ALEC Exposed

Through ALEC, Global Corporations Are Scheming to Rewrite YOUR Rights and Boost THEIR Revenue Through the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, global corporations and state politicians vote behind closed doors to try to rewrite state laws that govern your rights. These so-called "model bills" reach into almost every area of American life and often directly benefit huge corporations. In ALEC's own words, corporations have "a VOICE and a VOTE" on specific changes to the law that are then proposed in your state. DO YOU?

Who Is Behind ALEC? What Is ALEC? Who Funds ALEC? ALEC Corporations Corporations That Have Cut Ties to ALEC ALEC Politicians (all states) Legislators Who Have Cut Ties to ALEC ALEC Non-Profits and Think Tanks ALEC State Chairs ALEC "Scholars" ALEC Boards & Task Forces ALEC's Koch Connection Common Cause Trove of ALEC Task Force Docs Essential ALEC Resources Using Unions to Carry Big Oil's Water: How the Fossil Fuel Industry and ALEC Criminalized Climate Action in Wisconsin Report on ALEC "Scholarships" ExposedbyCMD Articles on ALEC CMD Fact Sheets on Key Topics CMD's SourceWatch Resources on ALEC The Nation Special Edition on ALEC Common Cause Trove of ALEC Task Force Docs, 2010-2012 DBA Press ALEC Archive, 2014 ProPublica Database of ALEC Corporations' Election Spending, 2011 Abolish ALEC (Daily Kos blog), 2019 Hot Topics Lobbying and Ethics Complaints ALEC & NCSL Comparison Democracy & Voting Privatizing Education Repealing Labor Rights Health & Tobacco Limiting Environmental Protections Changing Civil & Criminal Law Immigration Corporate Prisons "Open Records" Archive DBA Press unveils trove of ALEC politician emails This archive contains records about ALEC in several states (OH, FL, WI, AZ, IN) from 2007-2011, obtained through public records requests to ALEC's "public sector chairs," elected officials. Included are records relating to ALEC legislative & corporate members, records detailing ALEC "scholarship fund" disbursements to lawmakers, as well as thousands of pages of email correspondence between lawmakers, ALEC staff, and reps of corporations that finance ALEC.

Breaking News Ghostwriting the Government Harvard Political Review Teachers aren't the only ones outraged by Matt Bevin's elitist education policies Courier Journal Koch Network Dominates SPN Annual Meeting Attendees ExposedbyCMD Hamilton: A policy proposal that upends the status quo The Journal Record John Nichols: It’s just wrong to help corporations penalize dissent The Cap Times Letter: The Monroe News is too far right The Monroe News Shut down Senate Bill 33 before it succeeds in muzzling Ohioans from rightful protest Cleveland.com States Are Making Protesting Oil Companies A Felony — Here’s Why That Matters UpRoxx The 'AOC effect' is real – and it's helping wean the Democrats off corporate donors The Guardian How One Conservative Group Plans To Maintain Republicans’ Grip On State Legislatures TalkingPointsMemo South Dakota Settles “Riot Boosting” Suit by Agreeing to Nonenforcement NonProfit Quarterly Conservatives cast their support behind an embattled Mick Mulvaney CBS News Ex-Police Chief’s Arrest Revives South Carolina Civil Asset Forfeiture Debate FITS News South Dakota Backs Off Harsh New Protest Law and ‘Riot-Boosting’ Penalties Inside Climate News Conservatives Fault Pick to Run Homeland Security Wall Street Journal Guest view: Ohio pipeline protest bill threatens to shut down free speech The Columbus Dispatch Denver Wage Plan Sign of Fight Over Ever-Wider State Preemptions Bloomberg Law Memphis Suffers Loss of Two Former Legislators Memphis Flyer Bills Target Energy Pipeline Protesters Wisconsin Examiner Revealed: rightwing push to ban criticism of Israel on US campuses The Guardian Report Exposes Right-Wing Effort to Ban Criticism of Israel in US Schools Common Dreams Editorial: Ohio State should not embrace new hire’s policy past at EPA The Columbus Dispatch CAPITOL REPORT: Lawmakers have spent nearly $77K so far on 2019 travel WisPolitics.com State preemption laws complicate Southern cities' affordable housing efforts Facing South AZ educators join Asarco strikers on picket line FightBack The world’s on fire from climate change. Pa. lawmakers want to make it a lot harder to protest Philadelphia Inquirer Idaho lawmaker touts his work for ALEC on federalism Idaho Press-Tribune ‘Rightwing push’ to ban criticism of Israel on US campuses, revelations show Middle East Monitor Texas Matters: How The GOP Plans To Survive Redistricting Texas Public Radio Chicago tenants continue to demand ‘rent control now’ Chicago Reader Local Officials: Bonnen’s Punitive Approach Toward Cities, Counties Sows Distrust Rivard Report Tribune runs propaganda on opinion page Great Bend Tribune The Koch network says it wants to remake public education. That means destroying it, says the author of a new book on the billionaire brothers. The Washington Post Hightower: Who’s behind suppressing your right to protest? The Ledger Activists, Physicists and Traffic Flow Uprise RI Bill to Criminalize Environmental Protests in Wisconsin Heads to the Assembly Floor ExposedbyCMD Commentary: A note on the discount rate Pensions & Investments Court documents show beef checkoff sends millions to cattle lobby Food & Environment Reporting Network North Carolina may have fairer congressional districts by 2020 Facing South The power of money Courier-Gazette & Camden Herald Democrats Impeach Joe Biden, Fiddle as the Planet Burns CounterPunch What the BLM Shake-Up Could Mean for Public Lands and Their Climate Impact Inside Climate News D.C. Digest: Sen. Jim Inhofe blasts Tinker housing contractor Tulsa World Revealed: ALEC’s Health and Human Services Task Force Legislative Members ExposedbyCMD Hightower: Who’s behind suppression of right to protest? Muskogee Phoenix DRAWING THE LINE: Bill to make it felony to trespass on construction sites Wisconsin Law Journal Activists Say New Laws To Protect Critical Infrastructure Aim To Silence Them WAMU 88.5 How the Koch brothers got us here Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists he BP CEO's case for staying in trade groups Axios Activists say new laws to protect critical infrastructure aim to silence them MPRNews US Lobby Groups Most Effective at Blocking Climate Action – Report DeSmog Blog HIKERS, TRUMP, AND THE CAPITALIST CONSPIRACY TO RUIN PUBLIC LANDS The Intercept Have Conservatives Transformed the States? Niskanen Center Journalist Sharon Lerner: “How the Plastics Industry Is Fighting to Keep Polluting the World” Democracy Now Wisconsin Lawmakers Seek to Criminalize Environmental Protests Truthout Most states earn a C in ALEC's choice-focused report card Education Drive Click here to find archived news articles. Common Cause Unveils Trove of New Docs ALEC Task Force Meetings Are Unmasked On April 26, 2012, government watchdog group Common Cause began posting material in support of its complaint to the IRS that "ALEC is a corporate lobbying group masquerading as a public charity." The evidence now available includes a complete set of agendas, model bills, minutes, and related materials for each ALEC task force meeting over the past two years. Read more here. State Reports Arizona (CMD) Colorado (Common Cause) Florida (Progress Florida/ PFAW/CMD/Florida Watch Action/CC) Georgia (Better Georgia) Iowa (Progress Iowa/ CMD/PFAW/CC/Progress Now) Louisiana (Common Cause) Maine (Maine's Majority Education Fund) Michigan (Progress Michigan/ Michigan Citizen Action/CMD/CC/PFAW) Minnesota (Common Cause) Missouri (Progress Missouri) Nebraska (Bold Nebraska) Nevada (Progress Now Nevada) New Hampshire (Granite State Progress) (supplemental on "Right to Work for Less") New Jersey (PFAW/CMD/CC/Progress Now) Ohio (CMD/Progress Ohio/PFAW/CC)] Pennsylvania (Keystone Progress) and PA Education Report (CMD) Texas (CC/CMD) Utah (PFAW/CC/Alliance for a Better Utah/CMD) Virginia (Progress VA) Wisconsin (Center for Media and Democracy) State Bill Comparisons ALEC's "Model Bills" Worker and Consumer Rights bills here. Analysis here. Tort Reform and Injured Americans bills here. Analysis here. Privatizing Schools and Higher Education bills here. Analysis here. Health, Big Pharma, and Social Welfare bills here. Analysis here. Environment, Energy, and Agriculture bills here. Analysis here. Democracy, Voting, and Federal Relations bills here. Analysis here. Tax & Budget bills here. Analysis here. Guns, Prisons, Crime and Immigration bills here. Analysis here.

Join the Conversation! Featured News "CMD Releases New Report: 'ALEC Exposed in Wisconsin: The Hijacking of a State'" (Center for Media and Democracy) "Quid pro Status Quo: ALEC & State-Sanctioned Corruption in Ohio" (Beau Hodai, PRWatch) "A CMD Special Report: ALEC's "Scholarship" Scheme Helps Corporations Fund Legislator Trips" (Brendan Fischer, PRWatch) "Koch-Funded Mackinac Center Brings Wisconsin Act 10 Provisions to ALEC" (Brendan Fischer, PRWatch) "Did the American Legislative Exchange Council Give Me the Full Story?" (Brendan Greeley, BloombergBusinessweek) "For-Profit Education Firm Kaplan is 14th Company to Dump ALEC" (Rebekah Wilce, PRWatch) "One Year Later: The First ALEC Protest in Cincinnati" (Sara Jerving, PRWatch) "U.S. Supreme Court Considers ALEC Immigration Bill" (Brendan Fischer, PRWatch) "ALEC Leader Admits Last Week's Announcement Was a PR Stunt" (Color of Change press release) "ALEC’s Vision of Pre-Empting EPA Coal Ash Regs Passes the House" (Sara Jerving, PRWatch) "Hang onto that Paycheck! ALEC: Sharpens Focus on Jobs" (Mary Bottari, PRWatch) More Press Reports Available Here BLOGGERS & ACTIVISTS HELP EXPOSE ALEC Abolish ALEC (Daily Kos blog) Voter's Legislative Transparency Project (VLTP)

Featured Video ALEC - The Backroom Where Laws Are Born This is a glimpse into the world of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-funded charity that pays for lawmaker trips to resorts where they leave with ready-to-pass bills. Neither ALEC nor the Georgia legislature would show us where the money comes from, or who it goes to.

Major Reports ALEC: The Voice of Corporate Special Interests In State Legislatures, People for the American Way (2011) Study on ALEC Member Campaign Contributions, Common Cause (2011) Beyond Dinner and a Movie: ALEC Actively Courts State Lawmakers, Follow the Money (2011) Climate Denial Report on ALEC, Exxon Funding for ALEC and Lewis Powell Memo Report, Greenpeace (2011) ALEC Report, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (2011) American Legislative Exchange Council and other related articles, SourceWatch (2011) Ghostwriting the Law for Corporate America, American Association for Justice (2010) A Case Study in How Corporations Get What they Want, Nieman Watchdog, (2008) Governing the Nation from the Statehouses, Progressive States Network (2006) The American Legislative Exchange Council’s Attack on Civil Liberties, Defenders of Wildlife (2004) Corporate America's Trojan Horse in the States, Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council (2002)

Take Action! TELL YOUR LEGISLATOR TO CUT ALEC TIES! ALEC boasts on its website that over 2,000 state legislators are members of their organization. ALEC Exposed has identified nearly 1,000 state representatives who are believed to be active members of ALEC. We need YOUR help to identify all ALEC members. Click Here to Help!

ALEC Exposed is a project of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). CMD does NOT accept donations from for-profit corporations or government agencies. More information about CMD is available here. You can reach CMD's Executive Director, Arn Pearson, via editor AT ALECexposed.org. Privacy policy: Other than material you post to this wiki in your name, our privacy policy is that we will not disclose private personally identifiable information or data about you, such as your name, email address, or other information, unless required by law. On copyright: ALEC Exposed considers contributions to this wiki to be released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License or in accordance with law. Information on how to provide us with notice regarding copyright is available at this link. Notices regarding copyright or other matters should be sent to our designated agent, Arn Pearson, via email (editor AT ALECexposed.org).

Worker and Consumer Rights · Tort Reform and Injured Americans · Privatizing Schools and Higher Ed Policy · Health, Pharmaceuticals and Safety Net Programs · Environment, Energy and Agriculture · Democracy, Voter Rights and Federal Power · Taxes and Budgets · Guns, Prisons, Crime and Immigration