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More ALEC News

ALEC and ACCE Pay-to-Play Meeting: in the Belly of the Beast in Scottsdale Much like plastic debris makes its way into the innocent stomachs of our wildlife, I recently found myself in the belly of the proverbial beast—the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC held its annual meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, the first week in December. And, as a recently elected Councilmember from Tempe, Arizona, I attended on my own dime. In a new twist of the ALEC playbook, policymakers and lobbyists have formed a mini-ALEC called "ACCE," the American City and County Exchange. Its director, John Russell, has proclaimed that ACCE will do for cities what ALEC has done for states. Read the rest of this item here. Major Electric Utility Dumps ALEC over Clean Power Plan The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has suffered the loss of another major corporate sponsor, the Guardian reported Tuesday, with the electric utility American Electric Power (AEP) announcing it will no longer provide the climate change denial group with funding from 2016. AEP becomes the 107th identified corporation to have withdrawn funding since the Center for Media and Democracy launched the ALEC Exposed project in 2011, joining others such as Shell, BP, Google, Microsoft and Facebook. The loss of AEP will be particularly troubling for ALEC. Read the rest of this item here. Koch-Funded Special Interest Groups and Utilities Bankrolling ALEC Meeting Koch-funded groups and utilities are bankrolling ALEC's closed-door winter meeting and parties for state legislators that are underway in Scottsdale, Arizona, at a luxury resort and spa. The three-day gathering is bringing together lobbyists and legislators to plan their 2016 bill agenda for the upcoming legislative session. Koch-funded underwriters of the corporate bill mill's meeting includes the State Policy Network ("Chair's level" for $50,000); Frontiers of Freedom ("Vice Chair's level" for $25,000), and the Texas Public Policy Foundation ("Trustee's level" for $5,000), which recently hosted a conference of its own where numerous climate deniers criticized government action to address climate change. Read the rest of this item here.