a team of three student interns worked with Alexander and
UC Davis Professor Geoffrey Wandesforde-Smith to produce the guide. The partnership
will continue this fall, when Wandesforde-Smith will teach a course on California
government. Ninety students have already signed up for the class, and enrollment
has been expanded to 120 to accommodate student demand.
ãThis is clearly a golden opportunity for the University to work with a well-respected
and innovative organization like the California Voter Foundation,ä said Professor
Wandesforde-Smith, who also directs UC Davisâ Political Science internship program.
ãThis partnership is an ideal opportunity for UC Davis students to learn directly
about the policy process, while at the same time authoring web pages that will greatly
aid and benefit the people of California.ä Wandesforde-Smith also noted that the
partnership reflects UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoefâs commitment to revitalizing
the public service role of the university.
Throughout the Fall quarter, the UC Davis students will work under Alexander and
Wandesforde-Smithâs direction to develop new, non-partisan resources including legislative
voting records, information on California initiatives, and a pre-1998 election edition
of CVFâs award-winning California Online Voter Guide.
ãThanks to our partnership with UC Davis, the California Voter Foundation is now
positioned to deliver more web resources than we ever dreamed possible,ä Alexander
said. ãOur new Internet Guide to Californiaâs Legislature is just the first
of many new and exciting projects we will undertake with the University to fulfill
our mission of using new technologies to inform and engage the people of California.ä
The Internet Guide to Californiaâs Legislature was made possible through
generous contributions from Pacific Telesis and Hewlett-Packard. The California Voter
Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)3 organization is continuing to raise
funds to support its partnership with UC Davis. For more information, visit the California
Voter Foundationâs web site at http://www.calvoter.org.
-end-
This Web page first published 8/27/97
Last updated 8/27/97
