alec3bkup

<div><font face="Times New Roman">alec3</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">8/20/2015</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">big in tort reform, one of few places indiv has level playing field</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">attack alt energy</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Conservative lobbying group the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) writes pro-fossil fuel, climate-damaging “model legislation” for its members in Congress and state legislatures across the country to pass. It’s financed by a roster of corporations that benefit from such legislation and ALEC, in turn, funds campaigns to push the legislation into law.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">t’s been behind such bills as Ohio’s freeze of its clean energy standards last year and the repeal of West Virginia’s standards in February, and it’s promoting similar legislation around the country. It’s been fighting against the growth of solar power across the country working to block rooftop installations that might undercut big utility companies. In Florida, where a battle over making such installations legal is going on right now, former state legislator Jimmy Patronis, now sitting on the Florida Public Service Commission, has been listed as ALEC’s state chair.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">But the efforts of nonprofit advocacy groups like Common Cause, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) and Greenpeace have cost it a growing list of high-profile corporate members. Over 100 have departed, as public pressure has mounted. Just in the past year, ALEC lost Facebook, Microsoft, AOL, eBay, Google and Yelp. Pepsi, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble, Amazon, Best Buy and WalMart were already gone. Even BP, formerly a high-level ALEC sponsor, announced in March it was cutting its ties with the group. Greenpeace, for its part, has announced the launch of a new website to highlight the extent of ALEC’s climate denial campaign.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">With so much attrition, ALEC has decided to fight back, and the tactic it’s chosen is intimidation. It sent cease-and-desist letters to Common Cause and the League of Conservation Voters, threatening to sue them unless they retract statements saying ALEC is denying climate change.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The letter said it was “clear” that ALEC did not deny that climate change was happening and was human-caused. It claims that ALEC adopted the “model policy” that “human activity has and will continue to alter that atmosphere of the planet” in 1998.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The letter also does some fancy footwork to claim that Google chairman Eric Schmidt’s comment last fall, in response to a question from an NRP listener about whether Google was still funding ALEC, wasn’t referring to ALEC at all. Addressing specifically Google’s departure from ALEC, Schmidt said, “Everyone understands climate change is occurring, and the people who oppose it are really hurting our children and our grandchildren and making the world a much worse place. And so we should not be aligned with such people—they’re just literally lying.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“If you listen to the &nbsp;entire exchange on the Diane Rehm show, Mr. Schmidt does not say ALEC is lying about the facts of climate change,” sad ALEC’s attorneys, apparently preferring the narrative that Schmidt was referring to “people” in general.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“We demand that you cease making inaccurate statements regarding ALEC, and immediately remove all false or misleading material from the Common Cause and related websites within five business days,” said the letter from ALEC’s law firm. “Should you not do so, and/or continue to publish any defamatory statements, we will consider any and all necessary legal action to protect ALEC.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">It also demanded that a retraction of the statements be prominently displayed on Common Cause’s website.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Common Cause’s lawyers responded that ALEC was “cherry-picking” portions of its 1998 model policy statement and pointed out that it also said that human activity “may lead to demonstrable changes in climate” and “may lead to deleterious, neutral or possibly beneficial climate changes,” and claimed that “A great deal of scientific uncertainty surrounds the nature of these prospective changes.” Since 97 percent of scientists working on climate-related issues agree about the nature of these “prospective changes,” there’s hardly a “great deal of scientific uncertainty.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“ALEC’s demands and legal threats are an effort to shut down debate about its policies and matters of national importance,” said Common Cause president Miles Rapoport. “They seek to chill our right to advocate for the public interest. It won’t work.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">So far it hasn’t. Common Cause’s lawyers responded to ALEC on March 25, three weeks after it received ALEC’s letter. As of now, no lawsuit has been filed.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“Common Cause’s statements concerning ALEC’s position and activities on climate change are statements of opinion, are neither false nor defamatory, and as such are not legally actionable,” said Common Cause’s attorney Vinita Ferrera in responding to ALEC’s attorneys. “For these reasons, Common Cause declines ALEC’s request to retract or alter any statements appearing on Common Cause’s website or in other Common Cause materials.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“We don’t appreciate the attempt to silence LCV just because we disagree with ALEC’s positions,” LCV’s senior vice president for communications David Willett told the Washington Post. “Usually if someone wants to get serious about tackling climate change, they ask about working with us, they don’t threaten to sue us.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The Washington Post pointed out that the increasing amount of negative publicity ALEC has gotten as it’s emerged in the past several years from the shadows where it preferred to reside seemed to have had an impact on the group.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“The legal spat is an escalation of the conflict and suggests ALEC is feeling the heat of the activist groups’ efforts,” it said. “It also suggests a new risk to organizations that rely on the donations from companies that do not want to be associated with organizations accused of denying that human activity is warming the atmosphere at an alarming rate.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">seed saver attack:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">http://www.alternet.org/environment/seed-libraries-are-sprouting-across-planet-and-corporate-dominated-govts-are-trying-stop</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Seed Libraries Are Sprouting Up Across the Planet, and Corporate Dominated Govts Are Trying to Stop Them</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">By Christopher D. Cook [1] / Shareable [2]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">March 17, 2015</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">It’s easy to take seeds for granted. Tiny dry pods hidden in packets and sacks, they make a brief appearance as gardeners and farmers collect them for future planting then later drop them into soil. They are not “what’s for dinner,” yet without them there would be no dinner. Seeds are the forgotten heroes of food—and of life itself.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sharing these wellsprings of sustenance may sound innocuous enough, yet this increasingly popular exchange—and wider seed access—is up against a host of legal and economic obstacles. The players in this surreal saga, wherein the mere sharing of seeds is under attack, range from agriculture officials interpreting seed laws, to powerful corporations expanding their proprietary and market control.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Seed libraries—a type of agricultural commons where gardeners and farmers can borrow and share seed varieties, enriching their biodiversity and nutrition—have sprouted up across the U.S. in recent years, as more Americans seek connection to food and the land. This new variety of seed sharing has blossomed from just a dozen libraries in 2010 to more than 300 today. The sharing of seeds “represents embedded knowledge that we’ve collected over 10,000 years,” says Jamie Harvie, executive director of the Institute for a Sustainable Future [3], based in Duluth, Minnesota. “Healthy resilient communities are characterized not by how we control other people, and more about valuing relationships.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">As Harvie suggests, seed libraries offer a profound alternative to the corporate takeover of seeds, which has reached frightful proportions: according to the non-profit ETC Group, just three firms control more than half of the worldwide seed business (more than doubling their 22% share in 1996), while the top ten corporations now occupy 76 percent of the global market. Monsanto alone has 26 percent of the world’s seed market, with Du Pont and Syngenta not far behind.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">A 2013 report by ETC Group shows the startling scope of the industry’s market power, across the panorama of seeds, agrochemicals, and genetics: Four firms control 58.2% of seeds; 61.9% of agrochemicals; 24.3% of fertilizers; 53.4% of animal pharmaceuticals; and, in livestock genetics, 97% of poultry and two-thirds of swine and cattle research.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Kristina Hubbard, communications director for the Organic Seed Alliance [4], sees a direct connection between corporate control and the seed-sharing movement. “I think community-based projects like seed libraries are at least in part a direct response to concerns people have about who controls our seed,” explains Hubbard. “It’s a necessary response, as seed industry consolidation continues and is increasing the vulnerability of our seed and food systems. We need more decision makers in the form of seed stewards, and more resiliency in our seed and food systems.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Seed Libraries Rising</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“Love the earth around you,” urges Betsy Goodman, a 27-year-old farmer in Western Iowa, where “most of the landscape is covered in uniform rows of corn and soybeans.” Working on an 11-acre organic farm that sprouts 140 varieties of tomatoes and 60 varieties of peppers, among other crops, Goodman has become something of a seed evangelist. In 2012, she launched the Common Soil Seed Library [5], just across the Missouri River in nearby Omaha, Nebraska—enabling area gardeners and farmers to borrow some 5,000 seed packets (112 different varieties) to date.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“It didn’t make sense to me that no one was perpetuating the cycle of seed and life,” says Goodman. “People have this idea that you put a seed in the ground, harvest your food, and let it die.” Goodman says she is working to perpetuate life. “The basis of our whole food system comes from the seed,” she says. “I think people are not generally conscious of how grateful we should be for our food diversity and wealth.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Goodman sees the seed library as an essential reclaiming of farming traditions and local food security. “I want farmers to go back to saving seeds. It’s our responsibility to uphold our food system. It takes everybody.” But, she says, many farmers remain isolated and unaware of the seed-sharing movement. “The consciousness around this is not there yet. I haven’t really heard from farmers yet…The farmers buy their seed each year from Monsanto and Syngenta, this huge industrial system that’s very much in control of this state and surrounding states.” Farmers, she adds, “rely on these companies to buy their corn, they are very tied into these companies, and can’t even feed themselves off of the food they’re growing.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Motivated by similar concerns, the Wisconsin Seed Savers Alliance [6] has helped germinate six seed libraries (with three more on the way this spring) across five counties in the state’s economically isolated northeast, along the shores of Lake Superior.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“A lot of food grown here is shipped away,” says Alliance director Tessah Wickus. She explains that seed libraries are about “sharing the burden of growing food and making sure we all have something nutritious…We don’t have a whole lot of income sources, our schools are in the system for hot lunch programs, and we have a high poverty rate. One of the concerns here is food security and expanding local foods.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">While small in scale, Wisconsin’s seed library alliance has tapped a well of interest among new farmers and old, says Wickus, who is 25. “Sharing seeds is part of helping the next generation of farmers…[T]his is an integral part of how to survive and sustain yourself, how to pass along knowledge from one generation to another. People have a hunger to know where their food comes from, something we’ve lost.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">About 200 miles westward, on the White Earth Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota, a new seed library offers varieties of sunflower, bean, corn and other seeds to residents—many of whom are poor and seeking a reconnection to indigenous food and farming. Most of the money here “goes off the reservation,” says Zachary Paige, farm manager at the White Earth Land Recovery Project [7]. “This is one way to get the economy back on the reservation, and save money for food, instead of buying seeds from catalogs,” he says, while also “closing that loop in producing food.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Paige (who is not Native American) helped start the White Earth Seed Library two years ago, and is working with local college and school garden projects to cultivate traditional seed varieties. He points to an indigenous tradition of growing and sharing food, and a revival of highly nutritious pre-Columbus crops, such as Bear Island Corn. Sharing seeds fits into a larger goal on the reservation of “trying to eat healthier and relieve diabetes.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Seed-Sharing Crackdown</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">But all this seed-sharing love is butting up against some prodigious economic and regulatory challenges. As the libraries spread across the US, they are catching scrutiny from agriculture officials in states such as Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Iowa, who express concerns about unlabeled seed packets, and the spreading of contaminated seeds and noxious or invasive species.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">One flashpoint in this battle is a small seed library in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, which ran into a regulatory dispute [8] with the state’s department of agriculture. Last June, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture informed an employee of the Joseph T. Simpson Public Library that its seed library ran afoul of state seed laws and would have to shut down or follow exorbitant testing and labeling rules intended for commercial seed enterprises. County Commissioner Barbara Cross raised the specter of terrorism, telling local media, “Agri-terrorism is a very, very real scenario,” she said. “Protecting and maintaining the food sources of America is an overwhelming challenge...so you’ve got agri-tourism on one side and agri-terrorism on the other.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The library was forced to limit its sharing, holding a special seed swapping event instead. As Mechanicsburg seed librarian Rebecca Swanger explained to media at the time, “We can only have current-year seeds, which means 2014, and they have to be store-purchased because those seeds have gone through purity and germination rate testing. People can't donate their own seeds because we can't test them as required by the Seed Act.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">While the Sustainable Economies Law Center [9] (SELC) insists that laws regulating large commercial seed companies do not apply to seed libraries, “other states are now considering adopting Pennsylvania’s seed protocol,” Shareable reported—potentially stopping the seed library movement in its tracks.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">But Pennsylvania and some other states “have misapplied the law entirely,” says Neil Thapar, staff attorney at SELC, which is spearheading a national seed library campaign called Save Seed Sharing [10]. Pennsylvania’s Seed Act, he says, “does not actually authorize the state agriculture department to regulate noncommercial seed sharing through seed libraries.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Thapar argues that applying state seed laws to the libraries is “inappropriate because it violates the original spirit and intent of these laws. Seed laws were created solely as consumer protection laws to protect farmers from unscrupulous seed companies in the marketplace.” In contrast, seed sharing takes place outside of markets, as a “noncommercial activity in community.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Minnesota’s budding seed library movement has encountered similar resistance. Last September, the state’s department of agriculture (MDA) informed the Duluth Seed Library [11] that it was in violation of state seed laws that prohibit transferring ownership of seeds without comprehensive testing. Harvie, who helped organize the library effort in Duluth, recalls the crackdown “really shocked people…it seemed like an egregious overreach.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Harvie says the Department of Agriculture enforcements nationally are galvanizing people to support seed libraries. “What people are asking is, who’s being hurt,” he says. “Nobody is being hurt. The only one anyone can imagine being hurt is the seed industry.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Was the seed industry behind the MDA’s actions? Harvie does not suspect a conspiracy, but he notes, “There had to be some pressure, the [MDA] has plenty of other things to do. Perhaps the MDA knew that by purposefully enforcing the law, it would draw out support for saving.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Minnesota’s Seed Program Advisory Group, which advises the MDA on state seed laws, meets three times a year and publishes no records of its meetings. Its members include major state commodity groups such as the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Soybean Growers Association, and the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">When the advisory group met last December, Harvie recalls, “I think the Department of Agriculture was excited for us to be at the meeting. It provided them with some community voice,” he says, “when too often it is only industry that can afford the time and expense of attending meetings. The lesson is, the community has to stand up and be present.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">With nationwide challenges to seed libraries, activists worry about a chilling effect on this nascent and increasingly popular form of seed-sharing. In Omaha, Nebraska, the community “has responded really well and been very supportive” of Common Soil’s initiative, says Goodman. “We’re not being attacked, we are being supported,” she says, by gardeners and lawmakers interested in putting the libraries on more solid legal ground. But, she adds, “I was approached by others across Nebraska who wanted to open seed libraries, but they were afraid they would put all this work in and get shut down.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">It remains unclear whether the seed industry has played any role in promoting the enforcement push, but this powerful agribusiness sector is vigilant about expanding its control over seeds. As first reported by MintPress News [12] this January, the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is peddling its “Pre-Emption of Local Agricultural Laws Act”—a law providing “exclusive regulatory power over agricultural seed, flower seed and vegetable seed and products of agriculture seed, flower seed and vegetable seed to the state.” Despite the conservative mantra of “local control,” ALEC’s measure would prohibit local governments from enacting or enforcing measures to “inhibit or prevent the production or use of agricultural seed, flower seed or vegetable seed or products.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, the American Seed Trade Association advocates for “Strong intellectual property protection,” to keep investment dollars flowing, and to “add value to agriculture and society through new products. Any state legislation that could undermine this simple principle is vigorously opposed.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Asked for its stance on seed libraries, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) stated, “We have not received any formal complaints of mislabeled seed being distributed in interstate commerce through these programs (seed libraries).” The Federal Seed Act (FSA) governs “truthful labeling of agricultural and vegetable seed shipped in interstate commerce,” the agency said, adding, “It remains to be seen if any of the seed being obtained from these libraries will make it into interstate commerce.” Unless the seeds are shipped across state lines, or “determined to be a variety protected” under the federal Seed Act, the FSA “has no jurisdiction over this seed. Individual States will need to establish internal methods of dealing with labeling and possible mislabeling of the seed packets.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Saving the Libraries</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">As state agriculture agencies consider whether to curtail seed libraries, legislative efforts are underway in Nebraska, Minnesota, and other states, to protect them. The Community Gardens Act [13] [pdf] currently moving through the Nebraska legislature would exempt seed libraries from state laws governing seed labeling and testing. In December 2014, the city council of Duluth, Minnesota passed a resolution [14] supporting seed sharing “without legal barriers of labeling fees and germination testing.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Perhaps more significantly, the Duluth resolution advocated reforming the Minnesota Seed Law to “support the sharing of seeds by individuals and through seed libraries,” by exempting these forms of sharing from the law’s labeling, testing, and permitting requirements. After one reform measure was withdrawn from the Minnesota legislature, activists are gearing up for another legislative push soon.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In coming months, seed-sharing advocates can expect legislative battles across the US—some seeking to expand libraries’ sharing rights, and others limiting the exchange. Meanwhile, agribusiness continues to widen its economic and legal control over the world’s seed supply. “Seed sharing is an interactive and vibrant contrast to the extractive marketplace,” says Harvie. The battle over seed libraries and sharing represents “a clash of worldviews that just don’t reconcile.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Despite the challenges, Goodman remains buoyant about the seed library movement. “It’s natural for companies to try to get power over this, but it’s our responsibility to push back and establish our freedom,” she says. “We are losing huge chunks of our food system, and it’s our responsibility to reclaim it. We have to be the ones to do it.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Christopher D. Cook, an award-winning journalist and author, worked as communications director for the No on S campaign in Berkeley. His work has appeared in Harper’s, The Economist, the Los Angeles Times and elsewhere. His website is www.christopherdcook.com [15].</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">attacks epa and clean water act conference 12/14</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/12/05/3599846/getting-turned-away-from-the-alec-conference/</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">On November 4, Wisconsin voters decided if the state constitution should be amended to require that “revenues generated by use of the state transportation system be deposited into a transportation fund administered by a department of transportation for the exclusive purpose of funding Wisconsin's transportation systems and to prohibit any transfers or lapses from this fund." The ballot measure reflects model legislation pushed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) that is intended to prioritize road funding over all other types of transportation spending.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The United States could be on the verge of calling its first constitutional convention since 1787—and the American Legislative Exchange Council, or “ALEC,” has been working behind the scenes to make it happen, including through its new lobbying arm, the Jeffersonian Project.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC is urging state legislators to pass state resolutions calling for a constitutional convention in order to pass a federal balanced budget amendment.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The campaign has attracted little media attention, but the legislation that could trigger a convention are moving forward much more quickly than many have anticipated. Although there are many unanswered legal questions about the constitutional convention strategy -- and fears on both the right and left of an out-of-control "runaway convention -- if a balanced budget amendment were eventually enacted it would cripple the federal government’s ability to spend, likely forcing steep cuts in earned benefit programs such as Social Security and blocking Congress from responding to economic downturns or natural disasters....</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Jeffersonian Project Used to Lobby for BBA</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC's new lobbying arm, the Jeffersonian Project, appears to have been used to lobby for the bills.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">According to a memo written by ALEC lawyer Alan Dye and reported by The Guardian, the new 501(c)(4) group was created in 2013 to resolve "questions of ethical violations made by our critics and state ethics boards." Groups like Common Cause, the CMD, the Voters Legislative Transparency Project and others alleged in IRS complaints that ALEC was violating its 501(c)(3) charitable status by engaging in excessive lobbying. Although ALEC publicly dismissed the complaints, the formation of the 501(c)(4) Jeffersonian Project indicated that behind the scenes, ALEC was taking the threat of an IRS audit seriously.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The memo advises, "Any activity that could be done by ALEC may be done by Jeffersonian Project if legal counsel advises it would provide greater legal protection or lessen ethics concerns."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">A key element of Common Cause’s 2012 IRS complaint was evidence of ALEC sending hundreds of so-called “issue alerts” to legislators urging the passage or defeat of particular pieces of legislation – but never registering as a lobbyist in any state, and repeatedly telling the IRS that it engaged in zero lobbying.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Soon after the IRS complaint was filed, ALEC appeared to stop sending “issue alerts.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Yet with the 501(c)(4) Jeffersonian Project up-and-running, the “issue alert” lobbying messages have once again begun to flow.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In March 2014, for example, the Jeffersonian Project sent an "issue alert" to state representatives in Utah asking them to support HJR 8, Utah's balanced budget bill. The alert highlights the ALEC connection, noting that "The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has adopted a model resolution calling for an Article V Convention to propose a Federal Balanced Budget Amendment."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Documents obtained by the CMD show that the Jeffersonian Project has also sent "issue alerts" to legislators in Arizona, suggesting that the BBA is the focus of a nationwide lobbying effort.....</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">http://www.prwatch.org/node/12554</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">7/14</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC holds its 41st annual meeting in Dallas, Texas starting on Wednesday, July 30, 2014. At this largest of its three annual national conferences, state legislators from across the country will meet with corporate and special interest lobbyists behind closed doors to vote on "model" legislation to change state laws. Numerous agenda items are reviewed below.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC's 40th annual meeting in Chicago was met by over a thousand protesters. Local groups in Texas held an educational event on Saturday, July 26, and are planning protest activities for Wednesday, July 30.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">This year, ALEC has a new executive director, Lisa Britton Nelson, who is a former lobbyist forVisa and AOL Time Warner -- both of which have had ties to ALEC -- and also worked with Newt Gingrich and GOPAC. Several new companies also recently joined its "Private Enterprise Advisory Council": NetChoice, the National Federation of Independent Business, and K12 Inc.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Speakers at ALEC's annual meeting will include Texas Governor Rick Perry, former Wall Street Journal editorial board member Stephen Moore, and Newt Gingrich. "Policy workshops" include instructions on "How to Think and Talk About Climate and Energy Issues," "Energy Exports: A Free Market Economic Stimulus to Create Jobs and Grow the Economy," "EPA’s Proposed Carbon Emissions Rulemaking — What Does it Mean to States?" and more of the increasingly frequent attempts to spin efforts to limit the anti-democratic effects of unlimited political spending by billionaires and corporations as "Silencing Opposing Views: Attacks on Free Speech and Private Charitable Giving."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC's "Justice Performance Project," which appears to have taken on many of the roles of the "Public Safety and Elections Task Force" that ALEC shuttered in the wake of the controversy following the death of Trayvon Martin, will discuss "efficiently engaging the public-private partnership with the surety bail industry." In other words, how to enrich bounty hunters.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Also at this year's meeting, ALEC's task forces will consider bills to make it virtually impossible to enroll in Medicaid, expand charter schools to further bankrupt traditional public schools,expand exports of "natural gas" from fracking, and undermine the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Air and Clean Water Act regulations.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Draft bills to be voted on by lobbyists alongside state legislators at the coming annual meeting include:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Changing Laws Providing for Public Education</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The "Affordable Baccalaureate Degree Act" would enrich companies invested in online college degree programs and materials -- like Pearson (whose subsidiary Connections Education has been a prominent member of ALEC's Education Task Force), which sells the LearningStudio platform used by many universities like Arizona State University'spopular and much-hyped online degree program. It would "require all pubic [sic] four-year universities to offer bachelor's degrees costing no more than $10,000, total, for four years of tuition, fees, and books. The Act would require that ten percent of all public, four-year university degrees awarded reach this price-point within four years of passage of this act." The bill instructs universities to focus on online and blended learning "to achieve this price-point."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The "Public Charter Schools Act" would expand on ALEC's pre-existing "Next Generation Charter Schools Act" and enrich ALEC members like K12, Inc., the nation's largest provider of online charter schools or cyber schools. It would allow privately-operated charter schools to continue taking public funds, but without public accountability. The bill would give charter schools carte blanche to operate without being "subject to the state's education statutes or any state or local rule, regulation, policy, or procedure relating to non-charter public schools within an applicable local school district..."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The related "Public Charter Schools Funding Act" restates charters' autonomy from the rule of law and democratically-elected school boards while still giving each charter school "one hundred percent" of the state and federal education funding "calculated pursuant to the state's funding formula for school districts."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Changing Laws Protecting the Environment</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC will consider a resolution urging the EPA to "defer adopting any redefinition of the waters of the U.S. rule." The EPA has proposed a rule to clarify protection for streams and wetlands under the Clean Water Act in order to reduce confusion, save businesses time and money, and help states protect their waters. ALEC's draft bill suggests that this redefinition "could significantly increase the cost and regulatory requirements for state and local governments and ultimate the costs for state and local residents and businesses." According to the EPA, however, the proposal doesn't expand protection to any waters that haven't historically been covered under the Clean Water Act.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Not just ALEC's "Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force" will be talking about the regulation of bodies of water, however. Its "Federal Relations (Federalism) Working Group" will consider a "Draft State Constitutional 'Water is Life Amendment'" that would encourage the State to resist federal enforcement of federal regulations seeking to protect state waters. It would also make the proposed constitutional change "enforceable in the courts of this State by any taxpaying resident without fee, expense or cost-shifting to the State," although what entity would bear the cost is unclear.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC will also consider a resolution to endorse "expanded markets for LNG [liquefied natural gas] exports from the United States" and pushing for "regulatory and legislative policies designed to streamline and simplify the permitting process." The policy completely ignores the drastic environmental impacts of the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process often used to extract the gas.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Changing Laws Providing Healthcare</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The "Medicaid Anti-Crowd-Out Act" is a particularly egregious bill that would benefit private health insurance companies by prohibiting a state "from causing or allowing Medicaid enrollment or Medicaid HMO enrollment in any situation where individuals and/or dependents have availability of commercial healthcare insurance or are already enrolled in commercial healthcare insurance" (emphasis added). Jon Peacock, Research Director of Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, said of the draft bill, "It would make anyone with an offer of employer insurance ineligible for Medicaid, regardless of how poor they are and how narrow or expensive the insurance plan is. And the proposal is so poorly drafted that it would seem to make everyone ineligible for Medicaid -- because everyone has 'availability of commercial healthcare insurance.' This might be the most poorly drafted, overly broad piece of legislation I’ve ever seen."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The "Requiring Legislative Approval for Medicaid Expansion Act" would keep state governors from being able to make the decision of whether or not to accept Medicaid expansion, instead requiring the state legislature to approve any expansion. This has been a controversial issue in many states since the passage of the Affordable Care Act.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">?Changing Laws Protecting the Insured</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The "Property Insurance Claims Act," on which both the Civil Justice and Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development Task Forces will vote, tilts the playing field in favor of property insurance companies. It would benefit those companies that are represented by the ALEC member Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCIAA). The bill would restrict the time frame for the insured to bring a claim, require the insured to submit to mandatory appraisal, and cut back existing law protecting property owners in many states. PCIAA's vice president of state government relations, Joe Woods, is the private sector co-chair of the Financial Services Subcommittee of the Commerce task force, which will vote on the bill first.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Changing Criminal Justice Laws</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The "Resolution in Support of Post-Release Supervision of Offenders" expands parole, or post-release supervision, and would benefit ALEC member the American Bail Coalition, the trade group for the for-profit bail industry. ALEC already pushes bills to put for-profit bail bondsmen in the position of supervising individuals on parole or post-conviction release through its "Conditional Post-Conviction Release Act." (In fact, ALEC re-approved this bill in December 2013, after the dissolution of its "Public Safety and Elections Task Force" in 2012.) This new resolution would call for more inmates to be released with supervision, rather than on their own recognizance, thus expanding the market for private bounty hunters in states where ALEC's earlier bill has already become law. This resolution will be discussed by ALEC's "Justice Performance Project," yet another indication that it is taking on the roles of the shuttered "Public Safety and Elections Task Force."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Learn more about the ALEC agenda at ALECexposed.org and follow #ALECexposed and @PRwatch for news from the Dallas conference this week.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">2x?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">april</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC: apr 14</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Promoting Trojan Horse-like Fracking Regulations</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Thirteen of the bills concern hydraulic fracturing, also known as "fracking."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC has three items of "model" legislation in its library concerning fracking: two pro-fracking resolutions and a bill -- illogically titled "The Disclosure of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Composition Act" -- that allows operators to keep secret the details of chemicals injected into a well by making a near impossible to challenge claim of "trade secrets."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">As reported by the New York Times in April 2012, ExxonMobil brought the fracking bill to ALEC in December 2011 following its adoption as law in Texas. In the 2013 session, five states introduced legislation similar to the ALEC model, as detailed in the CMD report "ALEC at 40: Turning Back the Clock on Prosperity and Progress."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">One of the bills ALEC is tracking is a proposed moratorium on fracking in Massachusetts. This does not relate directly to any of the ALEC "model" bills, but both fracking bans and federal oversight have been a focus at recent ALEC conferences.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">For example, at the August 2013 ALEC conference in Chicago, the American Petroleum Institute presented to legislators on "Local Bans on Hydraulic Fracturing: Coming Soon to Your District." And during the most recent December 2013 ALEC conference in Washington DC, the Energy, Environment and Agriculture members received a presentation on the EPA "adversarial oversight" of fracking.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">- See more at: http://www.progressive.org/news/2014/04/187665/revealed-alec%E2%80%99s-2014-attacks-environment#sthash.qXdvkJNQ.dpuf</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">nick s</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The ALEC Board of Scholars includes[1]:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Kay Coles James - President and Founder of the Gloucester Institute;[2] and formerly Senior Fellow and Director of "The Citizenship Project" at the Heritage Foundation, Dean of the School of Government at Regent University, Secretary of Health and Human Resources for former Virginia Governor George Allen (where she implemented Virginia's controversial welfare reform initiative), Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management during George W. Bush's administration,[3] Senior Vice President of the Family Research Council, Associate Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during George H.W. Bush's administration, member of the National Commission on Children during Ronald Reagan's administration, and Boardmember of Focus on the Family[4]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Arthur B. Laffer - Inventor of the "Laffer Curve," often called "the father of supply-side economics," Co-chair of the Policy Council for the Free Enterprise Fund,[5] a lobbying organization founded by Stephen Moore and other Club for Growth members;[6] and formerly member of the Economic Policy Advisory Board during Ronald Reagan's administration and active in his 1980 and 1984 presidential campaigns, and Chief Economist at the Office of Management and Budget during Richard Nixon's administration[7]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Stephen Moore - Founder of the Club for Growth and member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board[8] who has been called "a voodoo economist";[9] and formerly: Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, senior economist at the Joint Economic Committee under Chairman Dick Armey (TX) and Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Budgetary Affairs at the Heritage Foundation.[10]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Victor Schwartz - Partner at the Washington D.C. offices of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP -- a law and lobbying firm that has represented big tobacco companies such as Philip Morris (now Altria Group),[11] big pharmaceutical companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline,[12] and big technology companies such as Sprint Nextel,[13] Microsoft[14] and Sony.[15] He has been very active in the arena of tort reform and has been called "the undisputed king of tort reform."[16] and considered one of Washington, D.C.'s 50 top lobbyists;[17] Formerly a lawyer and lobbyist at Crowell & Moring for 21 years; Director of the Federal Insurance Administration from 1978-1980, and a professor and dean at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.[18]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Richard Vedder - Economics professor at Ohio University,[19] and Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute[20] and theAmerican Enterprise Institute;[21] and formerly a commentator for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy on such issues as spending on public schools,[22], for the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution on issues such as immigration and labor, and Board member of the National Taxpayers Union.[23]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Bob Williams - Founder and Senior Fellow of the Freedom Foundation-- previously known as the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a libertarian organization whose mission "is to advance individual liberty, free enterprise, and limited, accountable government"--[24] Board Member of the State Policy Network and a "visiting fellow" at the Mercatus Center; and formerly an auditor for the Pentagon and Post Office, and a five term state legislator in Washington State.[25]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Scholars' Connections to Charles and David Koch</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Kay Coles James previously worked at the Heritage Foundation, which has received funding from the Koch Family Foundations.[26]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Arthur B. Laffer’s Laffer Center for Global Economic Growth is tied to Koch Industries through its Vice Chairman, Richard Fink, and Executive Director Wayne Gable -- both prominent Koch executives -- and a $100,000 grant from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation in 2009.[27]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Stephen Moore previously worked at the Cato Institute, which was co-founded by Charles G. Koch[28] and has been largely funded by the Koch Family Foundations,[29] and also at the Heritage Foundation, which has been funded byKoch money.[30]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Bob Williams is a visiting fellow with George Mason University’s Mercatus Center State and Local Policy Project, a Charles Koch-funded project, to the tune of over $9 million since 2002.[31]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">bogus frack chem bill?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Heath provided a fracking chemical disclosure bill &nbsp;to Howard that the shale industry and its political allies previously passed in Colorado. The Colorado bill was based on a model bill from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a corporate-funded group dedicated to passing legislation approved by ALEC’s corporate funders, including fracking companies like Chesapeake Energy. Bo Heath has longstanding ties to ALEC, and has attended ALEC annual meetings.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">A New York Times investigation found that the Colorado chemical disclosure bill was the handiwork of one ALEC funder in particular, ExxonMobil.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">As part of the push for the ALEC fracking bill passed in Colorado, Bo Heath arranged for Colorado ex-governor Bill Ritter to fly down to North Carolina to meet with George Howard and the MEC. The AP confirmed that Ritter’s fees and expenses were not paid by the MEC, and Bo Heath’s lobbying group refused to comment on Ritter’s funding.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Hallmarks of the ALEC fracking bill include generous exemptions from disclosure for “trade secrets,” and reliance on the FracFocus website for disclosing chemicals to the public. FracFocus’s operational costs are paid for by the oil and gas industry lobbying groups American Petroleum Institute (API) and America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA). FracFocus was found to be “severely lacking” as a regulatory tool by a recent Harvard study.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Heath continued to advocate for the industry/ALEC approach to chemical disclosure, and even brought in a key member of FracFocus, Mike Paque. Paque is the executive director of the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC). The GWPC has long been an ally of the oil and gas industry, receiving funding from the American Petroleum Institute and other industry affiliates. Reports produced by GWPC are the backbone of the oil and gas industry’s claims about the safety of fracking. The GWPC also runs &nbsp;the FracFocus website, and advocates for its use....</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">http://greenpeaceblogs.org/2014/05/15/fracking-north-carolina-industry-chemical-disclosure/</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC Award Winners include:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">2012 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Former Senate President Bob Burns (R-AZ), William J. Raggio Excellence in Leadership and Outstanding Service Award (for having been a member of ALEC for a minimum of 10 years, having served in a leadership position within ALEC, and having made a "demonstrable contribution to the success of ALEC through advancing Jeffersonian principles, recruitment, fundraising, or other comparable activity")</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Jan Angel (R-WA), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Patti Bellock (R-IL), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Jack Goodman (R-MO), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Peter Illoway (R-WY), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Linda Miller (R-IA), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Glenn Vaad (R-CO), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Gene Ward (R-HI), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Brandie Davis (Philip Morris International), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Pam Perry (Amerigroup), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Bob Paduchik (American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Paul Russinoff (Visa), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Jane Weirich (Boehringer Ingelheim), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Gary Salamido (North Carolina Chamber of Commerce), State Chair of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Fred Steen, II (R-NC), State Chair of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Peter Illoway (R-WY), State Chair of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Jody Levin (Levin Strategic Resources; lobbies for Verizon), State Chair of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Wendy Lowe (Peabody Energy), State Chair of the Year[1]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">2011 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Former Rep. Dolores Mertz (D-IA), William J. Raggio Excellence in Leadership and Outstanding Service Award (for having been a member of ALEC for a minimum of 10 years, having served in a leadership position within ALEC, and having made a "demonstrable contribution to the success of ALEC through advancing Jeffersonian principles, recruitment, fundraising, or other comparable activity")</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Joel Anderson (R-CA), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Nancy Barto (R-AZ), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Richard Carlson (R-KS), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Jim Ellington (R-MS), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Jerry Madden (R-TX), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Speaker Thom Thillis (R-NC), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. C. Gene Whisnant (R-OR), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. David Wolkins (R-IN), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Kelly Mader (Peabody Energy), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Kristin Parde (PhRMA), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Steve Seale (SAP America), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Don Stetcher (Novartis), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Roland Spies (State Farm Insurance), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Randy Tompson (Reynolds American), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Bill Vernon (National Federation of Independent Business), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Bob Williams (Freedom Foundation), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Calvin Hill (R-GA), State Chair of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. [[Chip Rogers00 (R-GA), State Chair of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Michael Wall (Comcast), State Chair of the Year (Georgia)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">John Schlatter, (Takeda Pharmaceutical), State Chair of the Year (Alaska)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Kara Joseph (Legislative Staff to Rep. John P. Adams (R-Ohio)), Volunteer of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Brenda Ellington (Legislative Aide to Rep. Noble Ellington (R-LA)), Volunteer of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Beth Wilson (Legislative Staff to Rep. Noble Ellington (R-LA)), Volunteer of the Year[2]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">2010 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Asm. Michael Villines (R-CA), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Linda Upmeyer (R-IA), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Ray Merrick (R-KS), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Del. Gail Bates (R-MD), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Sander Rue (R-NM), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. John Adams (R-OH), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Glenn Coffee (R-OK), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Bill Cadman (R-CO), State Chair of the Year Award – First Recipient</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Governor Rick Perry (R-TX), Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Steve Faris (D-AR), William J. Raggio Excellence Award[3]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">2009 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Blair Thoreson (R-ND), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Leah Vukmir (R-WI), State Legislator of the Year[4]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Del. Chris Shank (R-MD), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Ted Hoskins (D-MO), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Wayne Niederhauser (R-UT), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Del. Adelaide Eckardt (R-MD), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Jim Clark (R-ID), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Jim Buck (R-IN), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Tracie Sharp (State Policy Network), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Harold Brubaker (R-NC), William J. Raggio Excellence Award</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-GA), ALEC Leadership Award for Limited Government</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Daniel Hannan (British Member of the European Parliament), International Legislator of the Year[citation needed]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Tucker Carlson, "Warren Brookes Award for Excellence in Journalism"[5] See ALEC Featured Speakers for more.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">2008 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Carol Weston (R-ME), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Curt Bramble (R-UT), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Steve Komadina (R-NM), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Renée Kosel (R-IL), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Curry Todd (R-TN), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Alex Mooney (R-MD), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. David Casas (R-GA), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Bill Seitz (R-OH), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Wayne Christian (R-TX), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Tom Craddick (R-TX), William J. Raggio Excellence Award</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Dr. Syed Kamall (a Member of the European Parliament representing London), International Legislator of the Year[citation needed]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">2007 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Dennis Nolan (R-NV), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Rodney Hubbard (D-MO), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. William Hamzy (R-CT), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Robert Burns (R-AZ), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Charlie Ross (R-MS), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Bob Beers (R-NV), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Bill Raggio (R-NV), William J. Raggio Excellence Award (first recipient)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Billy Tauzin (PhRMA, formerly R-LA), Adam Smith Free Enterprise Award</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Chris Heaton-Harris (Member of the European Parliament), International Legislator of the Year[citation needed]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">2006 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Ed Emery (R-MO), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Troy Fraser (R-TX), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Julia Howard (R-NC), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Phil King (R-TX), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Hal Wick (R-SD), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Roger Helmer (Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands region), International Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Lady Margaret Thatcher, ALEC’s Pioneer Award - Thatcher also sent ALEC members a letter in which she wrote, “You have achieved an enormous amount already but our task never ends. So steel yourselves for the struggles ahead and draw strength once more from that undaunted spirit of freedom which underpins your great nation.”[citation needed]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">2005 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">President George W. Bush, Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award[6]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Phil Montgomery (R-WI), State Legislator of the Year[7]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. John Piscopo (R-CT), State Legislator of the Year[citation needed]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">2004 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. John Harkins (R-CT), State Legislator of the Year[citation needed]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">2002 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Zell Miller, Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award[8]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Stephen Buehrer (R-OH), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Speaker of the House Tom Feeney (R-FL), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Debby Sanderson (R-FL), State Legislator of the Year[9]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">2001 Award Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Former Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne (R), later Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award[10]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Jamie Van Fossen (R-IA), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Del. James F. Ports, Jr. (R-MD), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Mark Hillman (R-CO), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Del. Bill Howell (R-VA), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Del. Martha Klima (R-MD), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. John Perzel (R-PA), State Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Jerry Thorne (R-ID), State Legislator of the Year[11]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">1999 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Former Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL, now Congressman), Legislator of the Year[12]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">1998 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Howard L. Fargo (R-PA), Legislator of the Year (also Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Chair, 1998)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Sandy Greiner (R-IA), Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. John Kaites (R-AZ), Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. John Thrasher (R-FL), Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Julie Rose (R-KY), Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Sheila Sorensen (R-ID), Legislator of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Kaye Rambo (Assistant to Arkansas Speaker Bobby Hogue, ALEC 1998 National Chair), Volunteer of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Bethany Rhodes (Asst. to Ohio State Chair Rep. Lynn Wachtmann), Volunteer of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Molly Greene (Arizona Legislature Majority Staff), Volunteer of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Gaspar Laca (Manager, State Government Affairs, Glaxo Wellcome; ALEC New Mexico Private Sector State Chair), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">William J. O'Connor (Vice President, Mega Life Insurance Company), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Dave Nickles (State Government Relations Manager, Pfizer Inc.), Florida Private Sector State Chair), Private Sector Member of the Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Michael Morgan (Director, Government Affairs, Koch Industries, ALEC Private Enterprise Board), National Chairman's Award[13]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">1996 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Mat Dunaskis (R-MI), Legislator of the Year[citation needed]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. George Allen (R-VA), now a U.S. Senator,[14] recipient of ALEC's Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award in 1996[15]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">1991 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Tommy Thompson (R-WI), Thomas Jefferson Award[16]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">1990 Award Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Annette P. Williams (D-WI), Outstanding State Legislator Award[17]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">1981 Award-Winners</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Harold D. “Hal” Stratton, Jr. (R-NM), Legislator of the Year[citation needed]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Unknown Year</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep Lynn R. Wachtmann (R-OH), Legislator of the Year[citation needed]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Mary Fallin (R-OK), Legislator of the Year[citation needed]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. John Andrews (R-CO), National Legislator of the Year[citation needed]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Mark Hillman (R-CO), National Legislator of the Year[citation needed]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sen. Leader David Williams (R-KY), Legislator of the Year[18]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rep. Julia Howard (R-NC), Legislator of the Year (2006 or 2007)[citation needed]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">References</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">alec win ? &nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/16/3427392/oklahoma-fee-solar-wind/</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Oklahoma residents who produce their own energy through solar panels or small wind turbines on their property will now be charged an additional fee, the result of a new bill passed by the state legislature and expected to be signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin (R).</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">On Monday, S.B. 1456 passed the state House 83-5 after no debate. The measure creates a new class of customers: those who install distributed power generation systems like solar panels or small wind turbines on their property and sell the excess energy back to the grid. While those with systems already installed won’t be affected, the new class of customers will now be charged a monthly fee — a shift that happened quickly and caught many in the state off guard.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“We knew nothing about it and all of a sudden it’s attached to some other bill,” Ctaci Gary, owner of Sun City Oklahoma, told ThinkProgress. “It just appeared out of nowhere.”...</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Bad news for the polluter-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, but wonderful news for the planet.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In 2012 and 2013, ALEC tried to roll back states' renewable energy standards, and failed. Now it's trying to roll back solar net-metering programs, which let homeowners sell electricity from their rooftop panels into the grid, and that campaign isn't going so well either.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Case in point: In Vermont, Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) just signed a bill that will expand the state's net-metering program, allowing solar panel owners to sell more of their clean electricity into the grid.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The bill will nearly quadruple the size of a cap on the amount of solar power that utilities must be willing to buy from their customers. It also creates pilot projects that could allow for solar projects as large as 5 megawatts to be built under the scheme. The AP reports:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Alternative energy proponents pushed for the increased cap after some Vermont utilities had reached the 4 percent cap and stopped taking new net-metered power.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"Our success exceeded our wildest dreams," Shumlin said before signing the bill into law, noting that since he took office in 2011 the state had quadrupled the amount of solar energy on the state's electric grid.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Vermont's increased use of alternative energy has helped the state to become the nation's per-capita leader in the number of solar energy jobs. grist</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC's corporate members are a who's-who of companies that face tort liability. Its corporate board, recently renamed by ALEC as the "Private Enterprise Advisory Board," includes representatives of fossil fuel interests (Koch Industries, Peabody Energy, Exxon Mobil, Energy Future Holdings), the pharmaceutical industry (PhRMA, Pfizer), and big tobacco (Altria, formally known as Phillip Morris). It also includes insurance companies like State Farm, which profits from a rigged tort liability system by paying out less in claims (even while raising premiums).</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">http://www.alternet.org/print/speakeasy/leowgerard/alec-demands-lawmakers-pledge-allegiance-alec</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Posted by Leo Gerard [1] at 9:22 am</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">December 10, 2013</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC Demands Lawmakers Pledge Allegiance – to ALEC</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Witch hunter Joseph McCarthy would be proud of ALEC. So proud! Like McCarthy, the shadowy corporate lobby group wants oaths of allegiance.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">McCarthy demanded loyalty pledges to the United States. ALEC, by contrast, wants its lawmaker members to vow first allegiance to ALEC [2].</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC (All Legislation Enhancing Corporations) asked the legislators it appoints as state directors to raise their right wings and swear: [3] “I will act with care and loyalty and put the interests of the organization first.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC first. Before the lawmaker’s constituents. Before the interests of the lawmaker’s state. Before the constitution of the United States. &nbsp;ALEC asked its lawmakers to forsake their oaths of office and swear fidelity instead to the organization that wines, dines, indulges and indoctrinates them with buckets full of corporate cash. The ALEC loyalty oath clarifies the allegiance of the 1,810 state legislators that ALEC claims as members. They see their primary duty as serving corporations, specifically the corporations that give millions to ALEC.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC (the sham that calls itself the American Legislative Exchange Council) is a secretive corporate front group [4] that solicits money from corporations and spends it flying lawmaker-members to conferences in swanky settings where they help corporate members write legislation to fatten the corporate bottom line. The lawmakers take ALEC legislation back to their states, where they often introduce it word-for-corporate-written-word, [5]sometimes with the ALEC logo still affixed to the pages [6].</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">This process effectively eliminates those pesky voters from lawmaking. ALEC is the middle man bringing corporations and lawmakers together, facilitating a process in which corporations craft legislation for themselves, then lawmakers, all fat and happy on the corporate dime, take that legislation home and get it passed. No citizen input needed, thank you.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“Stand your ground laws” are an ALEC achievement [7]. These shoot-first-ask-questions-later decrees create deadly situations like the one in which George Zimmerman walked free after shooting unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Shoot first laws are great for gun manufacturers, assuring no liability for hotheads who rashly use their products. Florida’s shoot first law wasn’t so great for Trayvon Martin. And, as it turns out, shoot first wasn’t great for ALEC,which lost about 400 lawmaker members and at least 40 significant corporate sponsors [2] as a result of publicity linking ALEC to the shoot first laws and other legislation detrimental to citizens, such as ALEC’s voter suppression legislation requiring citizens to perform backflips through flaming hoops before exercising their most basic right in a democracy.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC documents leaked to The Guardian newspaper reveal the shadow group’s latest campaign to enrich corporate members at the expense of citizens. ALEC wants homeowners who have bought and installed solar panels or wind turbines to pay utility companies to accept the excess electricity they generate. [8]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">When utilities get power from oil or coal-fired generators or nuclear plants, they pay for it. But ALEC’s energy industry members want homeowners who produce renewable energy to be treated differently. They want homeowners who produce green electricity to pay the utility to take it, and then the utility would sell it.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The utility gets paid by both the energy producer and user! It’s a win-win, where the utility wins twice. For green energy producers and consumers, it’s a lose-lose.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Such legislation is the reason ALEC needs that loyalty oath – to get lawmakers to swear to serve corporations and ignore constituents.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC claims it didn’t adopt [2] the loyalty oath. But citizens have no way of knowing if that’s true because ALEC’s meetings are clandestine affairs, no reporters or citizens allowed [9]. Documents leaked to The Guardian newspaper [2] reveal that ALEC proposed the oath at its August meeting. It’s contained in a massive list of duties for state legislative coordinators, a list so long that it’s not clear when coordinators would have time to work for the citizens of their state, a list complete with an agreement signature sheet where the coordinator would swear to complete the work for ALEC.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC met again last week [10]. Maybe it adopted the loyalty oath then. Again, the public doesn’t know because ALEC excluded reporters and citizens from its work sessions [11]. It allowed reporters only to attend speeches by Republican publicity seekers such as Ted Cruz, the Texas senator who insisted on shutting down the government for 16 days in a failed attempt to kill the Affordable Care Act and deny millions health insurance.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Cruz said he loves ALEC [12] almost as much as he loves seeing his own face on television. Then he slandered Sen. Dick Durbin, who conducted hearings earlier this year on ALEC’s role in propagating shoot first laws.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In a warped attempt to be funny, Cruz attributed to Sen. Durbin a frightening McCarthy line. Cruz told the ALEC members [12]: “I was just at the Capitol and I was asked to pass along an inquiry from Sen. Durbin: ‘Are you now or have you ever been a member of ALEC?’”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Cruz is wrong. Americans should be asking that question because they can’t be sure their state lawmakers haven’t sworn first allegiance to ALEC and thus foresworn their duty to first serve the citizens of their states and uphold the constitution.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC claims 1,810 state lawmakers hand over – or get their state taxpayers to pay for [13] them ­­­–$100 ALEC membership dues. But that might be an exaggeration. For example, ALEC claims every single legislator in Iowa – all 150 of them, Democrats included – and every single legislator in South Dakota – all 105 of them, Democrats included – are members. This is an organization that describes its mission as advancing free markets, limited government and federalism. Those are the priorities of the Tea Party, not Democrats.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">While some organizations have tried to compile ALEC membership lists [13] based on leaked ALEC documents, [14] some individual lawmakers on those lists, particularly Democrats, have publicly denied any association with ALEC.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Voters have a right to know [15] where the allegiance of their lawmakers’ lies. They should be asking if their elected representatives have sworn to serve ALEC first. And if so, those should be the first to go.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">See more stories tagged with:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">the guardian [16],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">alec [17],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">american legislative exchange council [18],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">tea party [19],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">democrats [20],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">stand your ground [21],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ted cruz [22],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">dick durbin [23],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Joseph McCarthy [24],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">loyalty oath [25],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">george zimmerman [26],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">trayvon martin [27]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Source URL: http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/leowgerard/alec-demands-lawmakers-pledge-allegiance-alec</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Links:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[1] http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/leowgerard</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[2] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/03/alec-funding-crisis-big-donors-trayvon-martin</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[3] http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/841593/alec-docs.pdf</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[4] http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[5] http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/6562:ohio-lawmakers-introduced-33-bills-last-year-based-on-alec-model-legislation</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[6] http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/02/02/417488/florida-gop-alec-forget/</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[7] http://www.thenation.com/blog/166978/how-alec-took-floridas-license-kill-law-national</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[8] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/04/alec-freerider-homeowners-assault-clean-energy</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[9] http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-alec-stands-its-ground/2013/12/04/ad593320-5d2c-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[10] http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/12/05/ted-cruz-to-alec-stand-your-ground/</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[11] http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/12/alec-bans-mother-jones-annual-conference</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[12] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/05/ted-cruz-alec_n_4392721.html</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[13] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ALEC_Politicians#Legislators_with_ALEC_Ties</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[14] http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/841593-alec-docs.html#document/p20</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[15] http://www.mountainx.com/article/54670/Progress-NC-Did-Moffitt-support-the-ALEC-Loyalty-Oath</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[16] http://www.alternet.org/tags/guardian-2</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[17] http://www.alternet.org/tags/alec</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[18] http://www.alternet.org/tags/american-legislative-exchange-council</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[19] http://www.alternet.org/tags/tea-party-0</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[20] http://www.alternet.org/tags/democrats-0</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[21] http://www.alternet.org/tags/stand-your-ground</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[22] http://www.alternet.org/tags/ted-cruz</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[23] http://www.alternet.org/tags/dick-durbin</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[24] http://www.alternet.org/tags/joseph-mccarthy</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[25] http://www.alternet.org/tags/loyalty-oath</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[26] http://www.alternet.org/tags/george-zimmerman</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[27] http://www.alternet.org/tags/trayvon-martin</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies in for Terry Gross. New insights into the goals and finances of the secretive group ALEC are revealed in a batch of internal documents that were recently leaked to the British newspaper The Guardian. ALEC is an acronym for the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group that brings together state legislators and representatives of corporations.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Together they develop model bills that the lawmakers introduce and try to pass in their state legislatures. Through these model bills, ALEC has worked to privatize public education, cut taxes, reduce public employee compensation, oppose Obamacare and resist state regulations to reduce global warming gas emissions. Our guest, Ed Pilkington, broke the story of those documents last week.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">He's the chief correspondent for the Guardian U.S., which is the American website edition of The Guardian. He's The Guardian's former national and foreign editor. He spoke with Terry Gross yesterday.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">TERRY GROSS, HOST:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Ed Pilkington, welcome to FRESH AIR. Before we talk about the documents that were leaked to you, let's just talk a little bit in general, how would you describe what ALEC is?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ED PILKINGTON: ALEC is sort of almost a dating service between politicians at state level, local elected politicians, and many of America's biggest companies and it brings them together much as a dating service would do. And it sits them in rooms behind closed doors where three times a year they come together to think about what should be the next wave of state-based legislation.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">And they have presentations from the companies that say what they would like to see done legislatively in states right across America, and then they have a vote and the legislators begin. Hundreds of state legislators across America belong to ALEC and come to these meetings. They begin having a vote on what they'd like to do in the next state assembly session.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">And after the legislators have voted, the companies get to vote and essentially they have a veto. If they don't vote by at least 50 percent to approve a piece of legislation going forward, it doesn't happen. If they think they do approve of it, it goes ahead and becomes a model bill which is like a blueprint for a piece of legislation that ALEC wants to see spread across America, and that's what happens.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Legislators pick out a bill, they return to their state assemblies, they put it before their colleagues or their elected politicians and quite often it becomes law. And so ALEC is like an incubator of predominantly conservative legislation, the vast majority of the model bills are conservative in their sort of inception.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: So these model bills are basically made in partnership between corporations and legislators?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Yes, and that's what's special about ALEC. I don't think anyone in America would have any trouble with the idea of corporations making clear what they wanted done by politicians. I mean, that's a very important part of the democratic process, bearing in mind that the corporations we're talking about are among the largest employers in the country. So it's important that they should be able to transmit and communicate their views into the political process.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">What's special about ALEC, and I think what some people have difficultly with in terms of dealing with is that they give corporations actually a vote, and I mean that literally, in those closed-door sessions. The corporations will have an equal vote to elected politicians at state level and they have this veto which, you know, goes beyond airing what corporations would like to see done by state assemblies and actually gives them a sort of direct plug-in to the system.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: So what's the breakdown of the vote? Fifty percent of the corporations have to...</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: This is actually on both sides.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: Fifty percent of each side.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Of both sides and legislators go first, then corporations and more than 50 percent of both sides have to approve for it to go ahead.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: So does that mean that the corporations are getting a disproportionate amount of vote because there's fewer corporate representatives at these meetings than there are state legislators?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Yes, and it's even more pronounced than that. I mean, essentially they're getting an equal vote because it's a sort of veto unless both sides approve by the majority that something should be turned into a model bill. It will not go ahead. And if you look at the membership figures, it's something like 1,800 on the public side, 1,800 state legislators belong to ALEC. And on the other side, there's something like 220 or so corporations belong to ALEC, so yes it is a, you know, it's a great inflation of their influence, that they get an equal vote.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: What are some of the model bills that ALEC has put forward in the past that have had the most traction?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Well, the most controversial has been the Stand Your Ground law and I'm sure we'll come on to talk about this because it's very pertinent to the documents The Guardian obtained last week. In 2005, Florida introduced the country's very first Stand Your Ground law, which gave homeowners the right to self-defense beyond the actual home.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">And what ALEC did, it saw that bill, it liked that bill in discussions between state legislators, and corporations in their thrice annual meetings they liked it too, and they adopted it into a model bill. And it was ALEC that helped spread Stand Your Ground right across the country. There are now something like 26 states who have it on their books in some degree or other, modeled upon ALEC's work.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">And when Trayvon Martin was killed in February 2012 by George Zimmerman, who was later acquitted for second-degree murder, ALEC became embroiled in that controversy. And that has had a real impact on ALEC going forward in terms of its reputation, its dealing with big corporations.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">But there are many, many other areas of - it's sort of any area of really frontline controversial, ideologically conservative legislation that you see spreading in states across America. You're likely to find ALEC somewhere behind it and I'm talking about the fight against Obamacare at state level; the attempt to keep back Medicaid; attempts to reduce the pension entitlements of public employees; and keep low the minimum wage.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">And in education, the spread of voucher systems which are used to sort of forward home education and private education and, to some degree, undermine public schools.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: Now, the documents that were leaked to you, were these all planning documents from ALEC?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: They're internal documents that went through a whole range of different things. They talked about their actual agenda, they talked about their budget, which showed the degree of which they're in financial difficulty post the Trayvon Martin controversy. And one of the things that leapt out at me was a page titled "Prodigal Son Project," and beneath it was a list of 41 major companies, and I mean major.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">They're among the biggest in the country and most iconic. There's Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Amazon, General Electric. And those are all companies that quit as members of ALEC in the two or three months after Trayvon Martin died. And by dint of that name, "Prodigal Son Project," it suggests that ALEC is very keen to get them back. And you sort of can start to understand why when you realize the funding structure of the network.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The vast majority of something like 98 percent of its funding comes from the corporation side as well as sort of major foundations, sort of conservative think tanks and funding bodies. So although they get an equal vote, the corporations, alongside the politicians, they pay the lion share of the money.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: And this is in their dues, in dues membership to become a member of ALEC?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Yes. I mean, the dues work something like state legislators pay very minimal amounts, something like 50 bucks a year. The corporations can pay a membership fee of up to $25,000 a year. And then there's a sort of extra level of subsidy, of donations of gifts we know less about because being a 501(c) charity in its construction, ALEC, they don't have to reveal where they received their money from.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: OK. So you found out through this document about the "Prodigal Son Project" that Alec was trying to woo back a lot of major corporations who have left the organization or no longer paying dues, and that's creating a funding crisis for ALEC. Why did they leave? Was it because of the Trayvon Martin controversy - or more specifically because of the controversy of the Stand Your Ground Legislation?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Yes. I think it's fair to say that. I have to qualify it because most of the companies, when they suspended their membership, they gave a very sort of bland explanation. They said, well, you know, it's the end of the financial year; we've decided not to renew. Maybe they said they had some budget issues themselves, they didn't want to spend this money. But if you look at the timing of it, Trayvon Martin died in February. These corporations dropped off one after another in March, April, May of 2012. So the timing is extremely suggestive. And some of them made it clear. Wal-Mart made it clear that they had joined ALEC because they wanted to be party to the economic discussions that ALEC forwards, predominantly how to reduce say, corporate taxes or to reduce government regulation on corporations so that they can do their business, you know on a more untrammeled way. And Wal-Mart said they didn't like the way that ALEC had strayed into more social political areas, such as Stand Your Ground, notably. And there are other areas too, such as voter ID laws. ALEC has been incredibly influential in spreading voter ID laws around the country. And those laws, as we know, critics, like the NAACP, say make it more difficult for African-Americans, for poorer Americans, for maybe elderly Americans, to get to the polling stations and cast their votes.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: So what is the extent of the budget loss for ALEC since so many corporations chose not to renew their membership?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Well, what we saw was an internal budget document. And it showed that in terms of incoming revenue, in the first six months of this year, they had about a 50 percent hole in their projections. And overall, there was about a third of their income was down. And I think there's a sort of interesting a story beyond that, beyond the pure finance of it, and for me it raises interesting issues about what happens with sunlight, is the way I think of it. ALEC's been in existence for 40 years. And until 2011, when a similar dump of leaked documents came out, until then, most people didn't even know ALEC existed. And part of its power has been secrecy. Corporations have been able to meet elected politicians behind closed doors without anyone knowing what they've been doing and agree the next session's legislations within those state legislatures. And it's worked very well for them. It helped them with a bottom line. It's helped them beat back regulation and get laws on their box which have allowed them to make more profits.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">When it's become out and open after 2011, and with Trayvon Martin - which drew ALEC into a huge national foray, the corporations haven't liked it all. And I think there's an interesting lesson there. Corporations dislike two things intensely: they dislike taxes, corporate taxes, they dislike regulation. But they dislike even more the sort of fallout of public attention and bad publicity.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Ed Pilkington. He's the chief reporter for The Guardian U.S., which is the American website edition of the British paper The Guardian. We're talking about ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council - which shapes and promotes legislation at the state level across the U.S. ALEC brings together state legislators and corporate representatives to shape, model legislation that is introduced at the state level. Let's take a short break here, then we'll talk some more.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. And if you're just joining us, my guest is Ed Pilkington. He's the chief reporter for The Guardian, U.S., which is the American website edition of the British paper, The Guardian. He just published a series of stories based on leaked documents from ALEC. ALEC is the acronym for the American Legislative Exchange Council. This is a group that brings together primarily conservative state legislators with corporate representatives together. They work out model legislation that then the state legislators bring back to their state legislature.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Before publishing anything about the documents from ALEC that were leaked to you, you had a correspondence with the public relations person from ALEC. His name is Bill Meierling. And I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly, so I hope he will forgive me if I'm not. But he said to you that there is no funding crisis in ALEC. And he also said that ALEC did not draft Stand Your Ground policy. So how does that fit into your analysis?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Yes. Well, I'd like to point out that we did have this exchange, and it was a very full and frank one. And I think that in itself is significant because as I say, a group that has been noted for its secrecy and for being withdrawn from public debate actually engaged with us considerably in a very open exchange of email - which, you know, we were very grateful for because it helped us get our story as accurate as we could. So I think there is something going on in ALEC in the sense that they're trying now to be more open and transparent, and I think that they see that as an important way of winning back the trust of those Prodigal Son companies that have withdrawn membership.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: I should also add though that in Bill Meierling of ALEC concedes that whether the connection between ALEC and Stand Your Ground is true or untrue, accusations about ALEC and Stand Your Ground cost members.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Yes, he did concede that. And to be fair to ALEC, it's true that they had nothing to do with the Florida law on which the whole controversy around Trayvon Martin happened, simply because the Florida law was the first in the country. And it was that law that ALEC then took and made into a model bill and spread it around the country. So I think quite a lot of people have becoming confused about that. I don't think that that removes ALEC from the controversy around Trayvon Martin because although ALEC has now shut down the taskforce that dealt with law and order issues and those Stand Your Ground laws, in that same taskforce, they shutdown and involvement in voter ID laws that is sped around the country through their model bills. So they're no longer involved in that area at all. But they have left behind a legacy. There are something like 26 states with Stand Your Ground laws on their books partially, if not totally, based on ALEC model bills. I'm assuming there's something like 35 states around the country with voter ID laws that make it more difficult for certain voters to get to the ballot box. So there is a sort of mess that ALEC has helped create that is still there and I think they still have public issues to answer for.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: So you found out through leaked documents that there is this Prodigal Son Project to try to woo back corporations who dropped their membership from ALEC. Do you know what the approach is going to be in trying to woo these corporate members back?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Well, I think it was a significant comment from Bill Meierling in his exchange with me, that he said we would be transparent from now on. And I generally think that's their main - and perhaps their always strategy is just to be seen to be more aboveboard. And I think everyone would welcome that, including critics of ALEC. I think it's also worth mentioning that Dana Milbank of The Washington Post last week, when ALEC had its most recent meeting - this one was in Washington, D.C., Dana Milbank was allowed into the ALEC meeting. Now that in itself as far as I'm aware is the first. Journalists previously have not been welcome. But he only got so far. He was allowed to see - to sit in on sort of side meetings and to hear the big keynote speeches - Ted Cruz of Texas - addressed the meeting. But when he asked me go into a task force meeting - this is the closed-door session where politicians sit down in the same room with corporate lobbyists and discuss what they should do in the next session of the state legislature, they said to him well, this is a private meeting and we can't let you in. So I think that they've opened the doors but only so far, and that's, I think, going to be another sort of controversy going forward.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: Yes. Milbank quoted ALEC public relations person is saying they want to introduce transparency but quote; "ALEC can't just kick the doors open."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Right. And I think Dana Milbank then went on to say yes, they can. But that's his opinion. Yes. I mean ALEC has always stood behind the defense that it is a private members club, you know, a bit like a golf club, and that therefore, it shouldn't be subject to the same scrutiny, public scrutiny, as other institutions in public life. And that's also been very significant and the other big thing that we discovered from our documents - which is the whole issue of lobbying.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Now ALEC says it doesn't zero lobbying. And it says that literally because with the IRS, with the tax man in America, it has to disclose how much lobbying it does because that affects its charitable status. And year by year, in its tax returns, ALEC has said it does their own lobbying.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">What we learned in our documents is that ALEC is now planning to set up a side organization called "The Jeffersonian Project," which would have a slightly different charity status. It would be a 501(c)4, rather than a 501(c)3 - which it would allow ALEC, going forward, to do more overt lobbying. And I think that opens a window into a huge area of public life in America that has not been given much discussion, or thought or critical thinking, and that is the area of lobbying beyond the actual election process.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Most of the focus in America at the moment is on big money going into actual election campaigns. You know, we think of Karl Rove and American Crossroads and groups like that. Apparently, $300 million was spent in the 2012 election cycle by corporations and other sort of interest groups on funding the election process. So, you know, there's good reason for focusing in on that. But what people then don't think about is the lobbying that happens at the next stage which is, you know, arguably actually more important, and that is what do those elected politicians do when, you know, given power by the voters to go to the state legislature, put bills in front of their colleagues, vote on them, and actually change the lives of individuals through these laws which really do change people's lives, whether your pension and you find your pension has been reduced or, you know, the minimum wage is not going up. It really changes lives. And yet people aren't really talking about the lobbying that happens at that stage.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">DAVIES: Ed Pilkington is the chief correspondent for the Guardian, U.S., the American website edition of the British newspaper The Guardian. He'll be back in the second half of the show. I'm Dave Davies and this is FRESH AIR.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies in for Terry Gross.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">We're listening to Terry's interview recorded yesterday with Ed Pilkington, the chief correspondent for the Guardian, U.S., about leaked documents that reveal new information about the group ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC brings together corporate representatives and state lawmakers who develop model bills, usually conservative ones, with the hope of getting them passed in state legislatures.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: What's in it for a state legislator to be part of ALEC - to be a member of ALEC.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Well, I think you have to sort of put yourself in the mind of some of these state legislators. They're, you know, they're often very poorly funded, even poorly paid. I mean in Texas the base salary of a state legislator is $7,000 a year. Though often have very small staff and few resources to help them do the business of being an elected politician. Which can include, you know you, it's really difficult to actually draft legislation because you haven't got the legal advice, you haven't got the staff to produce it, you haven't got even staff to research the subject. You know, if ALEC comes along and says well, here's a model bill for you. It's all written for you. It's all been way we searched. You can just take it and put it in front of your group of politicians in your state, then that's quite attractive. And a slightly darker side perhaps, is the attraction of being taken to one of these three times a year meetings. Sometimes your air travel is paid for you by ALEC. And then you get into a room and you meet some of the biggest and most sort of influential and iconic companies in the U.S. And that must be a sort of appealing just in itself. What we don't know is whether that then later down the line in any way - and it may not, but we just don't know - sort of filter through to financial help for politicians when they come to say, stand for reelection in their states. And it's possible perhaps that having made those initial contacts in the ALEC room that they can keep in touch with the companies and benefit from that.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: ALEC sponsored at least 77 energy bills in 34 states last year. What are some of the things you learned through the leaked documents about what kind of energy-related bills ALEC is sponsoring?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Yes. Well, the most, sort of, grabbed me was this idea relating to solar panels. My colleague, Suzanne Goldenberg, partially based on the documents we obtained, found out that ALEC was very keen to try make it more difficult for people to put solar panels on their roofs. Now if you're an American lucky enough to live in an area with a lot of sunlight, you can put solar panels on your roofs, which on one hand increases your own income, because you can sell the energy to the energy companies, and it also allows you to do your bit to try and help the planet, so it can make you feel good as well is there a little bit of extra money.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">If you think of some of the backers that ALEC has, among them are the really giant energy companies in America, including Exxon Mobile, Koch Industries owned by the Koch Brothers, and they're largely carbon related companies - the coal, oil, they're involved in fracking. So there came to me sure that renewable energy sources are kept in their place because there is a direct economic competition with them. So what ALEC is talking about with solar panels is to charge individual homeowners extra fees for offloading their energy from the sun into the system. They're calling those homeowners free riders because they don't pay very many fees to keep the upkeep of the energy network. And in other areas, ALEC is thinking about ways in which they can hold back the Environmental Protection Agency. And there's also very keen to whittle down, or even eradicate regional deals between states. There is a big one in the Northeast of America involving nine different states, where state legislators have required energy suppliers to take a percentage of their energy from renewable sources. So it's a sort of multi-fronted attack. And you can see that right across the board - whether it's education or health care or workers rights and pensions. They have the same approach. The have ongoing, maybe four or five different attacks at any one time. And overall, they're putting forward maybe 130 model bills, different model bills to state legislators every year.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: What is the argument for charging, basically for charging fees to people who have installed solar panels on their roof, as opposed to granting incentives to encourage you to install solar panels?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Well, ALEC says that the cost of putting a network of energy transmission across the country runs into billions of dollars and therefore, homeowners should pay their way. I think other people might say, you know, if we are to encourage pollution free energy and to try and combat climate change, we need to do everything we can to incentivize people to come forward. And that by introducing impediments, you're going to make it much less likely that people will do it. The real critics of ALEC, they would say though that's the intention, that the intention is to stop renewable sources becoming a major competitor with some of the big member corporations of ALEC who are the carbon related energy companies.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: Now do some of the model bills that ALEC has been working on in the energy area related to limiting the Environmental Protection Agency's powers to regulate fracking?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Yes. Fracking has been another big area in which ALEC has been active for now several years. And they have, it's something like a 10th of their overall output is dedicated to fracking model bills. So it is a big real concern for them. They put a lot of energy into that area.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: If ALEC succeeded in limiting the EPA's ability to regulate fracking, then it would fall to like the states and there would be a lot of different regulations. Do you know if ALEC feels it would have more control over the state level, if the EPA's powers were limited, that ALEC would have more input into how much states control fracking?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Well, I think this is one of the dichotomies of the ALEC model. The reason they - we talked earlier about the desire to set up a site organization called The Jeffersonian Project. The reason they call it The Jeffersonian Project is because of Jefferson's belief in federalism. And federalism is one of the big key words of ALEC. They want states to have the priority share of control of politics in America, and they want federal government to be reined right back. And that's a genuine conservative view that they hold and adhere to. But there is a sort of dichotomy here because while wanting power to return to the state level, to the state legislature, they also want to have more central control over what their state legislature does - which is totally, you know, overt in their model because that's what they do, they produce model bills that are uniform. They're drafted the same. They're put in front of states politicians in exactly the same wording. And so, while wanting states to be handed back, say control from the EPA over energy policy, they then want ALEC to come in with the model bills and to sort of systematize and unitize what those states are doing.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: You published your stories about the leaked ALEC documents just before ALEC had a policy Summit. And that summit was held last week. Do you have any idea whether the results of that summit changed the story, in any way, that you've published?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: No. We haven't heard anything. I mean it was interesting the exchange I had with ALEC, that they said, they said to me, we don't understand why you're publishing leaked documents. If you'd asked us for those documents we would've handed them to you. So I have now asked ALEC that question: Will they share with me the, sort of, paperwork that came out of last week's meeting question, and it will be interesting to see how they respond to that. But, no. We don't really know. All one can assume, I think, is that it's kind of business as usual. Although they're suffering from this funding hole, they are moving forward. They're still hundreds of state legislators attend their thrice yearly meetings. Still, many of the biggest companies in America are still on their books. They include Glaxo Smith Kline, Pfizer, from the pharma area, Altria, the tobacco giant, AT&T from telecom - are still members. So, you know, it would be wrong to give the impression that ALEC is moribund or is on its last gasp. That's not true at all, it's still very active and still extremely influential, which is why I think it's still worth having this discussion.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: What are some of the questions you would now like answered about ALEC?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Well, I'd really like to hear the conversation in that room. I mean one can sort of enter into it in one's head.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: In the room where corporate members and state legislators get together and discuss model legislation, that room?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: Precisely. I mean we've managed to piece together little snippets of what happens in there. You know, we know that there are these PowerPoint presentations by the companies, and that they then move to vote - legislators first and then the companies move to vote. But you sort of want to know that the whole tenor of the discussion because that's what it's all about. It's a formalization of companies having sway over the political process. And we may come out of that meeting, if we're ever allowed into one and say wow, this is fine, you know, it's just a discussion. It's just a grown up adult discussion about what should be done over energy policy, or health care, or education. Or you might come out thinking this is kind of odd. It's why are companies dictating what elected politicians do. And one of the documents we found, what we obtained, was a draft agreement which ALEC was putting forward to their state chairs. Now the state chairs are very senior state legislators, overwhelmingly Republican, and they're asked to sort of look after the ALEC business in their state. And the draft agreement, which I should point out ALEC said was not adopted, but it had been proposed. One of the lines said that the state chair would agree to put the interests of the organization first. So just sort of think about that phrase, the interest of the organization first, it means an elected politician is being asked to put the interest of a third party before the interests of the people who elected them.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: And the third party is a party with a large corporate vote to it.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: With large corporate backers. Now in America, the idea of big companies giving a lot of money to politicians is not, you know, it's not the first time we've heard this. But it is - I think it's that vote that counts here. You know, they give the money, then they get a vote. And that is, I think, the significance of what ALEC does.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">GROSS: Ed Pilkington, thank you so much for talking with us.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PILKINGTON: It was a pleasure. Thank you.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">DAVIES: Ed Pilkington is the chief correspondent for The Guardian, U.S. you can find a link to the leaked documents described in his interview at our website FRESH AIR.npr.org.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">http://www.npr.org/2013/12/10/249956329/how-alec-serves-as-a-dating-service-for-politicians-and-corporations</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The Task Force launched the EPA Regulatory Train Wreck Initiative to ensure states remain the first among equals with the federal government on environmental regulation. In addition, ALEC’s efforts are intended to maintain the important balance of rational environmental protection with economic progress. The initiative focuses on pending and proposed EPA regulations and the cooperative federalism intent of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Public Chair: Representative Thomas Lockhart, Wyoming</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">7th term</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Party: Republican</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">District: House District 57</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Counties: Natrona</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">House: 2001-Present</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Contact Information:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">770 East 12th Street</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Casper WY 82601</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Home - (307) 472-4116</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Fax - (307) 237-2441</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Tom.Lockhart@wyoleg.gov</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Education:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Natrona Co High School</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">University of WY - BS</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Portland State University - MBA</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Occupation(s):</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Electric Utility, Retired</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Birth Place: Casper</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Spouse: Lynn Lockhart</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Number of Children: 4</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Number of Grandchildren: 10</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Religion: Catholic</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rotary Club of Casper</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Private Chair: Paul Loeffelman, American Electric Power</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Ron Scheberle</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Executive Director</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Ron Scheberle was named Executive Director on January 5, 2010. Scheberle is Chairman Emeritus of ALEC’s Private Enterprise Advisory Council. He has been an active private sector member of ALEC for over 25 years, serving as Private Enterprise Board National Chairman from 1988 to 1994 and as a member of ALEC’s Private Enterprise Board of Directors continuously since.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Policy</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Amy Kjose Anderson</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Director, Civil Justice Task Force</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Michael Bowman</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Senior Director, Policy and Strategic Initiatives</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Andrew Bender</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Research Analyst, Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Seth Cooper</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Amicus Counsel</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Michael Hough</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC Resident Fellow</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">John Eick</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Legislative Analyst, Energy, Environment and Agriculture and Civil Justice Task Forces</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">William Freeland</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Research Analyst, Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Karla Jones</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Director, International and Federal Relations</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Fara Klein</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Research Analyst, Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Briana Mulder</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Policy and Intern Manager</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sean Riley</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Director, Health and Human Services Task Force</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Alex Rued</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Legislative Analyst, Communications and Technology Task Force</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Lindsay Russell</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Director, Education Task Force</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Kati Siconolfi</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Manager, Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">John Stephenson</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Director, Communications and Technology Task Force</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Cara Sullivan</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Director, Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force and Justice Performance Project</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Ed Walton</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Legislative Analyst, Education Task Force and Health and Human Services Task Force</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Jonathan Williams</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Director, Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Ben Wilterdink</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Research Analyst, Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Communications and Public Affairs</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Bill Meierling</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Senior Director, Communications and Public Affairs</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Ashley Varner</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Director, Strategic Communications</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Molly Fuhs</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Manager, Media and Public Relations</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Jordan Conrad</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Manager, Online Community and Engagement</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Tomás Bethencourt</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Coordinator, Public Affairs</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Membership and Development</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Jeff Lambert</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Senior Director of Membership and Development</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sarah McManamon</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Director of Events</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Marie Vulaj</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Director of Nonprofit and Corporate Relations</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Laurel Buckley</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Manager of Corporate and Non-profit Relations</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Brendan Barber</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Coordinator of Corporate and Non-profit Relations</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Joel Dusoe</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Coordinator of Corporate and Non-profit Relations</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Courtney Cook</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Coordinator of Events</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Ngan Nguyen</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Legislative Study, Registration Account Specialist</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Administration</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Lisa Bowen</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Senior Director, Finance and Administration</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Genneya Briscoe</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Manager, Finance and Administration</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Jose ‘Pepe’ Fernandez</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Office Manager</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">703-373-0933</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">lisa cmd: http://www.democracynow.org/2013/12/11/alecs_institutional_corruption_from_backing_apartheid</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">NERMEEN SHAIKH: The secretive American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC, has just ended a week-long meeting in Washington where corporate lobbyists worked with state lawmakers on model bills that will later be introduced in states nationwide. ALEC has reportedly drafted a number of new bills designed to prevent President Obama from cutting emissions, and to weaken state policies promoting clean energy. Another measure would charge homeowners fees for installing their own solar panels. This follows ALEC’s sponsoring of at least 77 energy measures in 34 states last year.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, The Guardian reports new documents reveal ALEC is struggling to re-enlist donors after an exodus prompted by its backing of Florida’s "Stand Your Ground" law. Stand Your Ground initially helped shield George Zimmerman from prosecution for killing Trayvon Martin and was later used in instructions to the jury that acquitted him. According to The Guardian, ALEC has lost nearly 400 state legislators from its network over the past two years and more than 60 major corporate donors. The group is facing a funding shortfall for the first time after losing more than a third of its projected income.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">AMY GOODMAN: Now conservative groups across the United States are apparently planning a coordinated effort in six states to raise money for attacks on public sector rights and services in the key areas of education, healthcare, income tax and workers’ compensation. The proposals were coordinated by the State Policy Network, an alliance of groups that act as incubators of conservative strategy at the state level. In just one example, a proposal from the Illinois Policy Institute outlines a campaign to switch Chicago’s government worker pensions to 401(k)-style retirement plans. A copy of the plan published by The Guardian shows the institute wants to, quote, "leverage the leadership potential of Mayor [Rahm] Emanuel ... as the spark for wider pension changes."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">For more, we go to Washington, where we’re joined by Lisa Graves, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy and publisher of PRWatch.org and ALECExposed.org. Last week, their work featured in a several reports by The Guardian. On Monday, they jointly published anotherstory, "Shilling for Profit: A Case Study of ALEC’s Campaign Against Divestment from Apartheid South Africa." We’ll talk about that in a minute.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">SHOW FULL TRANSCRIPT ›</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Lisa Graves, welcome back to Democracy Now! Talk about your most significant findings in your most recent report.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">LISA GRAVES: Well, I think that the report we did jointly with the People for the American Way organization was the product of a long-standing piece of research we were doing, because this is ALEC’s 40th year, and we thought they ought to be held accountable for all 40 years. What we had discovered in our lengthy research was that ALEC was one of the major movers in the effort to stop the United States from divesting from South Africa and to thwart those policies. And so, we recently published a piece that really goes into detail about how influential ALEC was in pushing the Reagan administration and officials in the Reagan administration to try to thwart efforts to divest from South Africa. It’s quite astounding.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Lisa Graves, what were some of the corporate interests that ALEC was representing at the time, corporations that stood to lose from divestment from apartheid South Africa?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">LISA GRAVES: Well, it’s interesting. It’s some of the same long-standing funders of ALEC, including the oil industry. Exxon is one of those corporations. Also some companies that have not been so widely associated with ALEC, like IBM and others, were funders of ALEC back then. ALEC also had events backed by the diamond industry, with prizes for its legislators backed by the diamond industry. And it was really pushing this corporate—this corporate agenda to stop divestment, because it was going hurt the bottom line because, quite frankly, as people know, apartheid was extremely profitable for companies because the workers had little to no rights. And ALEC was relying on really flawed polling that was put forward by a white professor at an all-white university, claiming that most South Africans didn’t want divestment. It was really an extraordinary campaign, and they were quite successful in getting leaders of the Reagan administration to adopt their policies, to credit them for pushing for the anti-anti-apartheid efforts to oppose—to oppose divestment. And they even reached out to the Reagan administration to try to get rewards for their legislators for pushing this agenda in the states.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Lisa Graves, your report also points out that ALEC had other concerns—in other words, if divestment from South Africa took place, it could also have had implications for corporations and corporate work in the U.S. Could you talk about that, their domestic concerns in the event that divestment had gone through?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">LISA GRAVES: Well, that’s right. This is one of ALEC’s—one of the ways that ALEC has long shilled for the private sector for some of the most powerful corporations in the U.S. and the world. And as Calvin Sloan points out in the piece we published on PRWatch.org yesterday, this is—this was perceived as a threat by these corporations, by these corporate backers of ALEC, because they feared that socially responsible investing and movements to encourage socially responsible investing would take hold in the U.S. So then, even after apartheid fell, even after they failed in their efforts to stop the divestment campaigns, and even after Nelson Mandela was released from prison, from decades in prison, ALEC doubled down and adopted a resolution opposing any kind of socially responsible investing, because, in their view, it would hurt the profits of shareholders and corporations.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">AMY GOODMAN: Your report cites many examples, including a 1983 legislative update that ALECdistributed to its members and partners titled "The States and South Africa: A Study of the Disinvestment Issue," published on ALEC letterhead, distributed to members of the Reagan administration, was very effective. In ALEC’s monthly newsletter in ’84, the organization boasted that in response, quote, "several prominent leaders and groups, including the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Agriculture, the [United States] Trade Representative, and the Secretary of Commerce have gone on record against divestiture." Talk about who those people were. And can you also talk about Dick Cheney in all of this, known as one of the people who opposed taking Nelson Mandela off the terrorist list and calling for his release from jail?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">LISA GRAVES: Well, a number of the people who were active in the Reagan administration were also former legislators who were—who had previously been active in ALEC. So, the web of ALEC that we have helped uncloak with our ALECExposed.org effort that we launched two years ago, we broke that story with The Nation magazine, and we—CMD, my organization, has since worked tirelessly to help make sure people understand what ALEC is up to and how incredibly influential it is to allow these corporations to vote behind closed doors with these lawmakers on legislation, on bills.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC was not—is not just powerful now, although it’s been weakened. ALEC was extremely influential within the Reagan administration. And that’s in part because ALEC operates sort of like a rookie team, in some ways, for Congress, for the administration. A number of people who get trained, who cut their teeth on the legitimacy of having these close ties with corporations, so close that they would allow themselves to vote as equals with corporate lobbyists behind closed doors on bills and measures, get promoted to higher office. They go to Congress. They go into presidential administrations. And so, that was certainly the case with ALEC’s influence within the Reagan administration.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">But in terms of Dick Cheney, I think, as John Nichols of The Nation has also written extensively about in one of his books, Dick Cheney was, you know, unrepentantly opposed to efforts to do divestment—to the divestment campaign. He was opposed to delisting the ANC. He was opposed to basically all of the efforts to get Mandela freed. I think that, you know, that’s one of just many instances of Dick Cheney being on the wrong side of history, being dead wrong, being flat wrong.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">AMY GOODMAN: Let’s talk about ALEC today. Lisa Graves, talk about the loss of sponsors and also members and what’s happening around the country.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">LISA GRAVES: Well, after the tremendous public outcry last year in response to learning about ALEC’s role in pushing the so-called "Stand Your Ground" or "shoot first" legislation into law across the country and how ALEC used to boast about taking credit for getting that law introduced and passed, as we’ve documented, ALEC suffered tremendous losses of its corporate members. It lost General Motors, General Electric. It even lost Wal-Mart. And overall, we had been counting that we—we thought they lost about 50 members, as of earlier this year. ALEC’s own documents, that The Guardian published, indicate that it lost at least 60 corporate members.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">But that wasn’t the end of it. Just this past Wednesday, after news broke about ALEC’s board documents that were leaked to The Guardian, that The Guardian published, and after the incredible—incredibly revealing story in The Guardian on Wednesday about ALEC’s assault on solar energy, Visa dropped out. That was due to the tremendous work of Boston Commons and Quakers and others across the country who have been reaching out to Visa to say, "You should really get out ofALEC."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">So, ALEC is suffering. It’s on the—on the move to try to raise more money. It had a plan in its board documents apparently to not only reach out to the corporations that had left, but to create new revenue streams, to create new so-called task forces, where corporations would vote as equals with lawmakers to try to raise more money. I think the documents illustrate quite conclusively what we’ve been saying all along, that ALEC is one of the biggest pay-to-play operations in the country. I think it’s an institutionalization of corruption.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Lisa Graves, you’ve been monitoring the work of ALEC for a long time. Is such a pullout of funding and supporters in Congress unprecedented for ALEC? And if so, what do you think this might say about changes in the wider political culture? I mean, you pointed out that once, even—even given their opposition to divestment from apartheid South Africa, it didn’t actually change the strength of ALEC. So what accounts for it now, their support for Stand Your Ground as well as opposition to clean energy, etc.? Could you talk a little bit about that?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">LISA GRAVES: Well, ALEC has tried to disavow its role in Stand Your Ground. It no longer has that task force, but it has done nothing to undo the damage done by pushing these bills into law across the country. I think what our work demonstrates, what the work of so many organizations—Color of Change, Common Cause, ProgressNow, Greenpeace, labor unions, citizen groups like VLTP and others who have spoken out about ALEC—I think what that demonstrates is the power of people speaking out. These corporations—many of these corporations do not want to be associated with these controversial policies that they’ve been funding behind closed doors through ALEC for many, many years in numerous instances. And so, I think it shows the power of people speaking up.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">But I think that ALEC—I suppose that in one sense ALEC was right. ALEC was right to say that if divestment campaigns take hold, if people have a sense of power that they can speak out, that they can urge corporations to stop investing in controversial policies or in countries that are pushing such policies, like the extraordinary inhumanity of apartheid, that citizens will be empowered to encourage corporations to do more, to do better. And that’s what’s happened. That’s one of the things thatALEC was afraid of. They were afraid of having citizens be mobilized and shareholders be mobilized to get these companies to stop investing in terrible organizations.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">It turns out that one of those organizations is ALEC, because ALEC has pushed forward this extreme agenda to privatize our schools, privatize Social Security, privatize Medicare and Medicaid, prisons—anything that isn’t nailed down and some things that are. It’s worked to devastate workers’ rights. It has worked to harm the ability of Americans whose family members are killed or injured by corporations to sue and hold those companies accountable. And it even, as you noted and as The Guardian reported, is trying to punish citizens who invest in putting solar energy on their roofs of their homes and that are giving energy back to the grid; they want to penalize them.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">And so, ALEC is really an extreme organization. It’s a pay-to-play organization pushing corporate interests above all else, above our interests. And these lawmakers who are part of it are, in essence, debasing themselves by allowing corporations to have an equal say to themselves at these closed-door ALEC task force meetings, that Dana Milbank pilloried so effectively in The Washington Postthis last week.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the State Policy Network, and what is that all about?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">LISA GRAVES: Well, the State Policy Network is, in some ways, one of the children of ALEC. It is an entity that came about in the mid—in the early 1980s, actually, and really gained steam in the 1990s. It has been operating below the radar screen. What it is is a network of state think tanks—they call themselves think tanks. We have dubbed them "stink tanks" and have launched a site with ProgressNow called StinkTanks.org, so people can find out if there is a think tank in your state that is really pushing the ALEC agenda, that’s basically a handmaiden to the ALEC agenda. And what we’ve documented is that there are 64 of these entities in the states and that they have a total budget of more than $80 million. And they are spending that money to really push these—the ALEC agenda, the corporate agenda and the extreme ideological agenda of some of the wealthiest billionaires in the country, like the Koch brothers and the DeVos family and others.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The Guardian published on Thursday a number of documents that show how these groups coordinate; how they’re working to disrupt the rights of workers; how they’re working in a coordinated way, in many instances, to attack energy, solar energy, and renewable energy policies. It’s quite an extraordinary exposé. I would encourage people to read it, because these groups are super powerful. They’re often quoted in your local news, new stations and in newspapers without any discussion of who they really are and who they back. And what we have documented is how these groups sit alongside those corporate lobbyists in these ALEC task force meetings, vote as equals with state elected officials on these bills before they’re put forward in the state houses to become law. And what The Guardian documented was, in some ways, how these groups are promising to their funders, like the Searle Foundation, that has close ties to a number of big groups in Washington, D.C.—the Searle Foundation—these proposals were telling the Searle Foundation that they would produce policy results, get the law changed. And what we’ve documented on our end is how some of these groups are rewarded for doing that.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">So, the Mackinac Center in Michigan was recently lauded at an SPN event for getting "right to work" passed in Michigan, that extremely controversial law. We looked at the 990s of the Mackinac Institute; it turns out they said they engaged in zero lobbying, not a penny on lobbying, just like ALEChas claimed to the IRS for years that it engages in no lobbying. And we and Common Cause have documented extensively how ALEC has in fact engaged in lobbying. We presented that evidence to the IRS.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">AMY GOODMAN: Let’s talk New Jersey for just one minute. You talked about the Searle Freedom Trust. The Guardian reports one of the grant proposals to this trust came from New Jersey’s Common Sense Institute, a tax-exempt, quote, "research and education organization." It outlines a campaign to support efforts by Republican Governor Chris Christie to end the ability of public employees to claim untaken sick days and vacation leave in their retirement packages. The proposal reads, quote, "Governor Chris Christie has been waging a war to eliminate this practice; and CSINJwould like to provide ammunition" with a "research study" and a "media campaign." When asked if the proposal involved lobbying, the institute said it was, quote, "an education organization focused on providing the public with facts and the truth." Lisa Graves?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">LISA GRAVES: Well, I think what we—what we are looking into is how a number of these groups appear to be engaged in changing the law really directly. It’s not just a think tank. When you think of the words "think tank," often you think of really independent researchers who are thinking about how to solve problems, and they’re doing so from a more academic or rigorous standpoint. What you see in these documents is how so many of these groups are working so closely with elected officials; how they are aiming quite directly to change the law; how, in some instances, they’re bragging about changing the law, and which is—</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">AMY GOODMAN: Let’s talk media.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">LISA GRAVES: Sure.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about who Stephen Moore is, The Guardian report identifying him,The Wall Street Journal editorial writer, as the State Policy Network’s connection to the Searle Freedom Trust?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">LISA GRAVES: Well, this is really, I think, one of the most extraordinary parts of the documents thatThe Guardian published, because what you have is one of the editorial board members of The Wall Street Journal who is sitting on a board, in essence, of—you know, basically making decisions as a board member of—a grant adviser, pardon me, of the Searle Freedom Trust, telling them which of these State Policy Network groups they should fund for this agenda. And Stephen Moore, time and time and time again, has written—has written op-eds and probably contributed to unsigned editorials by The Wall Street Journal promoting these very policies that he—you know, he has perhaps had a hand in influencing. Now, we don’t know how long Moore has been involved with the Searle Freedom Trust. We know that he’s previously been working with one of the Donors—the Donors Trust or Donors Capital groups on some advising. What we do know is that he has extensive ties to ALEC, most of which have not been disclosed by The Wall Street Journal when they editorialize in favor ofALEC or in favor of these SPN group policies. And we think that’s a really serious issue for theJournal to have such close ties, not just from Stephen Moore, but also from others like John Fund and Paul Gigot in the past, to ALEC, and not disclose to their readers how closely Stephen Moore has been aligned with ALEC and is aligned with some of these groups. In fact, it looks like some of these groups turn around and ask Stephen Moore to write reports that advance their agenda.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">AMY GOODMAN: Lisa Graves, we want to thank you for being with us, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy, publisher of PRWatch.org and ALECExposed.org. We’ll link to your reports at democracynow.org. When we come back, the connection between Cuba and the fight for freedom in South Africa.&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">guardian doc leak:&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/05/state-conservative-groups-assault-education-health-tax</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Conservative groups across the US are planning a co-ordinated assault against public sector rights and services in the key areas of education, healthcare, income tax, workers' compensation and the environment,documents obtained by the Guardian reveal.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The strategy for the state-level organisations, which describe themselves as "free-market thinktanks", includes proposals from six different states for cuts in public sector pensions, campaigns to reduce the wages of government workers and eliminate income taxes, school voucher schemes to counter public education, opposition to Medicaid, and a campaign against regional efforts to combat greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The policy goals are contained in a set of funding proposals obtained by the Guardian. The proposals were co-ordinated by the State Policy Network, an alliance of groups that act as incubators of conservative strategy at state level.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The documents contain 40 funding proposals from 34 states, providing a blueprint for the conservative agenda in 2014. In partnership with the Texas Observer and the Portland Press Herald in Maine, the Guardian is publishing SPN's summary of all the proposals to give readers and news outlets full and fair access to state-by-state conservative plans that could have significant impact throughout the US, and to allow the public to reach its own conclusions about whether these activities comply with the spirit of non-profit tax-exempt charities.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Details of the co-ordinated approach come amid growing federal scrutiny of the political activities of tax-exempt charities. Last week the Obama administration announced a new clampdown on those groups that violate tax rules by engaging in direct political campaigning.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Most of the "thinktanks" involved in the proposals gathered by the State Policy Network are constituted as 501(c)(3) charities that are exempt from tax by the Internal Revenue Service. Though the groups are not involved in election campaigns, they are subject to strict restrictions on the amount of lobbying they are allowed to perform. Several of the grant bids contained in the Guardian documents propose the launch of "media campaigns" aimed at changing state laws and policies, or refer to "advancing model legislation" and "candidate briefings", in ways that arguably cross the line into lobbying.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The documents also cast light on the nexus of funding arrangements behind radical rightwing campaigns. The State Policy Network (SPN) has members in each of the 50 states and an annual warchest of $83m drawn from major corporate donors that include the energy tycoons the Koch brothers, the tobacco company Philip Morris, food giant Kraft and the multinational drugs company GlaxoSmithKline.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">SPN gathered the grant proposals from the 34 states on 29 July. Ranging in size from requests of $25,000 to $65,000, the plans were submitted for funding to the Searle Freedom Trust, a private foundation that in 2011 donated almost $15m to largely rightwing causes.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The trust, founded in 1998, draws on the family fortune of the late Dan Searle of the GD Searle & Company empire – now part of Pfizer – which created NutraSweet. The trust is a major donor to such mainstays of the American right and the Tea Parties as Americans for Prosperity, the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec), the Heartland Institute and the State Policy Network itself.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">SPN's link to Searle, the Guardian documents show, was Stephen Moore, an editorial writer with the Wall Street Journal. Moore, who advises Searle on its grant-giving activities, was asked by SPN to rank the proposals in two halves – a "top 20" and "bottom 20". It is not known how many of the 40 proposals were approved for funding, nor which may have been successful.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Moore told the Guardian that he is an unpaid adviser to the Searle Foundation, having been a lifetime family friend to Dan Searle. He said the grant decisions were made by Searle's sons and grandsons based upon the late businessman's "commitment to the advancement of free enterprise and individual rights".</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The proposals in the grant bids contained in the Guardian documents go beyond a commitment to free enterprise, however. They include:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">• "reforms" to public employee pensions raised by SPN thinktanks in Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">• tax elimination or reduction schemes in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Maryland, Nebraska and New York;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">• an education voucher system to promote private and home schooling in Florida;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">• campaigns against worker and union rights in Delaware and Nevada;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">• opposition to Medicaid in Georgia, North Carolina and Utah.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">SPN's president, Tracie Sharp, told the Guardian that "as a pro-freedom network of thinktanks, we focus on issues like workplace freedom, education reform, and individual choice in healthcare: backbone issues of a free people and a free society."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In its grant bid, the Maine Heritage Policy Center asked for $35,000 to support a "research and demonstration project" that would "release residents from extreme government dependency". It would turn the state's poorest area into what the Portland Press Herald describes in its report from Washington County as "a gigantic tax-free zone".</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The Guardian [1] / By Suzanne Goldenberg [2], Ed Pilkington [3]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Assault on Clean Energy Revealed: How ALEC-Inpsired Laws Plans to Charge Homeowners Who Install Solar</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">December 5, 2013 &nbsp;| &nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">An alliance of corporations and conservative activists is mobilising to penalise homeowners who install their own solar panels – casting them as "freeriders" – in a sweeping new offensive against renewable energy [4], the Guardian has learned.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Over the coming year, the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) will promote legislation with goals ranging from penalising individual homeowners and weakening state clean energy [5] regulations, to blocking the Environmental Protection Agency, which is Barack Obama's main channel for climate action.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Details of Alec's strategy to block clean energy development at every stage – from the individual rooftop to the White House – are revealed as the group gathers for its policy summit in Washington this week.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">About 800 state legislators and business leaders are due to attend the three-day event, which begins on Wednesday with appearances by the Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson and the Republican budget guru and fellow Wisconsinite Paul Ryan.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Other Alec speakers will be a leading figure behind the recent government shutdown, US senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and the governors of Indiana and Wyoming, Mike Pence and Matt Mead.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">For 2014, Alec plans to promote a suite of model bills and resolutions aimed at blocking Barack Obama from cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and state governments from promoting the expansion of wind and solar power[6] through regulations known as Renewable Portfolio Standards.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Documents obtained by the Guardian [7] show the core elements of its strategy began to take shape at the previous board meeting in Chicago in August, with meetings of its energy, environment and agriculture subcommittees.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Further details of Alec's strategy were provided by John Eick, the legislative analyst for Alec's energy, environment and agriculture program.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Eick told the Guardian the group would be looking closely in the coming year at how individual homeowners with solar panels are compensated for feeding surplus electricity back into the grid.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"This is an issue we are going to be exploring," Eick said. He said Alec wanted to lower the rate electricity companies pay homeowners for direct power generation – and maybe even charge homeowners for feeding power into the grid.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"As it stands now, those direct generation customers are essentially freeriders on the system. They are not paying for the infrastructure they are using. In effect, all the other non direct generation customers are being penalised," he said.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Eick dismissed the suggestion that individuals who buy and install home-based solar panels had made such investments. "How are they going to get that electricity from their solar panel to somebody else's house?" he said. "They should be paying to distribute the surplus electricity."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In November, Arizona became the first state to charge customers for installing solar panels. The fee, which works out to about $5 a month for the average homeowner, was far lower than that sought by the main electricity company, which was seeking to add up to $100 a month to customers' bills.&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Gabe Elsner, director of the Energy and Policy Institute, said the attack on small-scale solar was part of the larger Alec project to block clean energy. "They are trying to eliminate pro-solar policies in the states to protect utility industry profits," he said.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The group sponsored at least 77 energy bills in 34 states last year. The measures were aimed at opposing renewable energy standards, pushing through the Keystone XL pipeline project, and barring oversight on fracking, according to an analysis by the Centre for Media and Democracy.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Until now, the biggest target in Alec's sights were state Renewable Portfolio Standards, which require electricity companies to source a share of their power from wind, solar, biomass, or other clean energy. Such measures are seen as critical to reducing America's use of coal and oil, and to the fight against climate change [8]. RPS are now in force in 30 states.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In 2012, Alec drafted a model bill pushing for the outright repeal of RPS.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In the confidential materials, prepared for the August board meeting, Alec claimed to have made significant inroads against such clean energy policies in 2013.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"Approximately 15 states across the country introduced legislation to reform, freeze or repeal their state's renewable mandate," the taskforce reported.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">That compares to model bills in just seven states in support of the hot-button issue of the Keystone XL pipeline, according to figures in the documents.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"This legislative year has seen the most action on renewable mandates to date," the documents said.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Three of those states – North Carolina, Ohio, and Kansas – saw strong pushes by conservative groups to reverse clean energy regulations this year.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">None of those efforts passed, however, with signs of strong local support for wind farms and other clean energy projects that were seen as good for the economy – from Republicans [9] as well as Democrats.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">By August, Alec evidently decided its hopes of winning outright repeal of RPS standards was overly ambitious.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">At its meeting in August, Alec put forward an initiative that would allow utility companies to import clean energy from other states – rather than invest in new, greener generation.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">An "explanatory note" prepared for the meeting admitted: "One model policy may be the right fit for one state but not work for another".</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Elsner argued that after its bruising state battles in 2013, Alec was now focused on weakening – rather than seeking outright repeal – of the clean energy standards.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"What we saw in 2013 was an attempt to repeal RPS laws, and when that failed … what we are seeing now is a strategy that appears to be pro- clean energy but would actually weaken those pro- clean energy laws by retreating to the lowest common denominator," he said.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The other key agenda item for Alec's meeting this week is the EPA. The group is looking at two proposals to curb the agency's powers – one to shut the EPA out of any meaningful oversight of fracking, and the other to block action on climate change.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">A model bill endorsed by the Alec board of directors last August would strip the EPA of power to shut down a frack site or oil industry facility.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">That would leave oversight of an industry that has to date fracked 2m wells in 20 states to a patchwork of local authorities that have vastly different standards of environmental protection.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The model bill would explicitly bar the EPA from shutting down any oil or gas well or facility in any of them, limiting the agency's capacity to enforce the clean water and clean air acts.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"The legislature declares that the United States [10] Environmental Protection Agency … lacks the authority to deny permits of operation to these oil and gas wells and facilities," the bill reads.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Eick said the bill was in keeping with the group's broader philosophy of expanding power to the states.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"A national regulatory agency might impose a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all regulation on states in many instances," he said.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The meeting will also focus on Obama's plan, announced last June, to use the EPA to limit greenhouse gas emissions from future and existing power plants.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"The EPA's forthcoming regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and specifically carbon emissions [11] from power plants will be of incredible interest to states and membership so we are going to be focusing on that. Absolutely," Eick said.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Power plants are the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for about 40% last year. The EPA last September proposed new standards for future power plants, and will tighten limits for existing power plants next June.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"It just shows that Alec uses lawmakers as lobbyists to block climate legislation at every turn," said Connor Gibson, a researcher for Greenpeace. "They try to undermine the authority of agencies that have the power potentially to control carbon pollution, so whenever there is a new EPA rule that pops up, they re-tool their arsenal of model bills to make sure they are blocking the new rule."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The resolution on the EPA for Alec members' consideration this week argues that requiring tougher standards from the next generation of power plants lead to spikes in electricity prices and would damage the economy.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"Alec is very concerned about the potential economic impact of greenhouse gas regulation on electricity prices and the harm EPA regulations may have on the economic recovery," the resolution reads.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Environmental lawyers said the resolution amounted to a "new manifesto" against the EPA regulating carbon pollution. "They don't want the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions," said Ann Weeks, legal director for the Clean Air Task Force.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">She disputed a number of claims within the Alec resolution – including the assertion that reducing carbon pollution would lead to an 80% rise in electricity prices. Economic analyses by the EPA and others have suggested those rises would be fairly limited.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"They will probably tell you they don't want the EPA to regulate anything so it is in their interest to turn what the EPA has proposed into something that is grotesque and unreasonable, which I don't think is true," Weeks said.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">See more stories tagged with:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">alec [12],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">clean energy [13],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">wind [14],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">solar [15],</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">energy [16]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Source URL: http://www.alternet.org/environment/assault-clean-energy-revealed-how-alec-inpsired-laws-plans-charge-homeowners-who-install</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Links:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[2] http://www.alternet.org/authors/suzanne-goldenberg</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[3] http://www.alternet.org/authors/ed-pilkington</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[4] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/renewableenergy</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[5] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/energy</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[6] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/solarpower</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[7] https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/842268-alec-2013-annual-meeting-policy-report.html</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[8] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-change</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[9] http://www.theguardian.com/world/republicans</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[10] http://www.theguardian.com/world/usa</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[11] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/carbon-emissions</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[12] http://www.alternet.org/tags/alec</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[13] http://www.alternet.org/tags/clean-energy</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[14] http://www.alternet.org/tags/wind</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[15] http://www.alternet.org/tags/solar</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[16] http://www.alternet.org/tags/energy-0</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[17] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">kate s huffpo</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Chevron And ALEC Take On The Big, Bad Lesser Prairie Chicken</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">WASHINGTON –- The American Legislative Exchange Council and Chevron are teaming up to spread awareness of what they say is a serious threat to energy development in the U.S.: the lesser prairie chicken.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Chevron is a sponsor of a workshop scheduled for Friday as part of ALEC's policy summit in Washington, D.C., looking at the alleged hardship the 1973 Endangered Species Act imposes on energy developers. The panel, as described in a planning document, will examine how the law "often negatively impacts and stifles energy development of all kinds."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In particular, the description of the panel singles out the lesser prairie chicken, which is being considered for protection under the law. The lesser prairie chicken is a bird species in the grouse family, native to the grasslands of Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas -- areas the energy industry is keen on developing, in particular for oil drilling. The description of the ALEC panel says it will look at how "a particular market-based plan would allow for further energy development while protecting the habitats of the lesser prairie chicken."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The Center for Media and Democracy received the planning document in response to a Freedom of Information Act request for emails and documents related to ALEC that the center made to Texas state Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford), a member of ALEC'sboard of directors. CMD identified one of the companies that is sponsoring the panel because the file was labeled in part "Chevron." According to the document, the cost of sponsoring the panel is $25,000.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The document provides a small window into the inner workings of ALEC. The influential policy organization brings together conservative lawmakers and corporate interests, who then work together to produce model bills that can be used by state legislatures across the country. Because ALEC operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, it does not have to disclose its donors.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"Consistent with IRS code, ALEC does not disclose its donors. However, as you have obtained FOIAed documents, I can confirm that Chevron is among the many sponsors of the workshop in question," Molly Fuhs, a spokeswoman for ALEC, told The Huffington Post via email.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Fuhs said that, although Chevron is among several sponsors paying for the panel, ALEC's legislative members requested that the panel be included in the conference schedule. "ALEC legislative members requested a discussion on the issue referenced, and in turn, ALEC legislative members approached a variety of companies to seek sponsorship. While ALEC does work with public and private members to craft the general focus of each workshop, ALEC staff and member legislators maintain supervisory control," Fuhs said. "Essentially no discussions take place at ALEC that are not requested and governed by legislators."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"The panel is a good opportunity to educate interested parties on the ESA and discuss how this important federal issue could potentially impact the states," said Justin Higgs, a spokesman for Chevron. He also said that the topic was broader than just the lesser prairie chicken. "The panel is designed to be a broad discussion on the ESA, not one that is focused on any specific species."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC's critics say that this is a good example of how ALEC operates. "It provides its corporate sponsors with the opportunity to reach state legislators from every state in the country," said Nick Surgey, director of research at the Center for Media and Democracy.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">So what do Chevron and ALEC's members have against the lesser prairie chicken?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The bird is known for its brown- and white-striped feathers and the males' unique mating dance. The chicken is a draw for birders, and it even has its own annual festival in Oklahoma. But the bird's population has been on the decline for years, due to habitat destruction and drought. A study released in September found that the bird population had declined from 34,440 in 2012 to 17,616 in 2013. Environmental groups have sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to push the agency to add the chicken to the list of protected species under the Endangered Species Act. The government is expected to make a final decision on the lesser prairie chicken by March 2014.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The possible designation is what has piqued the interest of energy companies like Chevron. They're worried that listing the bird as threatened or endangered might impede their ability to drill for oil in places that are considered protected habitat. Chevron and other oil companies have been pushing for an alternative to a listing under the federal law, and have instead proposed a voluntary, state-level conservation effort. Chevron was also among the companies involved in developing a proposal for a voluntary habitat exchange in Texas. The proposal would allow companies to drill in one area in exchange for making efforts to conserve bird habitat in another area. Chevron told the Wall Street Journal that it likes this option because it "allows creative solutions that benefit both landowners and the lesser prairie chicken." The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies offered up a formal plan to that effect, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has endorsed.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">But wildlife advocates say that the plan would not do enough to protect the lesser prairie chicken. "[The plan] essentially locks the lesser prairie chicken into small, postage-stamp size areas of habitat that are too small to support reproductive populations, and it will effectively preclude their recovery," said Jay Lininger, a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">At this point, Lininger said, it seems likely that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will go forward with the proposed state-level conservation plan and won't formally list the bird. He compared the lesser prairie chicken's plight to that of the dunes sagebrush lizard, another recent case in the same region. Oil and gas interests fought to keep the lizard species off the endangered list and won.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"The Obama administration routinely bends to industry pressure," Lininger said. "Whenever it has the chance to do the right thing, it bends over and gives industry its way, especially on endangered species issues."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">As freshly reported by the Huffington Post, ALEC is winding down a year of mostly failed attacks on clean energy laws, concluding with the ongoing final battle to weaken Ohio’s renewable portfolio standardand energy efficiency incentives.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">A new report by Progress Now, co-released by Greenpeace and several other organizations that bring sunlight to ALEC’s dirty work, outlines ALEC’s attacks on state clean energy laws in 2013, as well as bills to keep fracking chemicals secret from the public, its work to promote the Keystone XL pipeline and its work to end regional greenhouse gas reduction programs. At least 77 of ALEC’s anti-environmental bills hit the statehouses this year.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Now, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is working on new model laws to protect its polluting member companies that participate in ALEC’s Energy, Environment and Agriculture task force (EEA).</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">For the first time, ALEC has posted the task force agendas for its States and Nation Policy Summit in Washington, DC this December. In a post on PR Watch, the Center for Media and Democracy notes how ALEC carefully omitted information that could be used to hold their secretive operations accountable, such as which ALEC members are sponsoring the new model bills.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Here is a quick overview of ALEC’s anti-environmental agenda for its upcoming EEA task force meeting in Washington, DC:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Newly Drafted Model Resolutions</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Updating Net Metering Policies Resolution (p. 11)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">This bill would make it more costly for people and businesses that produce their own electricity and feeding it back into the electric grid–typically with their own installed solar panels–to pay utilities for using the grid…even though they’re offering up extra electricity generated at their homes or businesses. Net metering helps decentralize energy production and encourages the growth of clean energy (especially solar), among other benefits.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The intentions of this bill reflect recent conflict in Arizona, where ALEC member* utility Arizona Public Service (APS) has financially supported Koch-funded front groups running attack advertisements against rooftop solar power in AZ.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">*APS lobbyist Jessica Pacheco told the Arizona Capital Times that it left ALEC last year. I spotted Ms. Pacheco at ALEC’s annual meeting in Chicago last August. It is possible she paid just to attend the conference. It’s possible APS’ holding company Pinnacle West never left ALEC, or it’s possible that APS lied to the Capital Times just likeAPS lied to Huffington Post about funding the anti-solar ads.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Resolution in Response to EPA’s Plan to Regulate Greenhouse Gases under the Clean Air Act (p. 7)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">and</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Resolution Concerning EPA Proposed Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards for New and Existing Fossil-Fueled Power Plants (pp. 8-10)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">These two draft resolutions are the newest in ALEC’s ongoing work to block policy solutions to climate change, mainly by slowing down the inevitable phaseout of carbon pollution from coal plants. The new language simply updates ALEC’s previous resolutions to prevent the US Environmental Protection Agency from controlling greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The latter resolution against greenhouse gas emission reduction includes more specific references to EPA’s New Source Performance Standards and the development of Carbon Capture and Storage technology. ALEC member utilities will likely argue behind the scenes over this language at next month’s meeting since some ALEC members are already developing CCS, and the ALEC resolution lambasts the technology.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">This ironically includes American Electric Power–the company that co-chairs ALEC’s Energy, Environment and Agriculture task force–and Duke Energy, whose Edwardsport coal plant may be expanded to include CCS technology. Edwardsport was more than a billion dollars over budget, with customers footing $2.6 billion of the 3.5 billion bill.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Presentations</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC’s presentations often indicate which topics they’ll have model bills for in the future, as they are spending time at their conference paying special attention to these issues, based on the priorities of their corporate members and sister groups in the State Policy Network.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC’s posted agendas do not name the people or organizations that will be leading these discussions–something that is included in private versions of ALEC’s 35-day mailings.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">On December 6th, ALEC will have several presentations involving fracking and natural gas (pp. 5-6)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“Natural Gas as a Motor Fuel”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“New Member Introduction: America’s Natural Gas Alliance.” ANGA was founded with help from the disgracedformer CEO of Chesapeake Energy, Aubrey McClendon. Chesapeake Energy is an ALEC member and one of the largest fracking companies in the United States.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“EPA’s Adversarial Oversight of States’ Regulatory Regimes for “Fracking,” and What It Means for the Future”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“Discussion: Gauging Interest for Future Natural Gas, Hydraulic Fracturing, and Pipeline Symposium”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC will also have a presentation on “EPA Approaches to Regulate Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Power Plants,” another on “Alarmism and the Science of Chemical Risk,” and a special “EPA Strategy Session,” on December 4th.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Retiring Old Bills</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">With two new model resolutions against EPA regulation of greenhouse gases on ALEC’s agenda, ALEC plans to retire its older version of the “Resolution in Opposition to EPA’s Plan to Regulate Greenhouse Gases under the Clean Air Act” (see p. 13).</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In addition to the older version of its resolution against EPA regulation of greenhouse gases, ALEC also plans to retire a model resolution promoting offshore oil and gas drilling. This is largely in response to the Obama administration’s cooperation with the oil industry over opening up more of the U.S. coast to drilling.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The article originally appeared in Greenpeace blog.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Yelp Joins With Advocacy Group ALEC to Fight SLAPP Lawsuits</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The advocacy group ALEC, known for promoting conservative-friendly Stand Your Ground and voter ID laws, is now working with Yelp and other tech companies to push a different agenda.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">by Ben Jacobs &nbsp;| August 15, 2013 4:45 AM EDT</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The American Legislative Exchange Councilonce faced a backlash for its support of Stand Your Ground and voter ID laws, losing Coca-Cola and Kraftas members. Now the advocacy group is working with companies such as Google, Facebook, and Yelp, and taking more civil libertarian stances on technology issues than it has in the past.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">a presentationto ALEC’s civil justice task force urging the group to consider adopting model legislation on strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPPs. If approved, the anti-SLAPP policy would have to be ratified by ALEC’s communications and technology task force, which includes representatives from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Yahoo. (The first two companies have not previously been reported to be involved with ALEC and have not responded to requests for comment.)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">PDF). ALEC member companies pay annual dues and can sit on task forces where they can propose, debate, and vote on model bills with state legislators. Once approved by ALEC, the model legislation is introduced and often passed in statehouses across the country.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Legal,</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">U.S. Politics,</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Business,</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">lobby</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Related Sections:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas Files Brief in Opposition to ALEC's Effort to Evade Open Records Law (PRWatch)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">CMD Fights Back Against ALEC's Effort to Evade Open Records Law in Texas(PRWatch)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC declares itself exempt from public-disclosure laws, and is challenged (Minnesota Post)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Fort Worth lawmaker tries to block request for information on dealings with conservative group (The Dallas Morning News)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">After Student Protests, Sallie Mae Becomes 50th Corporation to Dump ALEC</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">by Brendan Fischer — September 9, 2013 - 8:34am</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Topics: Activism, Corporations, Democracy, Education, Politics</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Projects: ALEC Exposed</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Share/Save Share this</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Sallie Mae has dropped its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) after a student-led campaign demanding that the nation's largest student loan lender cut ties with the controversial organization. Sallie Mae is the 50th corporation to publicly drop its ALEC membership in the past year-and-a-half as the organization has come under increasing public scrutiny.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"It's a terrific victory for the students, community members, and unions members that were involved," said Chris Hicks, Student Debt Campaign Organizer at Jobs With Justice. "It's no accident that Sallie Mae has decided to leave ALEC -- from the shareholder meeting in May and the meeting students and graduates had with CEO Jack Remondi in June to the nearly 15,000 petition signatures gathered in August, students have shown Sallie Mae they are serious about their demands and are not going away."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Many students and young people were outraged that a company that profits from student debt would use their loan payments to fund ALEC, which (among other things) works to make the education system a for-profit endeavor and advances laws that make it harder for many college students to vote.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In August, before ALEC's Annual Meeting in Chicago, organizers with the Student Labor Action Project, Jobs With Justice, and the United States Students Association gathered nearly 15,000 signatures on a petitiondemanding Sallie Mae drop its ALEC membership. A few months earlier, in May,at least 200 student activists protested outside Sallie Mae's annual shareholder meeting, demanding that it end its relationship with ALEC and increase transparency about its other lobbying and political activities. CEO Jack Remondi agreed to meet with students the following month, but at the time appeared to reject their demands.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The announcement that Sallie Mae dumped ALEC came quietly, in a September 7 article in the Delaware News-Journal.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"The noise level was distracting from the original business purpose," Martha Holler, a senior vice president at Sallie Mae, told the News-Journal. "We will pursue other venues in which to share our collections expertise with state and local governments, and hopefully now our discussions with students ... can focus on what matters most to us all, the success of our education loan customers."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"There is much more work to be done, but this is definitely a first step to hold Sallie Mae accountable for their business practices that we can all celebrate," Hicks said.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC Increasingly Focused on Higher Education</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">For decades, ALEC has promoted the privatization of K-12 education through voucher programs that re-route taxpayer dollars to for-profit schools. But it has increasingly focused on imposing the same privatization agenda on higher education, with bills like the "College Opportunity Fund Act" that essentially create a taxpayer-funded voucher for for-profit and religious schools.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">And, ALEC has adopted several bills to impose a standardized testing regime on public colleges and universities, which on the K-12 level has altered the classroom dynamic and interfered with teaching, for example with "The Collegiate Learning Assessment Bill," which was considered at ALEC's August meeting in Chicago.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC still counts among its members Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit college chain that operates campuses under names like Everest, Heald, and WyoTech. Corinthian has become notorious for aggressive recruiting practices and leaving students unprepared for the job market and saddled with massive student loan debts. Nationally, over 40 percent of Corinthian's students default on their loans, and only 60% of students complete their coursework.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Perhaps not surprisingly, ALEC has a "Resolution in Support of Private Sector Colleges and Universities."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Youth Activists Focus On ALEC</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Student opposition to ALEC is not limited to its role in higher education.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC has helped advance the strict voter ID laws that have swept the country in recent years, which make it harder to vote for many young people who don't have the forms of identification required under the laws. Student activists have also singled-out ALEC's opposition to living wage standards, which makes it more difficult to work through school, and bills that make young people (particularly young people of color) less safe, such as Stand Your Ground laws and bills like the "Campus Personal Protection Act" that promote guns on college campuses.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The Dream Defenders occupied Florida Governor Rick Scott's offices for weeks earlier this summer demanding a repeal of the state's ALEC-approved Stand Your Ground law. And that group and others involved with the We Got Next coalition marched on ALEC's offices on August 23, the day before the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"We're tired of how [ALEC] has manipulated the legislative process, and we want to let them know we won't continue to stand by," said Kim Moore, an activist and organizer with We Got Next.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">With the departure of Sallie Mae, at least 50 corporations and six nonprofits have publicly cut ties to ALEC since the Center for Media and Democracy launched ALECexposed.org in 2011 (although Wells Fargo hasrecently begun funding the group again).</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">http://www.prwatch.org/node/12237</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">press2:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Similarly, Mark Pocan signed up for ALEC and did some video-recording at its New Orleans conference &nbsp;[doubly not welcome because the was a Democrat and gay ; sleazy trick against partner] (and someone leaked a vast trove of documents to Graves).</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Because these meetings are important and secret (decisions that are going to affect us all), journalists have of course attempted to cover them. &nbsp;[even presumably public conventions such as Democratic and GOP have private aspects, exclusive parties in skyboxes, billionaire daughter cold-cocked a cameraman? &nbsp;Amy Goodman DN and two producers arrested, hurt?]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Center for Media and Democracy launched its ALECWatch portal, but two prominent members assured the public it was not secretive, so CMD’s Eric Carlson, headed off to New Orleans for ALEC's 38th Annual Conference August 2011.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“After filling out my registration form to receive press credentials, I was told by an alarmed ALEC intern to wait while she fetched her boss. While I did not think she had ever heard my name, the look on her face made me think that perhaps she had heard of our new project ALEC Exposed.org. A very stern looking gentleman -- Ted Wagnon of Vox Global Communications -- arrived and told me my application would be denied on the grounds that the Center for Media and Democracy was an "advocacy organization." &nbsp;I asked Wagnon for a written explanation, and he handed me ALEC's Media Policy, which bears no mention of "advocacy organizations." Instead, news outlets funded by a "think-tank, political party, lobbying organization, trade association, or corporation" are forbidden from registering. &nbsp;CMD complies with this criteria even though most media outlets (owned by major corporations) do not.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Discouraged by &nbsp;dismissal from the registration table, but not defeated, I headed to the Marriott hotel lobby to do some writing and ALEC sightseeing. I was greeted by there by a contracted security guard with no hotel affiliation, and told to leave. I asked if I was being kicked out of the hotel, to which replied that I would be removed if I didn't depart immediately. I left, a bit miffed. A quick phone call later in the day to Marriott management confirmed that I by sitting in the lobby filing a story I had not violated any of the hotel's rules, and would be welcome back in the lobby the next day.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Thursday morning I sat down once again in the Marriott lobby, where I decided to start tweeting the names of some of the ALEC corporate lobbyists. Apparently tweets like, "South Carolina Rep. Liston Barfield #spotted at #ALEC Annual Meeting. He's wearing a name tag that says 'Legacy Member'" and "Some legislators have 'New Member' ribbons attached to their name tags. Makes it easier for the corporations to track them down" drew the attention of ALEC's communications team. A senior staffer raced towards me, asked if I was Eric Carlson, and then screamed "that's him!” (See the offensive tweets here).</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Marriott security guards swarmed to where I was standing, demanding again that I leave the hotel or "face arrest." I escaped before they could follow through on their other promise of taking my picture for their permanent records. My only comfort? Al Jazeera English was also denied credentials on the grounds that ALEC was not an “international” conference -- even though it has an International Relations Task Force whose priority results in the offshoring of U.S. jobs and even though international politicians were addressing the conference….</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The hypocrisy of ALEC's media policy is astonishing. Not only are vast majority of news organizations owned by major media corporations (perhaps with the exception of Al Jazeera), but the majority of ALEC's conference events and even speaker are sponsored by Fortune 500 firms and trade associations. Governor Bobby Jindal was sponsored by big PhRMA. Dick Armey by Visa. I am not kidding.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC: May 2012 hired Edelman (formerly greenwash/astroturf but now more offensive?) &nbsp;Edelman courts [cf junkets] for bloggers to spread their messages, but also because they are especially good at character assassination [those of you who are tech savvy and around for a long time will know the concepts of “trolls” and flame-wars” though the terms are less au courrant, the practices live on]. For example,</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“ALEC in May 2012, PRWeek reported that ALEC had hired the notorious global PR firm Edelman. Edelman is the firm of choice for big tobacco, big oil, and big pharma, all key sponsors of ALEC. ALEC also held a special meeting asking right-wing bloggers, such as the Breitbart operation, for help in "a very aggressive campaign to really spread the word about what we actually do," as CMD has reported.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">An "aggressive campaign" is clearly underway. &nbsp; ALEC's note to legislators claims that CMD's "top investigative reporter” Beau Hodai &nbsp;has a "lengthy criminal background." It links to a attack-piece published by a newly created entity called The Washington Free Beacon(WFB), the online publication of the self-proclaimed "conservative advocacy group" the Center for American Freedom.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In that piece, recent college grad CJ Ciaramella focuses on Beau Hodai, a freelance reporter who has written for the Center for Media and Democracy, In These Times, Prison Legal News, Extra! (a publication of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), and the investigative news publication he founded, DBA Press.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Beau has been researching and reporting on ALEC since late 2009. His reporting has detailed the relationship between ALEC and private prison contractors in the dissemination of bills based on Arizona's SB 1070, and has identified ALEC as one of the key forces behind attempts to destroy public employee unions and privatize public services.” A hit piece was done on Lee Fang as well, who was forcibly ejected from the hotel hosting the ALEC convention in New Orleans. &nbsp;Oklahoma City &nbsp;May 2013 CMD’s Nick Surgey had his newly issued press credentials taken away and he was thrown out of the hotel by a police officer when ALEC &nbsp;found him on their rap sheet of eight personas non grata, half of which were CND but included Fang and people from citizens rights organizations such as &nbsp;People for the American Way and Checks and Balances. &nbsp;Then a citizen group that had rented a room in the hotel to show a big Moyers segment on ALEC had their reservation cancelled because ALEC contract had a clause saying they had control of all rooms in the hotel (the meeting was moved to a room sometimes used as a hockey rink, with appropriate temperature; ALEC never used the original room; unclear why ALEC’s contract trumps that of the civic group; may be clarified in lawsuit.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">---</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In January &nbsp;2012 &nbsp;CMD’s Beau Hodai went to Westin Kierland Resort and Spa for American Legislative Exchange Council’s 2011 States and Nation Policy Summit and registered as a guest of the hotel. &nbsp;He passed uniformed local police scrutinizing photos that ALEC supplied who were persona non grata. &nbsp;The following day after conferring with the cops who had been watching him in the bar, Phil Black, director of Kierland's security team, took him outside with cops behind him.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">“Once outside the bar, we were joined by the cops and I was shuffled up the stairs.” What’s this all about?" I asked with Black facing me; a cop to either side, just behind me.” We understand that you've attempted to enter ALEC events and been asked to leave numerous times," said Black. This was not true. I had been on my best behavior. And, I had known, since my first meeting with Black the night before, that I was being watched.” &nbsp;He had wandered into a ballroom and been asked to stay in common area, though no sign it was a private function. “ "Nevertheless," said Black. "The ALEC people don't want you here ... and we understand that your reservations were made under false pretenses."… And, how could a person even make a hotel reservation under false pretenses, I asked. I had given the front desk my valid photo driver's license and my credit card for incidental expenses. I was planning to stay in the resort for two days and those two days had been paid for by the Center for Media and Democracy(CMD).... "False pretenses?"</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Black would not elaborate further, limiting his conversation only to statements emphasizing the resort's urgent need for me to vacate the premises immediately.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Black said that he would--with the help of these nice police officers--escort me up to my room and help me pack.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">I was, as Sgt. Lowe explained, being "trespassed"--which meant that I was being formally advised that I was not welcome on Kierland property. If I returned, or refused to leave following this advisory, I would be arrested and charged with criminal trespassing.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">… On November 30, the first full-fledged day of the conference, rows of police in full riot gear stood along Kierland's eastern gate, providing a living buffer between the public and the guests at the posh hotel. Helicopters swarmed above the resort. Flanking both entrances were assembled a couple hundred protesters decrying undue corporate influence over elected lawmakers. These protesters were from several activist groups loosely united under the banner of "Occupy ALEC"--in most part an offshoot of "Occupy Phoenix" and a group known as "AZ-Resist."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Inside the resort ALEC conventioneers gathered for lunch and a speech by ALEC alum and Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer . &nbsp;Brewer welcomed the conventioneers to Arizona, “the state too strong for any union sponsored boycotts to bring down! And their presence is so eloquently so in demonstrating. They're out there ... they're out there," said Brewer scornfully. "Anyway, thank you all for coming today. And thank you to all you from the business community, I certainly thank you for your private sector sponsorship." Recently retired Louisiana State Representative and outgoing ALEC national chairman, Noble Ellington (who proclaimed to NPR the meetings were open), claimed the protests showed ALEC was doing something right…”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC Director of Communications Kaitlyn Buss then sang the national anthem. &nbsp;By the time Buss hit her high note, "For the land of the Freeeeeeeeee...," Phoenix police officers were treating protesters outside to the second round of pepper spray of the day. &nbsp;Betsy Schuler, a former school teacher, was pepper sprayed as officers were moving barricades into the crowd. Schuler said an officer reached over the barricade and started pepper spraying the non-violent protesters. Schuler got a face full of the stuff. The officer, recalled Schuler, stood behind police barricades, smiling smugly. &nbsp;Schuler was a part of a delegation of Unitarian Universalists who had joined the protests as peacekeepers.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">According to Phoenix Police Department spokesman Sgt. Trent Crump, the first of a series of confrontations between the police and the protesters had occurred a few hours earlier that morning . According to Bret "Buddha" Cary, a small business owner and an organizer with Occupy Phoenix, a group of anarchists had brought a large black canvas banner ("Shut Down ALEC") supported by a framework. &nbsp;The anarchist moved toward the front of the protests and put the banner between the police and the protesters.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">At first, police tried to push the banner back with their own barricade. Eventually, an officer reached over the police barricade and grabbed hold of the banner, tearing it apart. The cop then began throwing pieces of the banner back at the protesters. &nbsp;A protester screamed, "No! No! No!" as pepper spray was sent out in bright orange streams to the crowd. Cary and others tried to obtain the name of the officer who had reached over the barricade and grabbed the banner but the officer would not divulge his name and retreated to Westin grounds, smiling smugly at the protesters from a distance. Following the incident, Cary filed a complaint with PPD internal affairs. He has received no response to his complaint. [Occupy media Ezra, real-time plainclothes]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Bob Ortega, of the Arizona Republic although credentialed, was nearly arrested when he stepped outside the gate.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"Mr. Hodai was considered to be a persona non grata from the conference,"[hotel GM] Lange told Ward ("America's Secret Political Power [7]," Toronto Star, December 17, 2011). "Not by the hotel, not by the police. ... He clearly presented a threat to the conference, based on his history."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">… When asked if it is standard Westin practice to throw paid guests out on the street in the middle of the night due to "miscommunications," Dowling asserted that Westin would never do such a thing without good cause and without alternative accommodations offered.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">No such accommodations were offered in my case--unless those other accommodations were at the Maricopa County Jail.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">And, just as the Westin has been unable to elaborate on what "safety" threat I posed to the ALEC conference, at least some of the cops involved in the eviction seemed to know that the situation was absurd. They knew I had committed no crime. These were just guys working on their off time, looking to take home a little more pay.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">This was not true of Sgt. Lowe. He was committed to the notion I posed an imminent threat to the safety of the conference, not that I was being booted and threatened with arrest because I was a journalist who had caused some discomfort to the powers of the hour due to my past reporting on ALEC.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">… Outside, I waited for Graves to pick me up at the curb, where she too would be threatened while attempting to take photos of the evicting officers. Waiting with me were Lowe, three other rented cops, along with Black and two members of his resort security team. Seven Westin Kierland security personnel in all--at least four of them with guns--all working at the behest of ALEC, all for one reporter. I was flattered.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Analysis: &nbsp;As noted elsewhere, in part because of the “polarysis” on Capitol Hill (which the right has produced by going more and more to the extreme (RINO hunt, echo chamber, escalator effect), and by destroying culture of bi-partisanship [initially a tactic to beat Obama but now SOP strategy], the right has switched its focus to the states. &nbsp;ALEC and the SPN are central to this (cf Scott Walker, Koch funded point man for Defund the Left). Even as polarized as the country is, ALEC cannot withstand public scrutiny; remember that the Tea Party began with upset at TARP bailout of financial corporations [even if it got deflected rather quickly to “taker/moocher” minorities who don’t deserve mortgages) and continue to deny corporate ties. &nbsp;Economic power using state power (the police) is pretty alarming, but the cooperation/blurring of the two even more so (especially when you add private intel corps to the mix.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In Arizona, the Fusion Center /ACTIC (city, county, &nbsp;FBI, other &nbsp;federal counter-terror, DHS) was very active in feeding information on Occupy Phoenix, including infiltration during the ALEC conference) &nbsp;to local police and to corporations. &nbsp;These began as eco-terrorism in wake of 9/11, but their mandate was expanded to include “hazards” which came to be interpreted as bad opinions of banks. &nbsp;And as well observe elsewhere, &nbsp;it is hard and potentially dangerous to go after actual terrorists, assuming there are any to be found, but easy and very lucrative in terms of government funding to call activists “eco-terrorists” including pacifist vegans (see animal rights activists Green is the New Red).</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The Fusion Center applied facial recognition from state driver’s license photos and mapped these to Facebook to profile Occupy activists.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">More Corporations Drop Off ALEC's Conference Brochure</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">by Lisa Graves [1] — August 15, 2013&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">An examination of the promotional brochure for the Chicago meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council [5] (ALEC) reveals that the meeting -- where corporate lobbyists secretly vote as equals with legislators on model bills at ALEC task force meetings -- has fewer corporate sponsors willing to tell the public they bankroll ALEC's operations. This news comes in the aftermath of 48 corporations and six non-profits leaving ALEC after the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) connected the dots [6] between "Stand Your Ground" legislation and ALEC, and coalition of organizations pressed for corporations to stop funding ALEC.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Two years ago, shortly after ALECexposed [5] was launched by CMD to help the public and the press track ALEC's extreme legislative agenda, ALEC's annual convention featured three corporations underwriting the convention at the highest fee level. Last year, the number dropped to two. This year, however, ALEC's summer meeting brochure indicates that only one corporation, a tobacco company, was willing to pay the one hundred thousand dollar asking price to be listed as a top ALEC sponsor for the event at the Palmer House hotel in Chicago.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Reynolds Tobacco Is ALEC's Sole "President" Level Sponsor in Chicago</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">2013 ALEC Brochure lists Reynolds tobacco at the topOnly Reynolds American [7], the global purveyor of cancer-causing cigarettes, was willing to be listed as ALEC's top sponsor. According to an ALEC sponsorship guide, a $100,000 gift to ALEC buys a lot of access. Gold level sponsors get designated as "President" and receive: seven invitations to all of the ALEC VIP events (which are unnamed); seven complimentary registrations for corporate lobbyists, their spouses, or guests; VIP photo opportunities (plural) with lawmakers; advertising; and seating at the ALEC head table, of course.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC's love fest with Big Tobacco goes back decades with numerous documents that show the close ties between ALEC and Reynolds and similar companies. For years, ALEC has been fronting efforts by tobacco companies to escape liability for their dangerous products. The corporation's subsidiaries sell Camel and Winston Salem cigarettes as well as snuff.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC is not the only controversial group Reynolds American bankrolls. As noted in CMD's SourceWatch [7] profile of the company, the Center for Public Integrity has documented that Reynolds American gave $175,000 to Grover ("drown [the government] in a bathtub") Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform and also gave at least $50,000 to David Koch's "Americans for Prosperity" in 2012.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The total amount of money Reynolds American has given ALEC this year, beyond helping to underwrite the annual gathering of lobbyists and lawmakers at Chicago's posh Palmer House hotel, is unknown.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Downgrading its level of conference sponsorship from the highest level last year is Tracie Sharp's "State Policy Network," (SPN [8]), which includes [9] 59 affiliated think tanks that help peddle ALEC's corporate-fueled agenda as good policy. As CMD has documented, a number of SPN special interest groups are funded by the Koch family, other Big Oil companies, Big Tobacco, and/or Big Insurance.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Also gone from the presidential designation of ALEC from 2011 are Takeda [10] (the Japanese drug maker), even though it was named one of the two ALEC Private Sector Members of the Year, and BP (British Petroleum [11]). In fact, BP is no where to be found in ALEC's 40th Anniversary list of conference underwriters.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Controversial Peabody Energy Stands Firm as an ALEC "Chairman"</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The next level of funding, dubbed "Chairman," comes with a $50,000 price tag. ALEC's funding brochure notes that giving this amount to ALEC for the conference gets four invitations to all VIP events, four conference registrations, a VIP photo opportunity, and advertising. At this fee level, donors can get the opportunity to have a "workshop" with legislators or the introduction to one of its luncheons.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The only repeat donor at this level from 2012 is Peabody Energy, more widely known as Peabody Coal, which was immortalized in song for its strip mining: "And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County down by the Green River where paradise lay? Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking... Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Peabody is the world's largest privately held coal company.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">It has mines in Wyoming and other states (Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona), and it is a major exporter of American coal to other countries.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">One of the workshops for ALEC legislators at the conference was entitled "The Economic Benefits and Political Challenges to Coal Exports." That workshop touted the benefits of expanded export terminals on the West Coast for selling coal to Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Peabody Energy has contracts to export at least 24 million tons of coal through the SSA Marine terminals in California. Other ALEC seminars and sessions in Chicago touted how to bust unions and push so-called "right-to-work" laws that undermine union organizing and the power of labor in the private sector.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Workers Rally to Expose Peabody's Efforts to Avoid Paying Their Pensions</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Since January of this year, thousands of miners [12] and their families have protested Peabody spinning off its eastern United States coal mining operations -- where many workers were represented by the United Mine Workers of America -- in order to get rid of what its CEO Gregory Boyce called "legacy liabilities [13]," a fancy word for the earned retirement pensions and health care obligations of the men and women who toiled in underground mines for decades building Peabody's wealth. The operations that were spun off were dubbed "Patriot Coal," a corporation that has sought to escape its obligations to miners through federal bankruptcy proceedings.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">At the first of several rallies near Peabody's headquarters and a federal courthouse in St. Louis that is considering the bankruptcy petition, numerous miners -- including the president of United Mine Workers of America, Cecil Roberts -- have been arrested for civil disobedience.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The UMWA's Roberts decried Peabody for its role in what he called a "scam" to deprive hardworking miners of their retirement futures and access to life-saving health care benefits, claiming that the corporations may "have $1,000 an hour lawyers, but they've got $1 an hour morals," according to a report on that rally. The local leader of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists called the effort to discharge the pension obligations "despicable and criminal."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Peabody Makes Billions; Peabody's CEO Paid Nearly $15,000 a Day in Total Compensation</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">According to Forbes magazine, Boyce (Peabody's CEO) is one of the top 25 highest paid CEOs in America this year, with a total annual compensation package of $30.7 million [14] (or the equivalent of $14,759 per day in total compensation). When Boyce created Patriot Coal, he boasted [13] that his maneuver would reduce Peabody's "legacy liabilities by roughly $1 billion," and his Chief Financial Officer bragged that Peabody's "retiree health care liability and related expense will be reduced by 40%..."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Peabody's revenue in 2012 was more than $7 billion. While the U.S. and global economies have staggered since the Wall Street meltdown in late 2008, Peabody's income has risen by nearly 33% in the past three years (which is roughly the same period since it loaded up Patriot Coal with its pension debt). Over the past decade, Peabody has spent millions on lobbying as well as more than a million on campaign contributions to politicians, in addition to untold sums on its legal and PR teams.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Peabody is one of nine private sector funders of ALEC's conference at the "Chairman" level, down from eleven last</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">year and down from the nineteen special interests funding ALEC at this level at its 2011 conference in New Orleans.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Peabody Joins Other Climate Change Deniers as Top Funders of ALEC</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">An industry front group, which Peabody has invested in, is also funding ALEC at the $50,000 silver rate for the conference: the "American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity" (ACCCE), which was previously known as the "Center for Energy and Economic Development" (CEED).</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">According to a memo leaked [15] to DeSmog Blog in 2009, CEED reported to its investor, Peabody, on the execution of ongoing plans to counter efforts to regulate coal and address climate change. That PR plan included opposing any government control of "greenhouse gases," orchestrating efforts to block the Environmental Protection Agency from new efforts to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, opposing regional climate change agreements that mandate carbon trading rules, and blocking efforts to regulate mercury, the neurotoxin released from the burning of coal which has poisoned lakes and oceans restricting the level of safe consumption of seafood by pregnant women, children and others. One of the key parts of the coal industry strategy was to "sow discord."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">These policies are echoed in the ALEC playbook, which includes numerous bills or resolutions that would make it harder to regulate carbon [16] or address global climate changes [17], as well as efforts to limit [18] regional climate change agreements and to block [19] the regulation of coal ash.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Industry Cash Reserves in the Billions</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Industry Reserves Totalled $17 billion, as of 2010</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">As noted [20] by the Center for American Progress, ACCCE's own documents reveal that the industry it represents has at least $17 billion in cash reserves on their books that could be deployed to help address these problems, if they were required to do so. Meanwhile, ALEC's model legislation includes a measure to bar taxes on windfall profits of energy companies [21], like the corporate benefactors of ACCCE.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ACCCE was designated by ALEC as one of its Private Sector Members of the Year, like Peabody was the year before.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Also underwriting ALEC's Chicago meeting at the $50,000 level is ExxonMobil [22], whose long-time funding of climate change denial is extensively documented [23] by Greenpeace.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">New ALEC "Chairmen" Emerge; Old Funders Drop Off or Fade Away</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Others funders at the "Chairman" level include K12 [24] (the "virtual school" company largely funded by taxpayer dollars, which paid its CEO nearly $4 million in total compensation last year) and ALEC's allies at SPN [8], the network of state think tanks that have promoted ALEC's efforts to privatize America's public school system through vouchers and other legislative measures, as noted in CMD's special report on ALEC's education agenda.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Also paying ALEC at that level: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform (which has fought [25] paid sick leave and worked to make it harder for Americans killed or injured by corporations to sue and win full damages) and the Cigar Association of America (a trade group funded by tobacco companies), which often co-hosts the cigar party at the ALEC convention.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Rounding out the list of Chairman-level funders are a group called "Citizens for Self Governance" (which was created by Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler) and a book called "How Money Walks," by Travis Brown, the founder of a lobbying firm called Pelopidas, LLC, who also spoke at one of the lunches at the ALEC meeting.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Here is the list of corporations, other than Peabody, which funded ALEC's summer convention at the Chairman level in 2012: Big Oil (Chevron), Big Tobacco (Altria), Big Drugs (PhRMA, Bayer, Alkermes, and GlaxoSmithKline), for-profit schools (Imagine Learning); two SPN special interest groups: the Heartland Institute and the Texas Public Policy Foundation; and the German global software company, SAP. None of these, besides Peabody, funded ALEC's summer convention at the same level as last year. In fact, only two (SAP and PhRMA) are listed in this year's brochure as sponsors.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Missing from this donor level from 2011 are: Mega Retail: Wal-Mart [26] and the Walton Family Foundation; Big Oil (Shell, American Electric Power, and AmericasPower.org): Big Drugs (Allergan); Big Insurance (UnitedHealthCare and State Farm [27]): and Big Telecomm (AT&T), as well as the Lumina Foundation and Big Credit (VISA and EZCorp, a huge payday loan company).</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Some of these corporations left ALEC last year in the wake of the widespread outcry over ALEC's role in pushing "Stand Your Ground" legislation, including Wal-Mart, GlaxoSmithKline, and the Lumina Foundation. However, the family fortune behind Wal-Mart, the Walton Foundation, has not announced that it has stopped funding ALEC.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Fewer "Vice Chairman" Level Funders Publicized, Too</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">UPS as ALEC Sponsor 2013At this summer's ALEC meeting, five corporations funded ALEC at the "Vice Chairman" level -- which includes three VIP tickets and three conference registrations (but no special VIP photo ops) -- drugmaker Celgene [28], PhRMA [29], UPS, BNSF Railway, and the Illinois Policy Institute [30] (which is part of SPN).</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Last year, eight corporations underwrote ALEC's Salt Lake City convention at this level of funding: State Farm [27], AT&T [31], UPS, American Electric Power, the Sutherland Institute (which is part of SPN), and two Utah companies Zions Bank and Micron; in addition to ExxonMobil [22], which increased its level of sponsorship this year -- to Chairman.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">In 2011, 16 corporations were listed as Vice Chairmen. Not listed this year, but by no means gone are Koch Industries [32] (which sits on ALEC's corporate board) and the Franklin Center [33]. Also not listed at this level for 2013 and among the corporations that announced that they stopped funding ALEC: Johnson & Johnson [34], Intuit [35], and Louis Dreyfus Commodities. Also missing from this level of funding, compared with 2011, and not apparently underwriting this year's ALEC's convention: Pfizer [36], FedEx [37], Sanofi, and Together RX Access, plus three Louisiana companies that helped sponsor ALEC's New Orleans convention in 2011.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Fewer "Director" Level Funders of ALEC's Convention</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">At the "Director" level of sponsorship, for which corporations received two invitations to VIP events and two registrations plus discounted ads for paying $15,000 for general sponsorship (or for paying $15,000 to be listed on hotel room keys, $15,000 to have a logo on a tote bag, or $10,000 to sponsor internet in conventioneers' rooms), ALEC also had fewer companies listed.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">This year, there were 12, which is down from 15 last year. This year's sponsors at the Director level include stalwart ALEC funders like Takeda and Crown [38] (which is pushing legislation to escape responsibility for people injured or dying from asbestos), plus TransCanada [39] (which has been pushing the controversial Keystone XL pipeline), Cloud Peak Energy, Century Link (formerly Qwest), U.S. Steel, Progressive Solutions, Boehringer Ingelheim, SAP, Uline, Monarch Beverage Company, and the Oklahoma-based Liberty Foundation of America.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">More "Trustee" Level Underwriters of ALEC Refreshments, like David Koch's Americans for Prosperity</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">David Koch's Americans for Prosperity</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC's lowest level of convention underwriting, the "Trustee," is the only level of sponsorship that showed an increase in the number of funders this year over the last. This year, 14 companies or groups were willing to shell out the $5,000 per reception break sponsored to get one VIP invitation and one registration.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">David Koch's Americans for Prosperity is listed in the ALEC brochure at this lowest level of donation, but Koch Industries remains on ALEC's board (through its lobbying arm, Koch Companies Public Sector). Others giving to ALEC at the lowest level for the Chicago meeting include: Betsy DeVos' American Federation of Children [40] (public school privatizers), drug company Lilly, Caterpillar, Norfolk Southern and also Union Pacific railways, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Opportunity Ohio, and five Illinois home-state entities: Ameren Illinois, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Credit Union League, Prairie State, and Exelon Generation.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Notably, one of the $5,000 level ALEC sponsors is Wells Fargo, one of the Wall Street banks that announced last year that it had declined to renew its membership in ALEC in 2012.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Missing from the lowest level of ALEC convention funding compared with 2011 are some of the companies that have publicly left ALEC, such as: Amazon, BlueCross BlueShield, Kraft, HP, and Walgreens.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Corporations Pay up for Other Sponsorship Opportunities, too</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Five railway companies (BNSF, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, CSX, and Watco Companies) ponied up cash to sponsor ALEC's invitation-only "Leadership Dinner," which featured former British Member of Parliament Conor Burns (a long-time ally of ALEC hero Margaret Thatcher). Before that event, a software company called "Progressive Solutions," sponsored ALEC's "Leadership Reception." The price tag for these sponsorships is not known.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">According to ALEC's sponsorship brochure, the price for sponsoring its reception for its incoming chairmen was $50,000. UPS was the sole sponsor of that event for the top leaders of ALEC.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">There were also receptions for various ALEC task forces. The Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force reception, for example, was sponsored by Ameren Illinois, Commonwealth Edison, Dynergy, Inc., Exelon Generation, MidAmerican Energy, Midwest Generation, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, the Illinois Energy Association, and the Edison Electric Institute.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Similarly, the private sector entities listed as ALEC's host committee were: Reynolds American (tobacco), Peabody, ACCCE, Exxon Mobil, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, the Cigar Association of America, K12, the Illinois POlicy Institute, SPN, Citizens for Self-Governance, and the book "How Money Walks."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The National Rifle Association Is Still There</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Despite ALEC's efforts to try to distance itself from its legacy of gun laws that it pushed for years alongside its long-time partner, the National Rifle Association, the NRA has not kept its distance from ALEC.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Like last year, the NRA was no longer listed on ALEC's brochure as a sponsor, but that did not stop the NRA from having a booth in the ALEC</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">convention hall and pushing its agenda with its buddies within ALEC. Curiously, ALEC's membership brochure with its map of booths omits any reference to the NRA while describing 40 of the other organizations with booths in the ALEC convention hall.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The NRA's rep was also observed at special VIP events, that were purportedly reserved for members of ALEC. No flyers were observed touting the NRA's annual event at a shooting range for ALEC legislators and lobbyists, however.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Center for Media and Democracy • 520 University Avenue, Suite 260 • Madison, Wisconsin 53703&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Phone: 608-260-9713 • Fax: 608-260-9714</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Source URL: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12208/more-white-space-more-corporations-drop-alecs-conference-brochure</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Links:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[1] http://www.prwatch.org/users/35268/lisa-graves</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[2] http://www.prwatch.org/topics/corporations</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[3] http://www.prwatch.org/projects/alec-exposed</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[4] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prwatch.org%2Fnews%2F2013%2F08%2F12208%2Fmore-white-space-more-corporations-drop-alecs-conference-brochure&linkname=More%20Corporations%20Drop%20Off%20ALEC%27s%20Conference%20Brochure</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[5] http://www.ALECexposed.org</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[6] http://www.prwatch.org/node/11366</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[7] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Reynolds_American</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[8] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/State_Policy_Network</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[9] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Portal:State_Policy_Network</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[10] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Takeda</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[11] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/British_Petroleum</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[12] http://peoplesworld.org/miners-arrested-in-protest-against-coal-company</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[13] http://www.fairnessatpatriot.org/background</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[14] http://www.forbes.com/pictures/ffdj45ekhm/gregory-boyce</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[15] http://www.desmogblog.com/leaked-clean-coal-strategy-memo-peabody-energy</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[16] http://www.alecexposed.org/w/images/9/9a/3J1-Resolution_to_Retain_State_Authority_over_Coal_Ash_as_Non-Hazardous_Waste_Exposed.pdf</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[17] http://www.alecexposed.org/w/images/4/49/3C0-ALEC_State_Withdrawal_from_Regional_Climate_Initiatives_Exposed.pdf</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[18] http://www.prwatch.org/NODE/10914</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[19] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/06/11595/house-vote-effort-preempt-epa-regulation-coal-ash</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[20] http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2011/11/17/10566/big-coal-childrens-health-is-too-expensive</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[21] http://www.alecexposed.org/w/images/2/24/8H0-A_Resolution_Urging_Congress_to_Reject_Windfall_Profits_Taxes_on_Energy_Companies_Exposed.pdf</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[22] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ExxonMobil</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[23] http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/exxon-secrets</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[24] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/11/11883/taxpayer-enriched-companies-back-jeb-bushs-foundation-excellence-education-its-bu</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[25] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/04/12037/efforts-deliver-kill-shot-paid-sick-leave-tied-alec</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[26] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wal-Mart</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[27] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/State_Farm</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[28] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/10/11775/new-report-alec-new-jersey-voice-corporate-special-interests-halls-new-jerseys-le</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[29] http://www.prwatch.org/node/11342</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[30] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Illinois_Policy_Institute</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[31] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/AT&T</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[32] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Industries</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[33] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12161/koch-funded-franklin-center-watchdogs-infiltrate-state-capitols</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[34] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Johnson&Johnson</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[35] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Intuit</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[36] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pfizer,</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[37] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/FedEx</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[38] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/07/12172/justice-denied-71-alec-bills-2013-make-it-harder-hold-corporations-accountable-ca</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[39] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12207/side-climate-change-denial-your-coffee-alec-dishes-some-hard-swallow-spin-heartla</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[40] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/05/12101/issue-ad-charade-american-federation-children-uncovered-wisconsin</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">http://www.prwatch.org/node/12208</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALECexposed: List of Corporations and Special Interests that Underwrote ALEC's 40th Anniversary Meeting</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">by Lisa Graves [1] — August 15, 2013 - 1:27pm</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Topics: Corporations [2]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Projects: ALEC Exposed [3]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Share/Save Share this [4]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">This year's annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council [5] (ALEC) had fewer corporations listed as sponsoring that meeting for a seemingly smaller total amount of revenue.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Based on the sponsorship rates ALEC promoted earlier this year, the organization took in approximately $910,000 from firms specifically designated as "President" to "Trustee" level sponsors for its 40th Anniversary meeting compared with estimated revenue of approximately $1.2 million for the same level of sponsorships at last year's meeting in Salt Lake City.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">These totals reflect the highest profile sponsorship levels promoted at the meeting, but ALEC obtained an additional amount of revenue from other event sponsorship opportunities for corporations and special interest groups, in addition to registration fees, booth fees for its convention, and other income sources. So its total revenue from this year's meeting is certainly greater than $1 million, and it is not known if some corporations funded ALEC's meeting at various sponsorship levels but chose not to have their names listed as sponsors in ALEC's brochure, or not.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC's last publicly reported annual revenue amount from all sources (except for its so-called scholarship fund for trips to legislators, which is counted separately) was approximately $7 million. As CMD has documented, about 98% of ALEC's revenue comes from corporations and sources other than legislative dues.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">As previously noted by CMD, ALEC's stated conference sponsorship rates for 2013 relating to the levels in the images below were: $100,000 (President); $50,000 (Chairman); $25,000 (Vice Chairman); $15,000 (Director); and $5,000 (Trustee).</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Here is the narrative version of these images:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">President Level: Reynolds American</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Chairman Level: K12, Peabody Energy, "How Money Walks," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Institute for Legal Reform, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, ExxonMobil, Citizens for Self-Governance, the Cigar Association of America, and the State Policy Network</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Vice Chairman Level: Celgene, BNSF, PhRMA, UPS, and the Illinois Policy Institute</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Director Level: Cloud Peak Energy, Century Link, Takeda, TransCanada, U.S. Steel, Progressive Solutions, Boehringer Ingelheim, SAP, Uline, Crown, the Liberty Foundation of America, and Monarch</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Trustee Level: the American Federation for Children, Wells Fargo, Lilly, the Illinois Credit League, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Prairie State, Exelon Generation, Caterpillar, Ameren Illinois, Opportunity Ohio, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, Americans for Prosperity Foundation, and the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">A more detailed analysis of which special interest groups increased or decreased their corporate sponsorships for ALEC's annual meeting, their legislative agendas, and their history is available here [6]. CMD's report on sponsors for ALEC's 2012 annual conference is available here [7], along with related images from that meeting.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Center for Media and Democracy • 520 University Avenue, Suite 260 • Madison, Wisconsin 53703&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Phone: 608-260-9713 • Fax: 608-260-9714</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Source URL: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12212/alecexposed-list-corporations-and-special-interests-underwrote-alecs-40th-anniver</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Links:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[1] http://www.prwatch.org/users/35268/lisa-graves</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[2] http://www.prwatch.org/topics/corporations</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[3] http://www.prwatch.org/projects/alec-exposed</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[4] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prwatch.org%2Fnews%2F2013%2F08%2F12212%2Falecexposed-list-corporations-and-special-interests-underwrote-alecs-40th-anniver&linkname=ALECexposed%3A%20List%20of%20Corporations%20and%20Special%20Interests%20that%20Underwrote%20ALEC%27s%2040th%20Anniversary%20Meeting</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[5] http://www.ALECexposed.org</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[6] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12208/more-white-space-more-corporations-drop-alecs-conference-brochure</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[7] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/07/11679/lot-white-space-firms-drop-alecs-meeting-brochure</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Top Quotes from ALEC's 40th Birthday Party in Chicago</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">by Brendan Fischer [1] — August 22, 2013 - 8:13am</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) annual meeting in Chicago earlier this month was marked by massive protests outside, but inside the walls of the Palmer House Hotel, the business of this notoriously secretive organization went forward as usual. The few quotes that have trickled out from inside the ALEC meeting are revealing.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Public Resentment and Right to Work</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">A reporter for The Economist [3] attended some of the workshops (but was barred from the task force meetings where bills are considered), and reported that:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"The most candid [ALEC] members talked of channelling public resentment against those seen as enjoying unfair perks in hard times, such as welfare recipients or public employees with generous pensions. People feel they are paying for a safety net that others enjoy and it makes their 'blood boil,' said a state senator."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Such a strategy is often suspected, but rarely voiced. It was deployed by ALEC alum Scott Walker and legislative Republicans in Wisconsin, for example, when they launched their infamous ALEC-inspired attack on public sector unions.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">And ALEC plans to ramp up these attacks next year. At a workshop titled "How Lawmakers Passed Right to Work, Medicaid, and Tax Reform in Their States" -- sponsored by the State Policy Network at a $40,000 price point -- Missouri's [4] Lt. Governor Peter Kinder said:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"I believe we will pass Right to Work next year and bypass [Missouri Governor Jay Nixon] entirely by putting it on the referendum ballot for voters"</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Who Needs Voters When We Have Money and the John Birch Society?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">At a workshop titled "Calling a Convention of the States: The Constitutional Check on the Abuses of Federal Power," Mark Meckler, founder of the Tea Party Patriots and now head of a group called Citizens for Self Governance -- a top sponsor of the ALEC meeting -- announced the launch of a new project to encourage state legislatures to call an Article V Convention of the States to stop what they call [5] "the runaway train of the federal government." One state representative from Arizona reportedly stood up and asked:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"How do we utilize the John Birch Society for this effort?"</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Wisconsin Rep. Chris Taylor, a Democrat who infiltrated the ALEC meeting, recounted a conversation [6] with a private sector ALEC member who also was advocating a constitutional amendment to rein-in the federal government. He told her:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"You really don't need people to do this. You just need control over the legislature and you need money, and we have both."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">And, at Wednesday's plenary lunch, the Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore (an ALEC "scholar") declared:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"What we really need is more rich people."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Push Back on Critics</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Some 2,700 people rallied outside the conference on Thursday, shutting down the streets in front of the Palmer House, chanting "ALEC, go home" and waving signs reading "ALEC: 40 Years of Corporate Greed." They were the largest protests in ALEC's four-decade history, and come after two years of unprecedented public scrutiny where 49 corporations have dropped their ALEC membership and the public has grown increasingly suspicious of ALEC's corporate-friendly legislation. The controversies were certainly noticed inside the luxurious Palmer House.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">John Tillman of the Illinois Policy Institute spoke at Wednesday's lunch, and asserted:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"Progressives have declared war on ALEC"</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Among the enemies, apparently, was the New York Times, whose reporters, columnists, and editorial board have been critical of the way ALEC facilitates special interest influence over state legislatures. Speaking at that same lunch, Stephen Moore -- whose Wall Street Journal editorial board ran a pro-ALEC editorial the same day [7] -- reportedly declared, to thunderous applause from the crowd, that:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"The New York Times is close to bankruptcy!"</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Also at the meeting, ALEC collected signatures on a letter to U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois complaining that his inquiries to ALEC corporate members about their position on Stand Your Ground was a form of "intimidation." ALEC claimed to have gathered 293 signatures from legislators, but as ProgressNow discovered [8], at least 55 signatures were invalid: 35 duplicates, 4 signatures from spouses, 7 unidentifiable. And one rant, apparently from Arizona State Sen. Don Shooter, who signed:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"Hey Dick Kiss My Ass! Shooter from Arizona."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The Endangered Species Act "A Matter of Life and Death"</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">At Thursday's lunch, an official from the Texas Oil and Gas Association spoke about the dangers of the federal Endangered Species Act. According to Rep. Taylor, he discussed how:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"the Endangered Species Act threatens the economy of every single state in the nation. It's leading to high unemployment rates, threatens local economies, it doesn't allow growth ... this is a matter of life and death, to get rid of the Endangered Species Act, because every state's economy is going to topple if it remains in effect."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Give Thanks to the Corporate Funders!</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">As usual, this year's ALEC meeting was bankrolled by the corporate members [9] that stand to benefit from the adoption of ALEC model legislation. The top sponsor was Reynolds tobacco, followed by fossil fuel companies like Peabody Energy and Exxon Mobil, as well as virtual school provider K12 Inc. After hours, politicians attended corporate-sponsored events, like the annual ALEC "cigar party," where lobbyists and legislators mingled at a spot along the Chicago River, enjoyed an open bar and dessert spread, and were reminded with prominently-displayed signs that the party was funded by Reynolds tobacco and the Cigar Association of America.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">And legislators were consistently instructed to be thankful to those footing the bill. At Thursday's lunch, just before an official from the Texas Oil and Gas Association spoke about the dangers of the federal Endangered Species Act, ALEC's private-sector chairman, C. Stevens Seale, of SAP America, reminded legislators in the crowd [10] to be grateful:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">"The private-sector members spent a lot of money to get your attention and let you hear their messages during this event."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Center for Media and Democracy • 520 University Avenue, Suite 260 • Madison, Wisconsin 53703&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Phone: 608-260-9713 • Fax: 608-260-9714</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Source URL: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12216/top-quotes-alecs-40th-birthday-party-chicago</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Links:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[1] http://www.prwatch.org/users/35275/brendan-fischer</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[2] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prwatch.org%2Fnews%2F2013%2F08%2F12216%2Ftop-quotes-alecs-40th-birthday-party-chicago&linkname=Top%20Quotes%20from%20ALEC%27s%2040th%20Birthday%20Party%20in%20Chicago</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[3] http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21583658-how-left-wing-protesters-helped-conservative-club-ghost-writes-state-laws-smart-alec</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[4] http://bhcourier.com/missouri-lt-governor-well-pass-right-to-work-in-2014-ohioans-prepare-for-legislative-fallout/2013/08/19</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[5] http://conventionofstates.com/about-us</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[6] http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/16/wisconsin-democrat-who-infiltrated-alec-they-dont-want-people-involved-in-the-political-process/</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[7] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12215/wall-street-journal-defends-alec-without-disclosing-deep-ties-editorial-board-mem</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[8] http://progressnow.org/alec/alec-durbin.html</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[9] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12212/alecexposed-list-corporations-and-special-interests-underwrote-alecs-40th-anniver</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[10] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/08/alec-meeting-in-chicago_n_3728213.html</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">==</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Wall Street Journal Defends ALEC without Disclosing Deep Ties of Editorial Board Member Stephen Moore</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">by Lisa Graves [1] — August 19, 2013 - 7:29am</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Topics: Corporations [2]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Projects: ALEC Exposed [3]</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC Exposed (A project of CMD)The Wall Street Journal's latest defense of the American Legislative Exchange Council [5] (ALEC), penned by WSJ Editorial Board Member Stephen Moore, fails to disclose Moore's deep ties to ALEC.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Moore's op-ed attacks U.S. Senator Richard Durbin for scrutinizing ALEC's role in peddling the Florida "Stand Your Ground [6]" legislation as a model for the nation for more than six years. That law was initially cited to prevent the arrest of George Zimmerman for shooting Florida teenager Trayvon Martin to death, and that law proved to be instrumental in the failure to convict after the jury [7] was instructed that law Zimmerman had a "right to stand his ground" and had "no duty to retreat."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">WSJ Conflicts of Interest: Moore's Many Undisclosed Ties to ALEC</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">However, Moore failed to disclose anywhere in that op-ed that he has a long-standing working relationship with ALEC. These close ties include the facts that:Wall Street Journal Ed Board Member Stephen Moore since at least 2007, Moore has been on ALEC's "Board of Scholars," one of five people with that designation; since 2007, Moore has been the co-author of one of ALEC's main publications, "Rich States, Poor States," which claims to rank the performance of states in accordance with their adherence to ALEC's ideal economic policies, reports that have been strongly criticized [8];</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">since joining WSJ's editorial board in 2005, Moore has presented on issues such as reducing corporate tax rates at ALEC's closed door task force meetings, where corporate lobbyists vote as equals with state legislators on "model bills" to be introduced into law in state capitols; and in 2009, ALEC said Moore "represents what we should expect of all journalists," and gave him its "Warren Brookes Award" for "journalistic excellence."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">WSJ's Moore Cites ALEC Co-Author and Others without Disclosure</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Nowhere in his editorial page piece defending ALEC did Moore mention any of these ties. Even when he favorably quoted Jonathan Williams criticizing Senator Durbin's letter -- which asked corporations that had funded ALEC if they support "Stand Your Ground" laws -- Moore noted that Williams is the staff director of one of ALEC's task forces but failed to mention to readers that he himself has a long-standing working relationship with Williams. ALEC's Tax Task Force director is actually Moore's co-author on five of the six editions of the "Rich States, Poor States" report (including the one issued three months ago).</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Similarly, in the WSJ op-ed when he quoted newly-elected Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Moore failed to note that Cruz is one of the featured "plugs" for the 6th edition of this piece of work Moore co-authors that is published by ALEC. Likewise, in the op-ed when Moore quoted an unnamed board member of ALEC, he failed to mention his own long-time post on ALEC's Board of Scholars.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">However, ALEC has leaned heavily on WSJ editorials as favoring its positions.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">To cite one of many examples, last year ALEC's executive director sent an email to ALEC legislators and corporations calling CMD "an attack-dog" and flagging positive editorials about ALEC from the WSJ, none of which disclosed the strong connections between ALEC and Moore to the readers of the WSJ's editorial pages or mentioned the fact that the WSJ's parent corporation, Newscorp [9], is also a member and funder of ALEC, a fact CMD broke [10] last year.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Moore Did Not Disclose Gift from ALEC either</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Moore also failed to mention his receiving an award from ALEC. According to ALEC's federal tax form from 2009 when it gave Moore the Brookes Award for Excellence in Journalism, the award was described as a "cash grant" in the amount of $1,850, and the awards ceremony for Moore included the presentation of a small trophy with a metal scroll and quill.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">It is unclear whether ALEC or the Wall Street Journal or some other benefactor has provided Moore with any other gifts, money or benefits for his assistance to ALEC in the rating of all 50 states according to its legislative agenda or for work on other topics he has addressed with ALEC members, such as welfare reform or changing tax laws. There is no independent documentation about whether Moore pays for his trips to ALEC resort meetings out of his own pocket without reimbursement or whether someone else funds those trips.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Additionally, it is not known whether Moore receives any compensation or honorarium from ALEC for either his analysis in the "Rich States, Poor States" publication or for the time he spends promoting that publication on FOX or other TV shows.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">It is also not known if Moore has received any compensation from his other co-author of that publication, Art Laffer, or from any of the various Laffer enterprises that support an array of ALEC legislative agenda items.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">It is also not known if Moore receives any compensation for being on ALEC's Board of Scholars or whether he is allowed to receive outside compensation as a consultant and under what circumstances he is required by the WSJ to disclose any such contracts to the public.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The WSJ also does not disclose its rate of pay for editorial board members and whether service to a non-profit organization such as ALEC is considered a positive factor in compensation or not.newly combined "financial services" industry with its "Too Big to Fail" Wall Street banks and speculators.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Like Moore, ALEC also gave Fund the Warren T. Brookes award, but that was in 1993 before he joined the WSJ. The award came shortly after he cut his teeth as a journalist working for Bob Novak, the notorious right-wing commentator who called himself the "Prince of Darkness."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">As with Moore, none of the known editorials or op-eds penned by Fund about ALEC-related issues disclosed his long connection with ALEC.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Updated: Pro-ALEC WSJ Editorial Runs Same Day Moore Addresses ALEC</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">CMD's General Counsel, Brendan Fischer, noted that the WSJ ran its editorial "Durbin Wants a List," the same day its editorial board member Moore headlined ALEC's lunch at its 40th anniversary meeting in Chicago. Again, there was no mention of the close ties between the WSJ and ALEC.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The next day, ALEC's spokesman emailed all of the ALEC corporations and legislators using the WSJ's editorial to buttress its position in opposition to Senator Durbin's letter, as CMD's Research Director, Nick Surgey, discovered.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">As with the WSJ, ALEC did not tout its inside track with the WSJ editorial board either.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The following week (last week), Moore wrote his latest opinion piece for the WSJ backing ALEC, under his own byline, but again failed to disclose his deep ties to ALEC.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Center for Media and Democracy • 520 University Avenue, Suite 260 • Madison, Wisconsin 53703&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Phone: 608-260-9713 • Fax: 608-260-9714</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Source URL: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12215/wall-street-journal-defends-alec-without-disclosing-deep-ties-editorial-board-mem</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Links:</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[1] http://www.prwatch.org/users/35268/lisa-graves</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[2] http://www.prwatch.org/topics/corporations</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[3] http://www.prwatch.org/projects/alec-exposed</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[4] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prwatch.org%2Fnews%2F2013%2F08%2F12215%2Fwall-street-journal-defends-alec-without-disclosing-deep-ties-editorial-board-mem&linkname=Wall%20Street%20Journal%20Defends%20ALEC%20without%20Disclosing%20Deep%20Ties%20of%20Editorial%20Board%20Member%20Stephen%20Moore</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[5] http://www.ALECexposed.org</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[6] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/03/11366/alec-ratified-nra-conceived-law-may-protect-trayvon-martins-killer</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[7] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/07/12181/after-zimmerman-let%E2%80%99s-end-stand-your-ground</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[8] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/02/11979/press-advisory-exposing-alec%E2%80%99s-economic-agenda-states</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[9] http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/05/25/no-disclosure-wsj-fox-defended-alec-without-not/148741</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[10] http://www.prwatch.org/node/11531</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[11] http://littlesis.org/person/81846/Stephen_Moore</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">[12] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114687252956545543.html</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Moore Used to Raise Big Cash from Donors and Work for Koch Groups</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Moore's Book Bullish on BushIn early 2005, Moore joined the Wall Street Journal's editorial board after losing an internal fight over the control of an organization he started in 1999, the "Club for Growth." That group heavily promoted George W. Bush's presidency, and reportedly raised and spent at least $20 million on an array of political or issue ads as a PAC and a "527" organization. (Pat Toomey took over the group after failing to unseat Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, despite the group's heavy spending in that 2004 race and other races.)</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">When Moore left Club for Growth in late 2004, he brought along some of its big funders to a new group, the "Free Enterprise Fund," with the support of Laffer. That non-profit lobbied to privatize social security and to repeal the estate tax, but Moore left shortly after its founding to join the editorial board of the WSJ.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Before starting the Club for Growth, Moore worked at the Koch-funded Heritage Foundation, writing economic policy papers. Before that, he worked at the Cato Institute, which was co-created by Charles Koch in the 1970s and which has long pushed for the privatization of social security. Moore also worked as an economist for U.S. Rep. Dick Armey, and he was a consultant on the congressional "National Economic Commission."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Moore also worked as the Research Director for President Reagan's "Commission on Privatization," which included David Koch's right-hand man, Richard Fink. Fink was then the president of David Koch's "Citizens for a Sound Economy" (CSE), which later split off into David Koch's "Americans for Prosperity," and "FreedomWorks," which was briefly led by Armey. That commission -- which both CSE and ALEC strongly lauded -- recommended numerous ways to redirect tax dollars from government institutions to for-profit corporations.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Moore also was listed as one of ten members of the Board of Directors of Donor's Capital Fund, as of 2010, an entity that helps distribute funding from the Kochs and other billionaires and millionaires to right-wing groups, as noted in its tax filings and as documented [11] by Little Sis.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">It is noteworthy that in his post with the WSJ, Moore also wrote [12] a glowing story about Charles Koch in 2006.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Moore Is Not the Only WSJ Editorial Board Connection to ALEC</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Moore is not the only WSJ editorial board member who has had close ties with ALEC. Long-time WSJ editorial board member John Fund is also plugged into ALEC. He had a seat on the WSJ's editorial board from 1995 to 2001, and he also wrote for the WSJ's editorial page from 2000 to 2011.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">ALEC Meeting Agenda 1999Like Moore, Fund made presentations to ALEC's secretive, closed door task force meetings where corporations vote alongside legislators on model bills to be introduced into law in statehouses across the country. Fund's most recent presentation to ALEC was in 2010.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">Notably, one of Fund's closed door meetings with ALEC was in 1999 and was in support of the "Financial Services Reform Act," also known as the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act. That act effectively eliminated the walls beween banking, investing, and insuring. As ALEC described that presentation, the bill they praised "was the crucial first step toward overhauling the depression-er regulatory framework of the banking industry. To many, this bill is only a half-measure. More fundamental reforms need to take place to keep the American financial services industry competitive in the 'global' marketplace."</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">The destruction of that framework (known as "Glass-Steagall"), as urged by Fund and ALEC, laid the foundation for the devastating crash of the U.S. economy in 2008 due to risky gambling it allowed for the</font></div>