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ALEC News

ALEC in Colorado On the eve of ALEC's annual meeting in Denver, Colorado Common Cause and the Common Cause Education Fund released a new report uncovering the recent influence of the secretive special interest lobbying group in the Colorado legislature. ALEC is a national secretive lobbying group that is holding its annual meeting in Denver from July 19th-21st. ALEC is known for bringing state lawmakers and corporate lobbyists together in secret to draft and approve "model" bills on different issues, often benefiting its corporate donors' bottom line. The report reveals the members of the Colorado legislature that have ties to ALEC and which recent Colorado state bills can be traced back to the organization. Additionally, the report highlights ALEC's corporate members and uncovers money given to the organization from both the Coors family and Koch brothers. The report also documents how ALEC abuses its public charity status with the IRS, effectively making its corporate donors eligible for a tax deduction for its funding of ALEC. "ALEC's secretive corporate lobbying flies in the face of how democracy is supposed to work," said Elena Nunez, executive director of Colorado Common Cause. "Voters may not know who ALEC is, but they have been very influential in Colorado. Coloradans need to know who is really behind some of the bills introduced in our legislature and what ALEC's corporate funders are getting in return." Read the report here. Trump Team, ALEC, Koch Industries Debate Gerrymandering the U.S. Senate in Denver Now that GOP state legislators have control over 32 state legislatures (both chambers), thanks in large part to partisan gerrymandering, some extremists are preparing to use their clout to gerrymander the U.S. Senate. This week in Denver, July 19-21, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) will welcome Republican state legislators and its corporate funders, including Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, K12 Inc., Peabody Energy, and PhRMA, to vote on corporate legislative priorities and create cookie cutter "model" bills in task force meetings that are still closed to the press. Read the rest of this item here. Reagan vs. Cities: The Battle Over South African Apartheid and Lessons for the Trump Era With the Trump administration threatening to withhold federal funds from cities and states offering protections to undocumented immigrants, a new report details similar tactics used by the Reagan administration to pressure cities and states to abandon anti-apartheid sanctions and divestment legislation. The report "Reagan vs. Cities: The 20th Century Battle Over South African Apartheid & Lessons For The Trump Era" provides historical examples of how cities and states can wield power in the face of threats of retaliation for local policies that defy a president's political agenda. Read the rest of this item here.