Website Seeks to Help Public Hire Lobbyists

By Ambreen Ali
Roll Call Staff
Sept. 12, 2011, Midnight

A new website is offering the general public entrée to one of the Beltway’s most exclusive institutions: K Street.

When it launches next month, YouLobby will help voters pool their money to buy the sort of lobbying muscle powerful interest groups have long enjoyed. A passionate citizen can use the site to start an advocacy campaign, solicit donations and hire a professional lobbyist with that money.

The goal is to level the playing field in politics, according to founder Chris Litton, who is a lobbyist himself. Litton was inspired to start the site after he was approached by a nonprofit that could not afford his services.

Anybody can write a letter or visit a Member of Congress, but most people usually don’t have access to the back rooms where relationships are forged and decisions are often made. That’s why Litton calls lobbyists “an essential tool for the purpose of navigating Washington.â€