Crowdsourcing legislation was given the nickname “crowdlaw” by students at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University, who defined it as “the application of crowdsourcing to the process of drafting legal documents, including legislation and constitutions.” A new crowdlaw group has formed in Texas to crowdsource legislation at the state level.

Glasshouse Policy, glasshousepolicy.org, has an innovative model that draws subjects and discussion from the public. The information forms the basis of roundtable talks among issue stakeholders. If consensus is reached, Glasshouse will draft legislation, identify potential legislative sponsors, and deliver the legislation to the Capitol for possible filing and consideration.

Co-founders Thomas Visco and Francisco Enriquez have posted on their website an example of how their process would work, using fire codes as an example. Fire codes were chosen because of the prominence of the issue after the tragic events in West, Texas.

The nonprofit is currently fundraising. Its board includes former Lieutenant Governor Bill Ratliff, Ambassador Lyndon Olson, former NFL coach and Harvard Law Review president Daron Roberts, and business law and ethics lecturer Grace Fisher Renbarger.  Their Twitter feed is https://twitter.com/OpenPolicyTx.