Taxes and Budgets

ALEC's Efforts to Reshape the Tax Code to Benefit Corporations The bills on this page represent ALEC corporations' efforts to create Big Business tax giveaways, to offer tax breaks to the rich, and to eviscerate state legislatures' ability to raise revenue through tax increases. These "model bills" are drafted at American Legislative Exchange Council conventions with input from, and approval by, Big Business, then introduced in state legislatures to limit educational opportunities for all Americans. Politicians are elected to represent the people, not corporations; through ALEC, corporations have both a VOICE and a VOTE on specific state laws. Do you?

READ the "Model Bills" HERE Click here to send a zip file to your computer of all the tax and fiscal policy bills. To see a full list of bills from this section and send them to your computer individually, click here. For descriptions of some of these bills, scroll down or click here. Join the Conversation No id supplied for Twitter account!

How YOU Can Expose ALEC & Share What You Learn SPREAD THE WORD. Share information about ALEC through Facebook, e-mail and Twitter. Concerned groups and people in every state need this to investigate how ALEC corporations are rewriting laws for their own advantage. And, please join the conversation on Facebook! EXPOSE ALEC LEGISLATORS. Demand the truth about which politicians in your state are in ALEC. Uncover whether YOUR tax dollars are paying ALEC "dues." Expose politicians who accept “scholarships” from ALEC's corporate-funded coffers for fancy trips. EXPOSE ALEC'S ROLE IN YOUR STATE HOUSE. Read these corporate-backed "model bills" NOW and cross-check them with bills in your state legislature. Ask your local media to report on what you have found and write your local newspaper. SHARE YOUR DISCOVERIES. Tell us what you uncovered! Tweet what you learn with the hashtag #ALECexposed, join a discussion on this site or email us a confidential tip via editor AT ALECexposed.org. And, follow our tweets on Twitter!

Get the Goods on ALEC ALEC Exposed Audio & Video From The Nation Magazine: ALEC & Democracy ALEC & Education ALEC & Labor ALEC & Health ALEC & Koch ALEC & Prisons From PR Watch: ALEC & Injury Law ALEC & Wisconsin ALEC & Tobacco ALEC & Climate Change From SourceWatch: Press on ALEC Exposed ALEC Quotes

Who Is Behind ALEC? ALEC Corporations ALEC Politicians ALEC "Scholars" ALEC Boards & Task Forces ALEC Staff More Information ALEC FAQ ALEC Exposed Press Release ALEC Funding ALEC Hotels ALEC Decoded ALEC & NCSL Comparison Common Cause Asks IRS to Audit ALEC Common Cause Study on ALEC Member Campaign Contributions ProPublica's Database of ALEC Campaign Contributions

More Helpful Resources Additional resources on ALEC's corporate agenda: ALEC Funding, PRWatch (2011) American Legislative Exchange Council and other related articles, SourceWatch (2011) Ghostwriting the Law for Corporate America, American Association for Justice (2010) Climate Denial Report on ALEC and Exxon Funding for ALEC, Greenpeace (2011) Governing the Nation from the Statehouses, Progressive States Network (2006) Wolves in Sheep's Clothing, Common Cause (2006) Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law, NPR (2010) Exposing ALEC, blogging group, Daily KOS (2011) ALEC: The Voice of Corporate Special Interests In State Legislatures, People for the American Way (2011) Corporate America's Trojan Horse in the States, Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council (2002) The Attack on Trial Lawyers and Tort Law, Commonwealth Institute (2003) Wisconsin's Cronon Affair: The Power of a Simple Fact, The Nation Magazine (2011) Ghostwriting the Law, Mother Jones (2002) ALEC Behind Voter Disenfranchisement Efforts, Center for American Progress (2011) ALEC Report, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (2011) ALEC Exposed: Business Domination Inc., The Nation Magazine (2011)

Learn MORE about the "Model Bills" ALEC Corporations Are Backing to Rewrite YOUR Rights The Center for Media and Democracy analyzed the bills ALEC politicians and corporations voted for. More analysis is available below and also at ALEC Exposed's sister sites, PRWatch and SourceWatch.

How Corporations Tried Reshaping the Tax Code in Their Favor Corporations, Big Business, and Banksters VOTED to reshape the tax code in their favor by: Requiring a majority vote of U.S. electors before increasing taxes or spending Calling for repeal of the estate tax, which only taxes very large estates (over $5 million / $10 million for couples) and draws government revenue off perpetuation of wealth and inequality Limiting states' ability to raise revenue by indexing tax brackets to inflation] (but in other bills opposing the use of inflation to increase the minimum wage) Providing talking points for how to oppose local taxation efforts Supporting extension of the Bush tax cuts that contributed to the federal deficit and exacerbated wealth inequality Supporting repeal (rather than reform) of the Alternative Minimum Tax, a tax designed to prevent the very wealthy from avoiding taxes, but after the Bush tax cuts lowered marginal tax rates without changing the AMT rates, swept-in some middle-class households; ALEC supports extending the Bush tax cuts, but would rather do away with the AMT rather than reform it Eliminating the Capitol Gains tax (the tax on profits from investments), protecting wealthy investors (Wisconsin adopted this in 2011 and the South Carolina legislature is considering it) Supporting a “flat tax” that would reverse America’s history of progressive taxation through: state-level business and personal income flat tax, and giving state-level taxpayers the “option” to pay a flat tax supporting a federal flat tax Prohibiting state governments from increasing revenue as the economy improves through: automatically adjusting individual and corporate tax rates downward if tax revenue collected in previous years had increased above a certain percent (8H2), squeezing government and forcing cuts promoting a constitutional amendment capping revenue and spending, and requiring that collections above the limit be transferred into an Emergency Reserve Fund, severely limiting a state's ability to respond to price increases (for example, a double digit rise in health care costs). “Restricting the use of vehicle fees and taxes for highway purposes” through a state Constitutional Amendment requiring that revenues from gas taxes and vehicle-related fees be used for highways, rather than investment in less fossil-fuel dependent rail transit or bike lanes. The proposed ALEC Amendment has been adopted in 29 states (eight of which copied the ALEC language verbatim). A constitutional amendment requiring that all tax and “license fee” increases be approved by a 2/3 majority in each house (unless the state cannot pay interest on its debt), severely restricting the ability to raise revenue Providing talking points for tax reduction Opposing “windfall profits” taxes on energy companies like Exxon Mobil and BP, which have had record earnings in recent years. “Removing incentives for investigating and prosecuting tax cheats” Supporting federal legislation that limits all spending to the rate of inflation

Did You Know about these Bills? Some of this Corporate Agenda Has Already Become Law Under the administration of Wisconsin Governor (and ALEC alum) Scott Walker, several changes to the state tax code were drawn from the ALEC corporate wish list in 2011. For example, Governor Walker and the state legislature: Eliminated the capital gains tax, as called for in the ALEC "Capital Gains Tax Elimination Act.” Wisconsin Republicans led by Rep. Garey Bies (R-1) introduced SB 10 in 2011 which phases out the taxation of capital gains, but the action was superceeded by the Wisconsin budget bill which excludes 100% of the capital gains realized on investment s in Wisconsin for 5 years, costing Wisconsin approximately $79 million per year (according to analysis by the AFL-CIO). An additional exclusion from income tax for capital gains will amount to $36 million per year. Eliminated combined reporting, which is designed to prevent corporations from hiding profits by filtering income through subsidiaries in states with no income tax (like Nevada). The same principle was set forth in the ALEC “Resolution in Opposition to Mandatory Unitary Combined Reporting." Requiring a super-majority to raise taxes, as called for in the ALEC "Super-Majority Act;" passed as a law rather than a constitutional amendment, it may be non-binding. Gov. Walker thanked the State Chair of ALEC in Wisconsin, Rep. Leah Vukmir, for her work on the bill. To learn more about this story, click here (PLACEHOLDER) (Have any of these bills been introduced or enacted in YOUR state? If so, please add that information to the ALEC Exposed page on your state by searching for your state's name in the search engine at the top of this page.) Limiting Damages for the Loss of Your Child, Spouse, or Parent (PLACEHOLDER)One of the corporate-politician proposals of ALEC would limit the ability of a family to recover for emotional damages due to the death or injury of a loved one. (LINK) This type of legislation basically makes working class or poor people's lives--as well as the elderly--worth less to their families because any damages for pain and suffering due to the death of a child, spouse, or parent would be limited to an amount equal to their loved one's lost earnings and medical expenses. These kind of corporate provisions try to prevent a jury of YOUR peers from awarding you damages for all you have lost or suffered AFTER a jury finds that your loved one's death was the result of corporate negligence, misconduct, or greed. Is a local legislator who was elected to represent YOU actually protecting the profits of global corporate wrongdoers through such legislation instead of YOU and YOUR FAMILY? Barring Corporate Liability for Killing Your Dog or Cat (PLACEHOLDER)In addition to limiting the rights of people injured by corporations, under the guise of limiting "frivolous" litigation in 2006, one of the proposals would make it harder for you to obtain any compensation from a company whose negligence killed your family pet.(LINK) In 2009, Americans learned that many U.S. pet food companies had shipped the production of food for their four-legged companions overseas and that Chinese contractors had contaminated the pet food with melamine in order to increase profit margins, resulting in the death and serious injuries of numerous dogs and cats in the U.S. If passed in your state, ALEC's corporation-backed proposal would make it very difficult for YOU to recover any damages for the loss of your beloved animal companion due to corporate negligence or misconduct in manufacturing food for America's beloved pets.

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