Everything Is Illuminated

The Texas legislature fits anyone’s definition of organized chaos—if you leave out the organized. Lawrence Collins wants to change that. For a decade, since he started working for important committees—appropriations in the House and finance in the Senate—Collins has wanted to expose governmental machinations for citizens, students, lawmakers, agencies, and even lobbyists. Now the 36-year-old politico, transplanted to Austin, has joined forces with Internet marketer Scott Owens to launch a comprehensive information clearinghouse, SearchlightTexas. Collins calls it a “single access point,” webspeak for a free, one-stop site (www.searchlighttexas.com) that allows anyone, anywhere, the ability to click cross-referenced pages. SLT can tell you when a bill is filed, exactly what it says, how it’s amended, what anyone anywhere has to say about it, and how it’s progressing through the legislative snake pit. You can be sipping espresso at a Starbucks in Plano and find out as much as you could by sitting in the peanut gallery in the Capitol. Maybe more. “We want to change the culture about how people use information here,” says Collins, who showed off the site last December in a conference suite at the W Hotel. One of the most innovative features: wiki-style input that allows constant expansion of the database as agency staff, policy wonks, and others stream content, pro and con, directly into the site. SLT debuted this session. Collins hopes it revolutionizes the state’s political communications.