Boston sits at the intersection of history and the future. Once upon a time the city was the starting point of the American revolution. These days Boston is at the forefront, again, serving as one of the nation’s most prolific tech startup hubs.

This combination of inspiring change and technical innovation are exemplified by the new Boston based startup turq.io. This “for-benefit” company is using the power of the web to help people to get legislation created to address the issues important to them.

Others have done similar things in the past to organize email writing campaigns or the signing of petitions.  What makes turq.io different, however, are the results. While emails and petitions are just more ways to ask lawmakers for their time, energy, and attention to care about a problem, find a solution, and turn that solution into legislation; turq.io alleviates the natural bottleneck of the system by offloading all of that effort to a network of everyday people with a penchant for drafting Bills. That high quality legislation is then passed along to a lawmaker, ready to go. 

According to turq.io itself.

“The idea is that handing a ready-made Bill to a lawmaker is a much more lightweight ask. Lawmakers simply can’t handle the variety and volume of different legislation needed of them. With turq.io, they’re more likely to get things done.”

It’s not all fun times for the young startup, however. Jumping into the political world can be tough. According to turq.io, the legislative process in some states can be prohibitive.

“California is an interesting state. There, not even the lawmakers themselves create the Bills. Everything goes through a central office, adding even more to the natural bottleneck. They’re the only state that doesn’t publish a drafting guide.”

Drafting guides are like legislative handbooks. The use of these guides is a key component of turq.io’s model.

“Drafting guides outline the entire framework for crafting a Bill. These are how we ensure quality legislation is produced on the site.”

Turq.io’s is currently working on adding the framework of these guides directly into the site itself, making the process for drafting on the site even easier. A goal of theirs is to put this in the hands of Legislative Aides as well. 

“That way the people and the pros will be using the same tools.” according to turq.io.

Turq.io will likely not expand into national politics. The platform is designed for issues near and dear to people. These types of issues are more commonly addressed at the state and local levels, according to the startup.

“That type of stuff is usually mostly addressed at the state and local level more than federal. But in addition to that, federal issues tend to be more politically charged, making people more tribal. We’re trying to do something real, and that’s only really possible at the state and local levels. We believe the value of a social-action platform, like turq.io, is helping to ensure you are never ignored again.”

Turq.io can be found at https://turq.io, or you can join their Community and message the startup directly by texting +1 (617) 812-5799.