This marks the first time a group of citizens has raised money to hire professional lobbyists.
Lobbyists 4 Good (Washington, DC) — A crowdfunded lobbying campaign started by activist, blogger, and author Laura Reese has raised the required amount to hire a lobbyist to end federal subsidies for animal agriculture. Through the crowdfunding platform Lobbyists 4 Good, Laura’s campaign reached the $5,000 funding milestone needed to begin lobbying Congress. Utilizing the power of small donations, the campaign’s supporters will now have lobbyists representing their interests on Capitol Hill. The lobbying work, which begins in January when the new Congress is sworn in, will continue to raise money to fund ongoing lobbying work for the issue.
“People like Laura do not have much political clout in D.C.” says Billy DeLancey, Co-founder and CEO of Lobbyists 4 Good. “They don’t donate large amounts of money to candidates and they are unable to access congressional offices like professional lobbyists can. With our innovative platform, Laura and her campaign’s supporters now have well-connected D.C. professionals working on their behalf for the cause they care about.”
Laura started the campaign through Lobbyists 4 Good in July and had 100 days to raise the required $5,000 to begin lobbying. She does not have a long history of advocating for animal rights but found Lobbyists 4 Good and wanted to contribute to more effective federal advocacy to curb climate change and protect animal rights.
“Millions of Americans have adopted a plant-based diet with more joining daily, yet tax dollars continue to prop up the very industries we are trying to vote against with our consumer dollars,” says Laura. “Our government spends billions of dollars per year subsidizing the industry, distorting the market, and incentivizing the overproduction of livestock and animal byproducts. We want our representatives in Washington to end federal subsidies to animal agriculture and lobbying is the most effective way to achieve that goal.”
Animal agriculture is the second leading cause of climate change in the world and generates approximately 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. It accounts for over 70% of available agriculture land, is a leading cause of deforestation, contributes to biodiversity loss, and is a major cause of water pollution. Additionally, diets high in meat has been linked to higher rates of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and obesity.
Lobbyists 4 Good was founded in 2016 with the goal of enabling everyday people to have access to lobbyists. The organization originally focused on two critical issues, world peace and American democracy, and in 2016, they lobbied Congress for a 3-million-dollar budget increase for the U.S. Institute of Peace. In 2017, they adopted their current crowdfunding model that allows everyday citizens to choose the issues they wanted to hire lobbyists for, as long as the issues meet a set of 4 criteria, known as their Founding Principles.
People can continue to support Laura’s campaign by visiting her campaign page here. Lobbyists 4 Good’s platform is currently supporting four other lobbying campaigns to raise money to hire lobbyists for the people. Please go to lobbyists4good.org for more information or follow them on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
