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ALEC News

Progressive Policies Win at the Ballot Box Ballot measures across the country passed on November 8th highlighting the fact that progressive values still resonate with the U.S. electorate. Gains were made even in the face of industry deception and big dollar ad campaigns. In a victory for climate activists and solar energy, Floridians voted down Amendment 1, a constitutional amendment which would have made it hard for people with solar panels to sell energy back to the grid. Leaked audio showed that Florida utilities and their allies sought to deceive the public into believing that Amendment 1 was pro-solar. The tapes made front page news across the state and Florida editorial boards weighed in, but as the amendment was very deceptively worded environmentalists were worried. In the end, voters rejected the amendment 50.8 to 49.2, a big defeat. Floridians for Solar Choice worked hard to expose the deception and turn out voters in opposition. Read the rest of this item here. Kochs Battle Dark Money Disclosure in South Dakota The Koch network has mobilized in South Dakota to defeat the "South Dakota Accountability and Anti-Corruption Act," a state-wide initiative on the ballot November 8. The anti-corruption measure, Initiated Measure 22 or IM-22, was launched by a bipartisan group called the South Dakotans for Integrity and put on the ballot with signatures from over 20,000 state residents. IM-22 cracks down on dark money and phony industry front groups by barring candidate coordination with outside groups and regulating independent expenditures. It cracks down on sham "issue ads" by requiring them to be reported electronically within 48 hours, requiring donor disclosure, and requiring the top five donors to be disclosed on air. The initiative also provides a small dollar public financing mechanism, sets rules for lobbyists and gifts, and creates an ethics commission to investigate violations of ethics and campaign finance rules. Read the rest of this item here. Voter ID in Wisconsin, a Slow-Motion Train Wreck MADISON — A federal judge held a hearing to determine if procedures put in place by Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to implement the state's new voter ID law were sufficient to protect the right to vote. The advocacy organization One Wisconsin Now was asking the judge to suspend the state's voter ID law for the November election or at a minimum force the state to fix demonstrated problems with the voter ID petition process (IDPP), which is designed to help people who don’t have their birth certificates or other forms of ID acceptable under the state's strict version of the American Legislative Exchange Council's "model" law. Read the rest of this item here.