• by Tony Silber , Staff Writer, January 31, 2022

FiscalNote, the company that owns CQ and Roll Call, two of the best-known media brands covering the U.S. Congress, last week announced the launch of a constituent-management SaaS platform for state and local governments modeled on its existing product serving the national government.

Called Fireside State, it represents an extension of the Fireside Federal product, which FiscalNote acquired last May. It also presents an intriguing example of how some media companies are migrating into software services.

As state legislatures reconvene, FiscalNote said in a press release, and as the redistricting process alters political boundaries, lawmakers and staff face an unprecedented surge of inbound communications and casework. Fireside State provides a comprehensive CRM system, including casework templates, reminders, and form letters, plus full inbound/outbound mail management.

It also includes newsletter-outreach tools, phone and video connectivity for live engagement, such as virtual town halls, constituent information and validation (matching residents to districts), and audience segmentation and targeting.

In addition, the platform offers online constituent-survey capabilities; web-accessible contact forms, and user-collaboration tools.

“Fireside State fully verticalizes constituent management and relationship-building, with applicability to tens of thousands of government bodies, such as state legislatures, state agencies, county boards and government, city councils and government, mayoral offices, special districts, and large public school systems,” the press release said.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 Census of Governments states there are almost 90,000 different state and local government and special district entities across the country.

According to the release, state and local lawmakers and their staffs are overburdened by an increased volume of communications from constituents and often rely on outdated patchwork systems. The cloud-based Fireside State says it provides a constituent-services solution that manages all inbound and outbound communications and casework, allowing lawmakers and staff to deliver a more comprehensive constituent experience.

Josh Billigmeier, co-founder of Fireside and managing director of constituent services at FiscalNote, said the platform "empowers responsiveness and accelerates solutions, allowing for a grassroots shift to take place from reactive constituent management to proactive community engagement.”

Fireside State provides a suite of tools designed to help local and state governments function better, respond faster, and save staff time and resources, said Krystal Putman-Garcia, CMO-GM of advocacy at FiscalNote.