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ALEC News

Exxon Illegally Funded ALEC Under Tillerson’s Tenure, CMD Tells Committee

Written Statement of Lisa Graves on Behalf of the Center for Media and Democracy Submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

Hearing on the Nomination of Rex Tillerson to Be U.S. Secretary of State.

Dear Chairman Corker, Ranking Member Cardin and Members of the Committee:

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) would like to bring your attention a matter of serious concern regarding the nomination of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be U.S. Secretary of State. We would also respectfully request that this letter be included in the hearing record on his nomination, which we oppose.

For more than a decade under Mr. Tillerson’s tenure, Exxon has poured millions of dollars into nonprofit organizations in order to undermine public confidence in climate science and promote its anti-regulatory agenda. Read the rest of this item here.

ALEC Pay to Play on Display in Washington, DC

By Steve Arnold, Mayor of Fitchburg, Wisconsin

I first attended an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) winter policy meeting in 2014. There I learned that many so-called "model bills" in the ALEC library had become law in my state of Wisconsin. These include the "cable competition" (deregulation) bill, the "castle doctrine" allowing home owners to shoot intruders, and parts of a bill to make it harder for young, old, and poor people to vote.

Upon my return home, I found that corporate ideas flogged by luncheon sponsors while we ate and promoted at lobbyist tables between sessions at the 2014 meeting had subsequently followed the same well-worn path to "model bills," then state law. Read the rest of this item here.

Election Losses Don’t Stop Corporate Efforts to Block Voter-Approved Minimum Wage Hikes

Voters spoke very clearly on November 8 when they elected to raise the minimum wage in Arizona and Maine, along with Colorado and Washington State.

But those wins, the democratic process, and the express will of the people are being defied and denied in Arizona and Maine, where corporate lobbyists and their legislative allies are working to block, delay, even rewrite the laws approved on Election Day.

These efforts to flout voter-approved laws are part of ongoing conservative and corporate-backed strategies to keep wages low. Read the rest of this item here.

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-<h3>[http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2016/12/23/election-losses-dont-stop-corporate-efforts-block-voter-approved-minimum-wage-hikes/ Election Losses Don’t Stop Corporate Efforts to Block Voter-Approved Minimum Wage Hikes ]</h3>
+<h3>[http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2017/01/11/letter-to-senate-committee-on-rex-tillersons-exxon-funding-for-alec/ Exxon Illegally Funded ALEC Under Tillerson’s Tenure, CMD Tells Committee]</h3>
-[[Image:NRA-attacks-local-democracy-270px.jpg|270 px|center]]Voters spoke very clearly on November 8 when they elected to raise the minimum wage in Arizona and Maine, along with Colorado and Washington State.
+[[Image:Rex-Tillerson-IHS-Energy-week270px.jpg|270 px|center|frame|<center>Rex Tillerson</center>]]'''Written Statement of Lisa Graves on Behalf of the Center for Media and Democracy Submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations'''
+''Hearing on the Nomination of Rex Tillerson to Be U.S. Secretary of State.''
+Dear Chairman Corker, Ranking Member Cardin and Members of the Committee:
-But those wins, the democratic process, and the express will of the people are being defied and denied in Arizona and Maine, where corporate lobbyists and their legislative allies are working to block, delay, even rewrite the laws approved on Election Day.
+The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) would like to bring your attention a matter of serious concern regarding the nomination of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be U.S. Secretary of State. We would also respectfully request that this letter be included in the hearing record on his nomination, which we oppose.
-These efforts to flout voter-approved laws are part of ongoing conservative and corporate-backed strategies to keep wages low. Read the rest of this item [http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2016/12/23/election-losses-dont-stop-corporate-efforts-block-voter-approved-minimum-wage-hikes/ here].
+For more than a decade under Mr. Tillerson’s tenure, Exxon has poured millions of dollars into nonprofit organizations in order to undermine public confidence in climate science and promote its anti-regulatory agenda. Read the rest of this item [http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2017/01/11/letter-to-senate-committee-on-rex-tillersons-exxon-funding-for-alec/ here].
 ----
-<h3>[http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2016/12/22/alecs-little-brother-acce-big-plans-2017/ ALEC's Little Brother, ACCE, Has Big Plans for 2017]</h3>
+<h3>[http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2017/01/05/alec-pay-to-play-display-washington-dc/ ALEC Pay to Play on Display in Washington, DC]</h3>
-[[Image:ALEC-ACCE-logos270px.jpg|270 px|center]]''By Steve Arnold, Mayor of Fitchburg, Wisconsin''
+[[Image:ALEC_bluelogo-money-handshake-paytoplay270px.jpg|270 px|center]]''By Steve Arnold, Mayor of Fitchburg, Wisconsin''
+I first attended an [http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed American Legislative Exchange Council] (ALEC) winter policy meeting in 2014. There I learned that many so-called "model bills" in the ALEC library had become law in my state of Wisconsin. These include the "[http://alecexposed.org/w/images/2/22/9A7-Cable_and_Video_Competition_Act_exposed.pdf cable competition]" (deregulation) bill, the "[http://alecexposed.org/w/images/7/7e/7J2-Castle_Doctrine_Act_Exposed.PDF castle doctrine]" allowing home owners to shoot intruders, and parts of a bill to make it harder for young, old, and poor people to vote.
-I recently returned from the American Legislative Exchange Council's 2016 States and Nation Policy Summit, in Washington, DC. As a Mayor, I was most interested in the corresponding meeting of the American City County Exchange (ACCE), an offshoot spawned by ALEC in 2014 to spread ALEC's ideas about "limited government, free markets, and federalism" down to the most local levels of government.
-I had attended the 2014 ACCE conference and was eager to see how the group had evolved in its formative years. What plans were its leaders developing in response to the surprising ascension of Donald Trump to President-elect, and the consolidation of republican power in the Congress and in statehouses nationwide? Read the rest of this item [http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2016/12/22/alecs-little-brother-acce-big-plans-2017/ here].
+Upon my return home, I found that corporate ideas flogged by luncheon sponsors while we ate and promoted at lobbyist tables between sessions at the 2014 meeting had subsequently followed the same well-worn path to "model bills," then state law. Read the rest of this item [http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2017/01/05/alec-pay-to-play-display-washington-dc/ here].
 ----
-<h3>[http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2016/12/11/rex-tillerson-exxon-spent-big-climate-change-denial-misleading-public-evidence-shows// Rex Tillerson and Exxon Spent Big on Climate Change Denial while Misleading Public, Evidence Shows]</h3>
+<h3>[http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2016/12/23/election-losses-dont-stop-corporate-efforts-block-voter-approved-minimum-wage-hikes/ Election Losses Don’t Stop Corporate Efforts to Block Voter-Approved Minimum Wage Hikes ]</h3>
-[[Image:Exxon-knew-ALEC-too270px.jpg|270 px|center]]Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump's likely choice to be America's top diplomat as Secretary of State, has spent years funding climate change denial and underwriting efforts to block measures to address climate change while misleading the public, according to evidence compiled by the Center for Media and Democracy.
+[[Image:NRA-attacks-local-democracy-270px.jpg|270 px|center]]Voters spoke very clearly on November 8 when they elected to raise the minimum wage in Arizona and Maine, along with Colorado and Washington State.
-As CMD detailed in a joint complaint filed with the IRS shortly before the election, Exxon has used the [http://www.alecexposed.org/ American Legislative Exchange Council] "as a key asset in its explicit campaign to sow uncertainty about climate science, undermine international climate treaties and block legislation to reduce emissions."
+But those wins, the democratic process, and the express will of the people are being defied and denied in Arizona and Maine, where corporate lobbyists and their legislative allies are working to block, delay, even rewrite the laws approved on Election Day.
-This includes attacks on the Clean Power Plan which sets out modest steps to try to mitigate the devastating effects of climate change being caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Read the rest of this item [http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2016/12/11/rex-tillerson-exxon-spent-big-climate-change-denial-misleading-public-evidence-shows/ here].
+These efforts to flout voter-approved laws are part of ongoing conservative and corporate-backed strategies to keep wages low. Read the rest of this item [http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2016/12/23/election-losses-dont-stop-corporate-efforts-block-voter-approved-minimum-wage-hikes/ here].
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