Edwin Bender
Executive Director
Executive Director
The National Institute on Money in State Politics (FollowTheMoney.org) is the only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization revealing the influence of campaign money on state-level elections and public policy in all 50 states. We encourage transparency and promote independent investigation of state-level campaign contributions by journalists, academic researchers, public-interest groups, government agencies, policymakers, students and the public at large.
Prior to becoming Executive Director of the Institute, I worked for seven years as Research Director for the Money in Western Politics Project of the Western States Center. While there, I helped develop many techniques for researching state campaign-finance data.
<p>Legislators who sit on influential committees wield a lot of power over proposed laws that directly affect special interests. Political players know that legislative committees are the place to affect legislation, often with little public scrutiny.</p>
<p>You can’t inoculate health care policy against the ills of politics. You can, however, evaluate the money-in-politics angle.</p>