With the 2012 elections over, it’s time to hold legislators’ feet to the fire. AAUW now has a high-tech legislative tracking tool to help us take effective and timely action on policy issues not just at the national level but also in your state.
CQ StateTrack allows AAUW staff in Washington, D.C., to work with state leaders to track local bills that affect our priority issues. We will use CQ StateTrack to create a profile for each state, which will include a set of key words and pertinent committees and legislators. This information will allow us to find relevant state bills by searching certain terms. The system will e-mail you when state legislation containing one of the key words is introduced, being heard in committee, or ready for a floor vote. You can also generate web reports that give us a snapshot of what bills state legislatures are considering at any given time.
CQ StateTrack is a game changer for advocacy on AAUW priority issues. Through our policy experts in Washington, D.C., AAUW already has the capability to track federal legislation down to this specific, instantaneous level, and CQ StateTrack will extend that capability to state legislation.
AAUW can embed the CQ StateTrack legislative report on AAUW state or branch websites so that they become a go-to resource for up-to-date information on legislation affecting women and families. CQ StateTrack will help you make quick decisions about taking positions on new bills and leading the charge for or against particular legislation.
Throughout December and January, AAUW is holding conference calls with state public policy chairs to walk through the CQ StateTrack system. If you would like to be involved or have questions, please e-mail advocacy@aauw.org.
This post was written by AAUW State Grassroots Advocacy Manager Kimberly Fountain.
Quarterly, I think.
Is there a meaning of “CQ?” I can get Congressional for the C, but the Q??