Gabriela 🤙

Comms consultant who loves to connect journos & sources; expert on civic tech, open government, money-in-politics
sending aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii!🌺

[Gabriela 🤙 @stereogab]

@FloorCharts Congress could use some ALOHA:
A Akahai - Careful offering of kindness, gentleness, being unassuming
L Lokahi - Obtaining oneness, unity...
O Olu'olu - Cool, refreshingly agreeable, congeniality
H Ha'aha'a - Humility, modesty
A Ahonui - Great breath, patience, tolerance

[Gabriela 🤙 @stereogab]

Thank you to @popvoxfdn team for the opportunity to collaborate on a new advocacy approach that focuses on the _good_ to encourage democratic institutions to keep pace with these changing times and better serve the public.

Your positivity and entrepreneurial spirit inspires! ❤️

[POPVOX Foundation @popvoxfdn]

Today we say thank you and aloha to senior communications advisor @stereogab

https://t.co/vR44rh3xIi

[Gabriela 🤙 @stereogab]

@metzgov Congrats! Enjoy law school!

[Gabriela 🤙 @stereogab]

@AlmsNatalie @EricM_Katz Awesome news, congrats!!

[Gabriela 🤙 @stereogab]

Yes!! Hawaii is leading the way to end the power of dark money! I'm glad the testimony I wrote on behalf of League of Women Voters Hawaii has contributed in some small way to this success!
Watch this video to learn more! Keep hope alive!
https://t.co/mKmMYUMgNY

[Gabriela 🤙 @stereogab]

LFG, Hawaii! In my personal capacity and as a LWV Hawaii volunteer, I've been advocating for this bill. SO MANY BILLS ARE INTRODUCED in the Hawaii legislature each session, and HARDLY ANY make it to the Governor's desk. This one has a chance! 🙏

[American Progress @amprog]

Hawaii is steps away from becoming the first state to use its legal authority to drain corporate money from its elections—and the legal questions raised about the move have straightforward answers. Here are 7 FAQs about S.B. 2471 ⬇️ https://t.co/Yb6aSLe7hS

[POPVOX Foundation @popvoxfdn]

Link to article: https://t.co/4VFMCPjC2Z

[POPVOX Foundation @popvoxfdn]

A Hill staffer built a real-time House floor tracker on his own time during recess. @RollCall told his story this week — and cited @popvoxfdn's review of congressional AI policy and our push for an affirmative vision for AI on the Hill. Great piece by @_ninaheller .

[POPVOX Foundation @popvoxfdn]

A project by @popvoxfdn, @joinFAI, @niskanencenter, @publicservice, and @democracyfwd 's Civil Service Strong, utilizing Talk to the City, an AI-assisted qualitative analysis tool created by @AIObjectives

Full report: https://t.co/YL4NhWLLXs

[POPVOX Foundation @popvoxfdn]

There is no formal mechanism for career federal employees to tell Congress what they know. Legislative Affairs offices — the official channel between agencies and Capitol Hill — filter out program-level intelligence before it ever arrives.

[Gabriela 🤙 @stereogab]

New project worth a read from @popvoxfdn w/@joinFAI, @niskanencenter, @publicservice, & @democracyfwd's Civil Service Strong that uses AI to capture ground-level intel from career federal employees ON THE RECORD about where specific Congressional laws break down in practice

[POPVOX Foundation @popvoxfdn]

"The people who could tell Congress exactly where its laws break down have no reliable channel to do so. The bottleneck has never been willingness. It's infrastructure."

Departure Dialogues set out to document exactly that.

[Marci Harris @marcidale]

My colleague @beatrizprey goes deep on questions on influence with LLM use in legislative committees, addressing (1) fear that LLMs displace deliberation, *BUT ALSO* (2) they can level the playing field vis-a-vis well resourced outside groups https://t.co/EsXYeyaTK3

[Nina Heller @_ninaheller]

“We feel ineffective, and it wasn’t always like that. It used to be that we could make miracles happen, and now it’s like we can barely get information."

For caseworkers, the war in Iran is testing the ability of a system already under strain. https://t.co/8YdFkOmbXG

[Gabriela 🤙 @stereogab]

Must-read by @_ninaheller @rollcall on caseworkers playing "an unsung yet crucial role in times of crises or disaster.. or in this case, to get them out of countries where missiles may be falling"
Grateful for @AnnearchyBrown's work uplifting caseworkers! https://t.co/SWBxi8bj6R

[Marci Harris @marcidale]

"power of the purse," anyone?

Legislative Branch: AOC says Rayburn renovation "necessary to address building malfunctions, fire hazards, lead, & asbestos" (pleeeeeeease)
https://t.co/LSZWePKqJM

Executive Branch:

[POPVOX Foundation @popvoxfdn]

The Legislative Branch appropriations bill funds Congress itself — staff, technology, security. It rarely makes headlines. It's one of the highest-leverage spending bills in Washington. This week, three members of our team submitted testimony on exactly what it should fund.

[Gabriela 🤙 @stereogab]

It would be great if Hawaii could always benefit from this, as cash-strapped families are the majority of the state's residents, and pay exorbitant rates for everyday household goods, fuel, etc., because it's all imported. Plus, there is a near monopoly for inter-island shipping

[Joe Weisenthal @TheStalwart]

Boom . There it is

*TRUMP WAIVES JONES ACT IN BID TO CURB HIGH FUEL PRICES

[Gabriela 🤙 @stereogab]

@jacobsoboroff @MSNOWNews congratulations! It has been a thrill to witness your career progress from DIY Why Tuesday video blogging. You were so ahead of the curve🙌

[Gabriela 🤙 @stereogab]

Bravo @davelevinthal and @NOTUSreports
https://t.co/LpACa1xToA

[Marci Harris @marcidale]

Appreciate the thought that went into this piece @dwarkesh_sp

& that you eventually get to the *only* real answer in a free society: “we have to pass laws..”

The answer has to be a legislature that is accountable to the People AND keeps up w/ the rapid pace of change

[Gabriela 🤙 @stereogab]

Great thread 🧵 on how Congressional staff are helping Americans stranded in the Middle East

[Anne Meeker @AnnearchyBrown]

I've spent the last two weeks talking to congressional caseworkers about the Middle East evacuation — and talking to reporters about what caseworkers are seeing. Two stories this week I want to highlight and build on. 🧵