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===Prison management===
===Prison management===
ALEC has been a major force in the the privatization of state prisons and in keeping prisons filled.<ref name=governing/> ALEC has developed model bills advancing “[[tough on crime]]” initiatives, including “[[truth in sentencing]]” and “[[three-strikes laws|three strikes]]” laws. Critics argue that by funding and participating in ALEC’s Criminal Justice Task Forces, [[private prison]] companies directly influence legislation for tougher, longer sentences. [[Corrections Corporation of America]] and [[The GEO Group]], two of the largest for-profit prison companies in the US, have been contributors to the ALEC. <ref>[http://www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/inc_prisonprivatization.pdf Prison Privatization and the Use of Incarceration]. The Sentencing Project, September 2004.</ref> ALEC has also worked to pass state laws to allow the creation of private-sector for-profit prisons.<ref>Elk, Mike and Sloan, Bob (2011). [http://www.thenation.com/article/162478/hidden-history-alec-and-prison-labor The Hidden History of ALEC and Prison Labor]. ''[[The Nation]]''.</ref><ref>[http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/5/new_expos_tracks_alec_private_prison New Exposé Tracks ALEC-Private Prison Industry Effort to Replace Unionized Workers with Prison Labor]. ''[[DemocracyNow!]]'' Retrieved 29 July 2013.</ref>
ALEC has developed model bills advancing “[[tough on crime]]” initiatives, including “[[truth in sentencing]]” and “[[three-strikes laws|three strikes]]” laws. Critics argue that by funding and participating in ALEC’s Criminal Justice Task Forces, [[private prison]] companies directly influence legislation for tougher, longer sentences. [[Corrections Corporation of America]] and [[The GEO Group]], two of the largest for-profit prison companies in the US, have been contributors to the ALEC. <ref>[http://www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/inc_prisonprivatization.pdf Prison Privatization and the Use of Incarceration]. The Sentencing Project, September 2004.</ref> ALEC has also worked to pass state laws to allow the creation of private-sector for-profit prisons.<ref>Elk, Mike and Sloan, Bob (2011). [http://www.thenation.com/article/162478/hidden-history-alec-and-prison-labor The Hidden History of ALEC and Prison Labor]. ''[[The Nation]]''.</ref><ref>[http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/5/new_expos_tracks_alec_private_prison New Exposé Tracks ALEC-Private Prison Industry Effort to Replace Unionized Workers with Prison Labor]. ''[[DemocracyNow!]]'' Retrieved 29 July 2013.</ref>


===Energy===
===Energy===

Revision as of 03:22, 3 December 2013

"ALEC" redirects here. For the given name, see Alec.
American Legislative Exchange Council
AbbreviationALEC
Formation1973
TypeTax exempt, non-profit organization, 501(c)(3)
HeadquartersArlington, Virginia,
United States
Chairman
John Piscopo[1]
Websitealec.org
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The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a 501(c)(3) American organization, composed of politically conservative state legislators.[3][4] According to its website, ALEC "works to advance the fundamental principles of free-market enterprise, limited government, and federalism at the state level through a nonpartisan public-private partnership of America’s state legislators, members of the private sector and the general public."[5]

ALEC provides a forum for state legislators and corporate members to collaborate on model bills—-draft legislation that members can customize for communities and introduce for debate in their own state legislatures.[6][7] Approximately 200 such bills become law each year.[8][9] ALEC has produced model bills on issues such as reducing corporate regulation and taxation, tightening voter identification rules, and promoting gun rights.[8][10][11] ALEC also serves as a networking tool among state legislators, allowing them to research conservative policies implemented in other states.[11]

Since 2011, ALEC's political activities has received considerable scrutiny by both the media and liberal groups. The New York Times reported that special interests have "effectively turn[ed] ALEC’s lawmaker members into stealth lobbyists, providing them with talking points, signaling how they should vote and collaborating on bills affecting hundreds of issues like school vouchers and tobacco taxes."[10] Bloomberg Businessweek stated, "Part of ALEC’s mission is to present industry-backed legislation as grass-roots work."[8] The Guardian described ALEC as "a dating agency for Republican state legislators and big corporations, bringing them together to frame rightwing legislative agendas in the form of 'model bills'."[7] Several liberal groups, including Common Cause, have challenged its tax-exempt status.

History

Origins

ALEC first came into being in Chicago as the "Conservative Caucus of State Legislators", a project initiated Mark Rhoads, an Illinois state house staffer, to counter the Environmental Protection Agency and wage and price controls.[12] Conservative legislators felt the word "conservative" was unpopular with the public at the time, however, and the organization was renamed as the American Legislative Exchange Council.[12] In 1975, with the support of the American Conservative Union, ALEC registered as a federal non-profit agency.[13][14]

Conservative activist Paul Weyrich helped the new group find a meeting room.[12] Henry Hyde, who later became a U.S. Congressman, and Lou Barnett, who later became National Political Director of Ronald Reagan's Political Action Committee, also helped to found ALEC.[2][15] Early members included a number of state and local politicians who went on to statewide or national office, including Bob Kasten and Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin; John Engler of Michigan; Terry Branstad of Iowa, and John Kasich of Ohio.[2] Several members of Congress were also involved in the organization during its early years, including Sen. John Buckley and Rep. Jack Kemp of New York, Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina, and Rep. Phil Crane of Illinois.[2] Duane Parde served as the executive director from December 1996 to January 2006.[16]

William Cronon controversy

In 2011, William Cronon, a historian[17] at the University of Wisconsin created a blog during the protests over the state's controversial[18] 2011 budget bill with an entry[19] about the history of conservative groups, including ALEC, and alleging a link[20] between that budget bill and ALEC. Cronon said that ALEC's activities should be examined more closely[20] and that the organization should conduct its business with greater transparency.[17] ALEC denied such a link and being behind such efforts.[21]

The Wisconsin Republican Party on March 17 made a request under Wisconsin's Open Records laws to obtain e-mail messages sent to or from Cronon's university account, and that of other apparent union supporters who are state employees, containing keywords related to various political issues that were being debated in Wisconsin at the time.[22] Paul Krugman and the American Historical Association defended Cronon against what they characterized as intimidation by Wisconsin Republicans.[23][24]

Publication of leaked ALEC model bills

On July 13, 2011, the Center for Media and Democracy, in cooperation with The Nation, posted more than 800 of ALEC's model bills created over a 30-year period, and created a web project, ALEC Exposed[25] to host these model bills.[26][27][28]

ALEC mission statement language included in bill

In November 2011, former Florida State Representative Rachel Burgin (R) introduced legislation to call on the federal government to reduce its corporate tax rate. She mistakenly included the boilerplate "WHEREAS, it is the mission of the American Legislative Exchange Council to advance Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty..."[29] The bill was quickly withdrawn, the phrase removed, and the bill resubmitted as HM717. The American Prospect journalist Abby Rapoport wrote that the incident " seems to confirm what many have assumed was occurring in state legislatures—-and while Burgin's bill was hardly a major piece of legislation, ALEC's reach in important policy areas seems hard to overestimate."[30]

Organization

See also: List of members of the American Legislative Exchange Council

ALEC currently has more than 2,000 legislative members representing all 50 states, amounting to nearly one-third of all sitting legislators,[11] as well as more than 85 members of Congress and 14 sitting or former governors who are considered "alumni". The vast majority of ALEC's legislative members belong to the Republican Party.[10] ALEC also claims approximately 300 corporate, foundation, and other private-sector members.[citation needed] The chairmanship of ALEC is a rotating position, with a new legislator appointed to the position each year. As of 2013, the chair was John Piscopo, a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives.[1]

Day-to-day operations are run from ALEC's Arlington, Virginia office by an executive director and a staff of approximately 30.[31] ALEC By-Laws specify that, "...full membership shall be open to persons dedicated to the preservation of individual liberty, basic American values and institutions, productive free enterprise, and limited representative government, who support the purposes of ALEC, and who serve, or formerly serve, as members of a state or territorial legislature, the United States Congress, or similar bodies outside the United States."[32]

In addition to the staff and members, ALEC has a "Board of Scholars" that advises and alerts the staff and members to upcoming issues. The board is composed of economics consultant Arthur Laffer, economics writer Stephen Moore, public law policy expert Victor Schwartz, economics professor Richard Vedder, and public policy activist Bob Williams.[33]

ALEC is composed of nine "task forces": 1) Civil Justice; 2) Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development; 3) Communications and Technology; 4) Education; 5) Energy, Environment, and Agriculture; 6) Health and Human Services; 7) International Relations; 8) Justice Performance Project; and 9) Tax and Fiscal Policy.[34] Public and private sector members comprise each of the task forces—the public sector members are state legislators and the private sector members typically corporate lobbyists or sometimes think-tank representatives. These task forces generate model bills, which members can then customize for communities and introduce for debate in their own state legislatures. Reporter Alan Greenblatt wrote that private sector members have veto power over model bills drafted by the task forces.[9]

Notable Policies and Model Bills

ALEC's website states that its goal is to advance "the fundamental principles of free-market enterprise, limited government, and federalism".[5] Although ALEC originally focused on social issues such as abortion and gender equality, both which it opposed, in more recent years the group has focused more on business and regulatory matters.[9] According to The Nation 's John Nichols, ALEC's agenda "seems to be dictated at almost every turn by multinational corporations. It's to clear the way for lower taxes, less regulation, a lot of protection against lawsuits, [and] ALEC is very, very active in [the] opening up of areas via privatization for corporations to make more money, particularly in places you might not usually expect like public education."[35]

'Stand Your Ground' laws

Shortly after Florida passed its Stand-your-ground law in 2005, ALEC adopted its legislative language into one of its model bills.[36][37][38] The Florida bill had been pressed by the National Rifle Association and its Tallahassee lobbyist, Marion Hammer.[4] According to testimony by the Center for Media and Democracy, Hammer met with ALEC's Criminal Justice Task Force in the summer of 2005 and requested that it adopt Florida's stand-your-ground law as an ALEC model bill. The Center for Media and Democracy stated that the proposal was well received and approved unanimously.

On April 4, 2012, after the Trayvon Martin shooting, advocacy group Color of Change changed the boycott to focus on The Coca-Cola Company for its support of ALEC and by implication, their involvement in Stand your Ground.[39] Within hours, Coca-Cola announced it was ending its relationship with ALEC in apparent response to the threatened boycott. Over the subsequent two weeks approximately a dozen corporations or foundations including the restaurant chain Wendy's, Kraft Foods, McDonald's, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the medical insurance group Blue Cross and Blue Shield had dropped support of ALEC.[40][41][42][43][44][45][46] ALEC responded with a "Statement by ALEC on the Coordinated Intimidation Campaign Against Its Members".[47] By May 31, the list of corporations that had withdrawn support included Apple, Procter & Gamble and Wal-mart.[48]

On April 17, 2012, ALEC announced that it was disbanding its Public Safety and Elections Task Force, which provided model bills for voter ID requirements and "stand your ground" gun laws.[49] On April 18, the National Center for Public Policy Research announced the creation of a voter ID task force to replace the one discontinued by ALEC.[50][51] The Martin shooting and subsequent boycott was described as a catalyst for ALEC to shift focus from social issues to economic ones.[52][53]

Immigration

The "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act," an Arizona law commonly known as "SB 1070," was drafted during an ALEC meeting in December 2009.[54] It became an ALEC model bill. It was one of the toughest illegal immigration laws in the U.S., making the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and giving the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally.[55] Portions of SB 1070 were held by the Supreme Court to be preempted by federal law in 2012.[56]

Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act

One of ALEC's model bills is the "Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act," which classifies certain property destruction, acts of intimidation, and civil disobedience by environmental and animal rights activists as terrorism. This model bill appeared across the U.S. in various forms since it was drafted in 2003. The federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act has notable similarities, and at points almost verbatim language, to ALEC’s model “Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act.” The Senate version of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act was sponsored by Senator James Inhofe, a long-time member of ALEC.[57]

Many ag-gag bills are also similar to ALEC's model "Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act," which would make it against the law to film, videotape, or take photographs on livestock farms in order to "defame the facility or its owner." People found to be in violation would be put in a "terrorist registry."[58][59]

Prison management

ALEC has developed model bills advancing “tough on crime” initiatives, including “truth in sentencing” and “three strikes” laws. Critics argue that by funding and participating in ALEC’s Criminal Justice Task Forces, private prison companies directly influence legislation for tougher, longer sentences. Corrections Corporation of America and The GEO Group, two of the largest for-profit prison companies in the US, have been contributors to the ALEC. [60] ALEC has also worked to pass state laws to allow the creation of private-sector for-profit prisons.[61][62]

Energy

ALEC pushed for deregulation of the electricity industry in the 1990s. Maneuvering between two private sector members, Enron, a former energy trader, and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), a utilities trade association, led EEI to withdraw its ALEC membership. Enron's position on the matter was adopted by ALEC and subsequently by many state legislatures.[9]

An April 2012 article in the New York Times stated that while ALEC legislation having to do with public "right to know" laws regarding what fluids are used in hydraulic fracturing (also known as "fracking") has been promoted as a victory for consumers' right to know about potential drinking water contaminants, the bill contains "loopholes that would allow energy companies to withhold the names of certain fluid contents, for reasons including that they have been deemed trade secrets."[10]

Health care

ALEC filed an amicus brief in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, urging the Supreme Court to strike down the individual health insurance mandate enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly known as the "ACA" or "Obamacare").[63]

In August 2013 ALEC approved as a model bill the "Health Care Freedom Act," which would strip health insurers of their licenses to do business at the ACA's Healthcare.gov health care exchange if they accepted any subsidies under the system. Sean Riley, the head of ALEC's Health and Human Services taskforce, said the aim of the model bill was to protect businesses from the ACA's employer mandate.[7]

Health insurance experts have predicted that if the bill were widely adopted by Republican-controlled states it would seriously disrupt the exchange and threaten the ACA. Wendell Potter, a former health insurance executive and critic of the health industry, said, "You cannot build the healthcare system based on the free market unless you have subsidies. If they are taken away the whole thing collapses.” CMD executive director Lisa Graves said of the model bill, "a blatant effort to nullify the federal healthcare reforms. If this is successful it would ultimately deny an untold number of Americans help under the ACA." Ethan Rome, executive director of Health Care for America NOW!, called the model bill a frontal assault on Healthcare.gov and "a form of state-based repeal of the ACA."[7]

In 1989, ALEC published the draft “HIV Assault Act,” which made it a crime for someone who is knowingly infected with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) to have sex with a person who is not infected, without disclosing the HIV infection. Having sex is a criminal offense, even if HIV is not transmitted. This bill was used as a model for legislation in at least 35 states, with criminal penalties of up to 25 years. At least 541 people have been convicted under these laws. Alan Smith, who worked on the draft, said that it was a response to worries that people with AIDS were deliberately infecting others, "to make sure more people got it so more research money could be devoted to curing it."[6]

Outside the United States

In July 2012, The Guardian ran an article reporting that ALEC had taken action to oppose plain cigarette packaging laws outside the United States. It is contacting governments that are planning to introduce bans on cigarette branding, including the UK and Australia.[64]

Karla Jones, a taskforce director for ALEC, told participants at a meeting that proposed laws in Canada, the UK and Australia would prohibit branding of tobacco products. She said that the brands were those corporations' "most valuable asset." ALEC wrote to the Australian government stating that US legislators opposed the requirements for plain packaging. ALEC has stated that generic cigarettes increase cigarette consumption, rather than reducing it.[64]

Secrecy

ALEC does not disclose its membership list or the origin of its model bills.[8] Arizona Assistant Minority Leader Steve Farley has proposed an ALEC Accountability Act to force legislators to disclose their ALEC ties.[65]

On Oct. 1, 2012, Common Cause, a liberal not-for-profit advocacy organization, along with the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), filed a lawsuit under a Wisconsin open records law alleging five Republican lawmakers did not disclose whether they had searched personal email accounts for correspondence with ALEC.[66] In one case, a Wisconsin legislative representative had requested of ALEC in June 2012 that all correspondence be sent to his personal account.[67] According to CMD, the legislators settled the suit late in October, allowing their personal emails to be searched and paying $2,500 in court costs as part of the settlement.[68]

Allegations of improper lobbying

According to the New York Times, "special interests effectively turn ALEC’s lawmaker members into stealth lobbyists, providing them with talking points, signaling how they should vote, and collaborating on bills affecting hundreds of issues like school vouchers and tobacco taxes."[10] Alan Rosenthal, a former Rutgers University political science professor and an influential expert on state legislatures and lobbying,[69] said of ALEC, "You've had the interest groups having access and sitting on other task forces, but here you've really perfected it.... You've not only got them gaining access and interacting with legislators but you have them shaping policy together. It seems to me that's a pretty major advance."[9] Edwin Bender, executive director of the nonpartisan[70][71] National Institute on Money in State Politics, has said, "What makes ALEC different is its effectiveness in not just bringing the people together but selling a piece of legislation that was written by the industry and for the industry and selling it as a piece of mainstream legislation."[9]

"ALEC is unique in the sense that it puts legislators and companies together and they create policy collectively," said Scott Pruitt, then an Oklahoma state representative and ALEC task force chair.[9] Mark Pocan, a liberal member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, has said, "ALEC is a corporate dating service for lonely legislators and corporate special interests that eventually the relationship culminates with some special interest legislation and hopefully that lives happily ever after as the ALEC model. Unfortunately what’s excluded from that equation is the public."[65]

Farley[who?] has has said of ALEC's activities:

I just want to emphasize it’s fine for corporations to be involved in the process. Corporations have the right to present their arguments, but they don’t have the right to do it secretly. They don’t have the right to lobby people and not register as lobbyists. They don’t have the right to take people away on trips, convince them of it, send them back here, and then nobody has seen what’s gone on and how that legislator had gotten that idea and where is it coming from. All I’m asking... is to make sure that all of those expenses are reported as if they are lobbying expenses and all those gifts that legislators received are reported as if they’re receiving gifts from lobbyists. So the public can find out and make up their own minds about who is influencing what."[65]

Following its success in the open records litigation, Common Cause filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service in April 2012 objecting to ALEC's tax status as a non-profit organization and alleged that lobbying accounted for more than 60% of its expenditures. ALEC denied lobbying.[8][72] Reporting on the allegations, Bloomberg Businessweek compared ALEC's work to that of lobbyists, noting, "part of ALEC's mission is to present industry-backed legislation as grass-roots work", and that being a non-profit rather than a lobby group allows deductibility of membership dues, and the freedom not to disclose the names of legislators who attend its educational seminars or the executives who give presentations to those legislators.[8] ALEC responded by denying it engaged in lobbying, while saying that liberal groups were attacking ALEC because "they don't have a comparable group that is as effective as ALEC in enacting policies into law."[73] In July 2013 Common Cause submitted a supplemental brief to the IRS alleging in part that ALEC had concealed payments to member legislators' travel expenses by earmarking them as "scholarships."[74]

Funding

According to ALECwatch and IRS documents, ALEC receives 95% of its funding from foundations, corporations, other nonprofits, meeting revenue and the sale of its publications.[75][76] In 2010 NPR reported that tax records showed that corporations had collectively paid as much as $6 million a year.[77]

Koch Industries Inc. was one of 14 “Vice Chairman” level sponsors at ALEC's 2010 annual meeting, which requires a $25,000 donation. According to tax records, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation gave $75,858 to ALEC in 2009. Exxon Mobil's foundation donated $30,000 in both 2005 and 2006. Alan Jeffers, an Exxon Mobil spokesman, said the company paid $39,000 in dues in 2010 and sponsored a reception at the annual meeting in San Diego for $25,000. In August 2011, Exxon spent $45,000 to sponsor a workshop on natural gas.[78] According to the Center For Public Integrity, ALEC received $150,000 from Charles and David Koch in 2011 to help finance its activities.[79]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Board of Directors". American Legislative Exchange Council.
  2. ^ a b c d "History". American Legislative Exchange Council. 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  3. ^ May, Clifford (1987-08-30). "Transportation Chief Attacks Congress on Safety". The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b Goodman, Howard (March 23, 2013). "NRA's Behind-the-Scenes Campaign Encouraged 'Stand Your Ground' Adoption". Florida Cente for Investigative Reporting.
  5. ^ a b "About ALEC". American Legislative Exchange Council.
  6. ^ a b Hernandez, Sergio (December 1, 2013). "Sex, Lies and HIV: When What You Don't Tell Your Partner Is a Crime". ProPublica.
  7. ^ a b c d Pilkington, Ed (November 20, 2013). "Obamacare faces new threat at state level from corporate interest group Alec". The Guardian. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  8. ^ a b c d e f Greeley, Brendan (May 3, 2012). "ALEC's Secrets Revealed; Corporations Flee". Businessweek. Bloomberg. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Greenblatt, Alan (October 2003). "What Makes Alec Smart?". Governing. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  10. ^ a b c d e McIntire, Mike (April 21, 2012). "Conservative Nonprofit Acts as a Stealth Business Lobbyist". The New York Times. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
  11. ^ a b c Kraft, Michael E.; Kamieniecki, Sheldon (2007). Business and environmental policy : corporate interests in the American political system. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 276. ISBN 978-0-262-61218-0. American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) provide[s] direct assistance to state legislators and firms eager to minimize any state government engagement in environmental protection. ALEC's membership base includes nearly one-third of all sitting state legislators and most of its resources are derived from corporations and trade associations. It offers regular conferences and training sessions but is perhaps best known for drafting model bills that can easily be adopted by an individual state and introduced into a legislature.
  12. ^ a b c Bishop, Bill (2009). The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded American Is Tearing Us Apart. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 203. ISBN 0547525192.
  13. ^ Schoenwald, Jonathan M. (2002). A Time for Choosing: The Rise of Modern American Conservatism. Oxford University Press. p. 241. ISBN 0195157265.
  14. ^ Lichtman, Allan J. (2009). White Protestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement. Grove Press. p. 318. ISBN 0802144209.
  15. ^ Barnett, Louis W. [Gov. Jerry Brown's Destruction of the California Judiciary] (2010)
  16. ^ "Duane Parde, president". About NTU: Staff. National Taxpayers Union. 2009. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  17. ^ a b Grafton, Anthony (28 March 2011). "Wisconsin: The Cronon Affair". The New Yorker.
  18. ^ Kelleher, James (12 March 2011). "Up to 100,000 protest Wisconsin law curbing unions". Reuters.
  19. ^ Who's Really Behind Recent Republican Legislation in Wisconsin and Elsewhere? (Hint: It Didn't Start Here), The Scholar as Citizen blog post, 15 March 2011, by Prof. William Cronon.
  20. ^ a b Shea, Christopher (28 March 2011). "William Cronon vs. Wisconsin Republicans". Wall Street Journal.
  21. ^ Eaton, Sabrina (April 3, 2011). "Conservative group denies it masterminded drive to restrict public employee unions". The Plain Dealer. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)
  22. ^ Schmidt, Peter (25 March 2011). "Wisconsin GOP Seeks E-Mails of a Madison Professor Who Criticized the Governor". The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  23. ^ Krugman, Paul (March 27, 2011). "American Thought Police". The New York Times.
  24. ^ "AHA Today: AHA Deplores Effort to Intimidate William Cronon". American Historical Association. March 27, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
  25. ^ The Center for Media and Democracy. Project website. Accessed September 23, 2011.
  26. ^ Graves, Lisa (July 13, 2011). "About ALEC Exposed".
  27. ^ Graves, Lisa (July 15, 2011). "ALEC Exposed: State Legislative Bills Drafted by Secretive Corporate-Lawmaker Coalition" (Interview). Interviewed by Amy Goodman. Retrieved 23 April 2012. {{cite interview}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |callsign= (help); Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help)
  28. ^ Nichols, John (July 13, 2011). "ALEC Exposed".
  29. ^ Seitz-Wald, Alex (February 2, 2012). "Oops: Florida Republican Forgets To Remove ALEC Mission Statement From Boilerplate Anti-Tax Bill". ThinkProgress. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  30. ^ Rapoport, Abby (February 3, 2012). "In Case You Were Underestimating ALEC's Role". The American Prospect. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  31. ^ "Meet Our Staff". American Legislative Exchange Council. 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  32. ^ "ALEC's 2009 IRS Form 990". Scribd.com. 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  33. ^ "Board of Scholars". American Legislative Exchange Council. 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  34. ^ "Task Forces". American Legislative Exchange Council.
  35. ^ "Who's Really Writing States' Legislation?". Fresh Air, WHYY. NPR. July 21, 2011. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  36. ^ University of California-Irvine School of Law
  37. ^ Amy Goodman; Mike Elk (2012-04-18). "ALEC Drops Push for Voter ID, Stand Your Ground Laws After Public Outcry Sparks Corporate Exodus". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  38. ^ Ryan J. Reilly, "ALEC, NRA Pushed 'Stand Your Ground' Legislation At Center Of Trayvon Martin Killing" TPMMuckraker
  39. ^ Bedard, Paul (April 4, 2012). "Coke caves in face of Democratic boycott threat". The Washington Examiner. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  40. ^ McVeigh, Karen (April 6, 2012). "Coca-Cola and PepsiCo sever ties with group behind stand-your-ground laws". The Guardian. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  41. ^ Kroll, Andy. "The Gates Foundation Is Done Funding ALEC". Mother Jones. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  42. ^ Kroll, Andy (April 10, 2012). "McDonald's Says It Has Dumped ALEC". Mother Jones (magazine).
  43. ^ "Reed Elsevier, Wendy's drop conservative group" Reuters
  44. ^ Peter Overby, Companies Flee Group Behind 'Stand Your Ground' National Public Radio April 13, 2012
  45. ^ Jeremy Duda, "American Traffic Solutions leaving ALEC, joining APS" April 13, 2012 AZ Capitol Times
  46. ^ Julian Pecquet, "Blue Cross Blue Shield quits conservative legislative organization ALEC"
  47. ^ "Statement by ALEC on the Coordinated Intimidation Campaign Against Its Members". Retrieved 2013-08-15.
  48. ^ "Wal-Mart Leaves ALEC, 22nd Company To Exit Conservative Lobbying Group - International Business Times". Ibtimes.com. 2012-05-31. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  49. ^ Sorensen, Adam (April 17, 2012). "ALEC Scraps Gun Law, Voter-ID Task Force". Time.
  50. ^ "New Voter Identification Task Force Announced". National Center for Public Policy Research. April 18, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  51. ^ Ryan J. Reilly, "Conservative Group With Abramoff Scandal Ties Picks Up Voter ID Issue Where ALEC Left Off" Talking Points Memo
  52. ^ Lichtblau, Eric (April 17, 2012). "Martin Death Spurs Group to Readjust Policy Focus". The New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  53. ^ Froomkin, Dan (April 17, 2012). "ALEC Retreats Under Pressure, Ends Push For 'Stand Your Ground,' Voter ID Laws". Huffington Post. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  54. ^ Sullivan, Laura (October 28, 2010). "Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law". NPR.
  55. ^ Archibold, Randal C. (April 23, 2010). "Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on Immigration". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  56. ^ Barnes, Robert (June 25, 2012). "Supreme Court upholds key part of Arizona law for now, strikes down other provisions". The Washington Post. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  57. ^ Will Potter, "'Ag Gag' Bills and Supporters Have Close Ties to ALEC", Green is the New Red, April 26, 2012.
  58. ^ Oppel Jr., Richard A. (April 6, 2013). "Taping of Farm Cruelty Is Becoming the Crime". The New York Times. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  59. ^ Bill Moyers. Ag-Gag Laws Silence Whistleblowers. Moyers & Company, July 10, 2013.
  60. ^ Prison Privatization and the Use of Incarceration. The Sentencing Project, September 2004.
  61. ^ Elk, Mike and Sloan, Bob (2011). The Hidden History of ALEC and Prison Labor. The Nation.
  62. ^ New Exposé Tracks ALEC-Private Prison Industry Effort to Replace Unionized Workers with Prison Labor. DemocracyNow! Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  63. ^ "ALEC's Health Care Freedom Initiative". American Legislative Exchange Council.
  64. ^ a b Doward, Jamie (July 14, 2012). "US free market group tries to halt sales of cigarettes in plain packets in UK". The Guardian. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  65. ^ a b c "Full Show: United States of ALEC". Moyers & Company. For a written transcript, click on "Full Transcript" under the photograph.
  66. ^ "Wisconsin: Groups sue over lawmakers' emails, contact with conservative organization ALEC". Associated Press. October 2, 2012.
  67. ^ Groups sue 5 GOP lawmakers over email records, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Patrick Marley, Oct. 1, 2012.
  68. ^ "CMD and Common Cause Prevail in Open Records Lawsuit Against ALEC Legislators in Wisconsin" (Press release). Center for Media and Democracy. October 30, 2012.
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  70. ^ Simpson, Ian (November 5, 2013). "Factbox: Candidates, money in Virginia governor's race". Reuters.
  71. ^ Vekshin, Alison (November 28, 2013). "San Jose Pension Crush Spurs Bid to Ease California Pacts". Bloomberg News.
  72. ^ Baker, Mike (April 23, 2012). "Advocacy group files IRS complaint against ALEC". Associated Press. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  73. ^ Salant, Jonathan (April 23, 2012). "Republican Group Subject of IRS Complaint on Lobbying". BusinessWeek. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  74. ^ "Supplemental Submission IRS Whistleblower complaint on ALEC". July 29, 2013.
  75. ^ "Corporate America's Trojan Horse in the States:The Untold Story Behind the American Legislative Exchange Council". ALECWatch.
  76. ^ "Public Reporting". American Legislative Exchange Council.
  77. ^ Sullivan, Laura (October 29, 1010). "Shaping State Laws With Little Scrutiny". NPR.
  78. ^ Fitzgerald, Alison (2011-07-21). "Koch, Exxon Mobil Among Corporations Helping Write State Laws". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  79. ^ Abowd, Paul. "Koch brothers pour more cash into think tanks, ALEC". January 31, 2013. The Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
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