Where We Are and Where We’re Going

Hello, my name is Phillip, and I’m the creator of My Reps. The idea for this app was born one day when I tried to contact my congressional representative about a potential bill. Despite my efforts, the only response I received was a generic form email asking for donations. That moment planted the seed for what would eventually become this app.

It’s a harsh reality that a single House member is expected to represent over 700,000 people. Logically, it’s impossible for them to fully understand how their constituents feel about specific issues. As Gilens and Page noted in Perspectives on Politics, “The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”

This app is here to change that.

Where We Are Now

The app is currently in development, with the basic front-end functionality in place. Users can navigate key features, and several core back-end functions have already been implemented, providing a solid foundation for the app's essential services. However, there’s still work to be done to complete the back-end development, integrate advanced features, and ensure the platform operates securely and seamlessly.

To accelerate this process, we’ve launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise the funds needed to hire additional help. This initial funding will enable us to bring on skilled developers and move the project forward faster.

How We Plan to Sustain the Platform

The long-term funding model for My Reps will rely on a combination of advertising revenue and optional in-app premium features. Advertisements will be designed to respect the user experience and will be localized to ensure relevance. Businesses and organizations will have the option to place ads at:

• District Level: Targeting users in specific congressional districts.

• State Level: Reaching users across an entire state.

• National Level: Advertising to the entire app audience nationwide.

By creating these targeted advertising opportunities, we can ensure the app remains sustainable without overwhelming users with irrelevant or excessive ads.

Parsing Large Bills and Representing All Perspectives

One of the challenges of civic engagement is navigating massive bills that are often hundreds or even thousands of pages long. Our plan is to hire a team of individuals representing different perspectives to summarize and parse out bills. This ensures that all sides of the issue are represented clearly and fairly.

As the platform grows and more Congress members adopt its use, we envision a feature where your representatives can explain why they support or oppose specific bills directly within the app.

Additionally, one of the first user-submitted bills we plan to push on the app is a Single Issue Bill Act. This legislation would require bills to focus on one specific issue, making them easier to read and understand. By simplifying legislation, we hope to empower more people to engage directly with the laws being proposed.

Ongoing Development and User Involvement

We are committed to continually updating the app as new technologies emerge. Our team will ensure that My Reps stays modern, secure, and user-friendly.

To keep the app aligned with user needs, we will include a section for user-submitted feedback and feature requests. This allows us to stay connected with our community and adapt to what users want most.

Where We’re Going

This app is just the beginning of a larger vision to transform how constituents and their representatives interact. In the near future, we plan to expand the platform to include voting records and engagement tools for state and local officials. This will empower users to stay informed and hold their leaders accountable at every level of government.

Looking further ahead, the app will introduce groundbreaking features to enhance civic engagement. One major addition will allow candidates to participate in live debates hosted directly on the platform. These debates will be unique—questions will come exclusively from constituents, ensuring that the issues discussed are truly representative of voter concerns, without any pre-screening or media influence.

Our goal is to create a space where representative democracy is more transparent, accessible, and responsive to the people it serves.