Do you know ALEC ? It's not the name of a person. ALEC is the American Legislative Exchange Council an organization bills itself as the nation's largest nonpartisan, voluntary, membership organization of state legislators devoted to limited government, free markets, and federalism according to the group's website. Founded in 1973 the current CEO is Lisa B. Nelson, and by it's own account ALEC claims a quarter of state legislators as members. Okay so what's the problem ? ALEC is a secretive right leaning group that brings together legislators with big money business interests to write model legislation that can be introduced and passed into law in any state word for word.
Legislators connected to ALEC meet with business representatives in task forces to draft bills that are then approved by members and the board. States like West Virginia, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Montana, Kansas, and Arizona according to the Brookings Institute have been the leaders in ALEC related activity. Brookings further notes that 57% of those sponsoring ALEC legislation are group members, and they are 90% Republican. Furthermore, working at the state level ALEC has got 9% of its legislation passed compared to Congress where only 2% of legislation introduced passes.
What kinds of legislation are based on ALEC models?
1. Laws that require local authorities to enforce Federal immigration laws like taking illegal immigrants into custody. These laws allow private citizens to take local governments to court if they don't think officials are complying with the law. They also make hiring illegal immigrants a criminal offense.
2. Preventing local governments from restricting ownership of firearms or taking makers of guns, ammo, trade associations, or dealers to court.
3. Shielding corporations from product liability lawsuits and adopting a presumption in their favor if companies if it can be shown to comply with government standards.
4. Limiting class action lawsuits by individuals by barring monetary damages or bringing suits with plaintiffs from other states.
ALEC has also been responsible for anti-immigrant legislation and Stand Your Ground Laws that many believe made it easier for George Zimmerman a neighborhood watch member to kill a black teenager named Trayvon Martin and later be acquitted at trial after police didn't initially arrest Zimmerman, a white Hispanic man, after the shooting happened.
The organization lost corporate backers like Wal Mart, McDonald's, and General Electric it is believed in connection with the group's efforts to advance that legislation. However companies like Altria ( formerly Phillip Morris); American Electric Power, and Anheuser Busch remain tied to ALEC. Oil companies like Chevron and Marathon and pharmaceutical manufacturuers like Eli Lilly also partner with ALEC. They pay thousands of dollars to be ALEC members and rightwing foundations like the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation have given the organization millions of dollars over the years.
Our economy is grossly unequal with the middle class struggling to maintain its standard of living while most poor people will never move up the ladder no matter how hard they try. At the same time climate change threatens everyone everywhere. But none of this is natural or inevitable. In the early 1970s rightwing activists and politicians who opposed social changes and struggles around civil rights and gender equality aligned with corporate interests to cut regulations, taxes, and break unions. They grew powerful together through all kinds of advocacy groups and think tanks changing laws and public policies making the economy less equal and livable than it had been for years after the Second World War. This is when ALEC was founded, and it is how the group became so influential.
The American Legislative Exchange Council advances the interests of monied corporations at the expense of people and their communities. They bring together elected officials and commercial interests who are not accountable to voters where there is no debate or compromise doing things in secret so there is no transparency either. None of this democratic and our collective wellbeing suffers as a result. This is why we don't get paid family leave, reduced carbon emissions, a livable minimum wage, or a fair tax system despite the fact most people want these things. Americans don't trust politicians because they are connected to the rich and powerful, and whether we choose to admit it or not our country is headed towards plutocracy because of groups like ALEC. If we don't organize and challenge them, we will be less free and a lot poorer.
Sources
The American Legislative Exchange Council is America’s largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism
LEARN MORE
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/alecs-influence-over-lawmaking-in-state-legislatures/
ALEC’s Influence over Lawmaking in State Legislatures | Brookings
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