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? Numerous resources to help us expose ALEC are provided below. We have also created links to detailed discussions of key issues, which are available on the left.

Who Is Behind ALEC?
What Is ALEC? Who Funds ALEC? ALEC Corporations Corporations That Have Cut Ties to ALEC ALEC Politicians (all states) Is Your Legislator Part of ALEC? 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

Report on ALEC "Scholarships" (UPDATED!) CMD Fact Sheets on Key Topics ALEC Press by Date and State CMD's PRWatch Articles on ALEC CMD's SourceWatch Resources on ALEC The Nation Special Edition on ALEC Common Cause Trove of ALEC Task Force Docs DBA Press ALEC Archive Voter's Legislative Transparency Project (VLTP) ProPublica Database of ALEC Corporations' Election Spending Abolish ALEC (Daily Kos blog)

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 PRWatch Articles on ALEC SourceWatch Resources on ALEC

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.

State Reports

Arizona (PFAW/CC) (supplemental) (CMD/PFAW/CC/Progress Now) NEW 2013 (CMD/PFAW/CC/Progress Now/AWF) Florida (Progress Florida/ PFAW/CMD/Florida Watch Action/CC) Georgia (NEW!) (Better Georgia) Iowa (Progress Iowa/ CMD/PFAW/CC/Progress Now) Maine (Maine's Majority Education Fund) Michigan (Progress Michigan/ Michigan Citizen Action/CMD/CC/PFAW) Minnesota (Common Cause) Missouri (Progress Missouri) Nebraska (NEW!) (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 (Progress TX/CMD) Utah (PFAW/CC/Alliance for a Better Utah/CMD) Virginia (Progress VA) Wisconsin (Center for Media and Democracy) State Bill Comparisons

ALEC News

ALEC Teams up with Anti-LGBT Alliance Defending Freedom to Promote So-Called “Campus Free Speech” Bills ALEC is actively working with Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian Right litigation nonprofit that pursues an anti-LGBT agenda, to push so-called “Campus Free Speech” bills in the states. Read the rest of this item here. ALEC’s Washington State Chair Discussed Violence, Surveillance Against Constituents Washington State Rep. Matt Shea (R-Spokane) has found himself back in the spotlight again, this time for messages sent and received through the Signal app discussing acts of violence against and surveillance of left-wing activists. Read the rest of this item here. Trump Appoints Stephen Moore, ALEC’s Favorite Economist, to Fed Stephen Moore, Trump’s recent appointment to the Federal Reserve Board, has served as the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) leading voice for austerity and anti-labor policies for over a decade. Read the rest of this item here. CMD Continues to Throw Spotlight on Legislators Heralded by Secret Group ALEC seems to have stopped recognizing its rising stars with its “Legislator of the Week” award, switching instead to a monthly award. Read the rest of this item here. State Bills to Criminalize Peaceful Protest of Oil & Gas “Critical Infrastructure” Lawmakers in several states are introducing bills that would increase criminal penalties for people who trespass “critical infrastructure” facilities, such as oil and gas pipelines, power plants, and petrochemical refineries. Read the rest of this item here.

More ALEC News

ALEC Corporations Are Leaders in Workplace Discrimination and Harassment Since 2000, corporate members of ALEC piled up almost $150 million in fines, penalties, and court settlements in cases involving racial and age discrimination and harassment. Read the rest of this item here. Louisiana Senator Sharon Hewitt, ALEC’s Legislator of the Year, Voted “No” on Equal Pay for Equal Work As “Legislator of the Year,” ALEC chose a woman who made opposition to pay equity one of her signature issues, in the state where women have the most to gain from equal pay protections. Read the rest of this item here. ALEC’s New Union-Busting Toolkit Illustrates the Goal Is to Bankrupt Unions Not Protect Workers ALEC’s post-Janus toolkit inadvertently sheds light on the real aims of the group’s union-busting activities. Read the rest of this item here. Broad Coalition Calls on Corporations to Drop Funding for ALEC Over Horowitz Speeches Washington State Rep. Matt Shea keeps his leadership post in ALEC despite circulating a white nationalist manifesto calling for a violent Christian holy war. Read the rest of this item here.

Join the Conversation!

Breaking News
Critics say Illinois bill threatens to chill protest against fossil fuel interests Energy News Network Local fees on plastic containers could be blocked by state Dayton Daily News Rep. Young hears tough questions on issues Post Register Bill to keep Louisiana oil and gas industry's violations secret, immune from penalties narrowly fails The Advocate A Major Coal Company Went Bust. Its Bankruptcy Filing Shows That It Was Funding Climate Change The Intercept Rant and Rave: Little Kids' Brains Charleston Post Courier Inside the long war to protect plastic Center for Public Integrity Michigan shrinks credits for rooftop solar, clouding industry's future Bridge Michigan The Great Idaho Do-Over Wall Street Journal Texas' 'Save Chick-fil-A' bill part of a nationwide, anti-LGBTQ effort, advocates say NBC News CAPITOL ROUNDUP: Changes likely coming to cannabis legalization bill The Edwardsville Intelligencer Opponents say bill would deter protesters of energy industries in Illinois Peoria Journal Star States Start Hitting America's Electric Drivers With Higher Fees Bloomberg After Standing Rock, protesting pipelines can get you a decade in prison and $100K in fines Grist Don’t Let California’s Legislature Extend Broadband Monopolies for Comcast and AT&T EFF WV Senate Dems hold press conference on education priorities as special session date set WV News NYC Taxes on Biz Revenues Sending Small Companies to Florida The Jewish Voice New York Tax Rate Forces Small Businesses To Leave State, Move To Florida International Business Times Blue City Challenge: Clawing Back Power from Red States The American Prospect Climate Change and the Guard Dog Theory Plattsburgh Press-Republican Hungary’s leader is waging war on democracy. Today, he’s at the White House Vox Universities financed opposition to climate agenda Bend Bulletin Your Pension May Be Monetized Gold Seek As the world hands out subsidies, U.S. states start hitting drivers of electric cars with higher fees Bloomberg/Japan Times Fiber Broadband and Small Cells: An Unholy Municipal Alliance CounterPunch ALEC Teams up with Anti-LGBT Alliance Defending Freedom to Promote So-Called "Campus Free Speech" Bills (ExposedbyCMD) ALEC Wants to Make Protest Illegal in Illinois (Truthout) Tom Crouser: Does ALEC influence WV politics? (Opinion) (Charleston Gazette-Mail) Right Thinking: The dangers of throwing mud (Journal Record) The Exploitative Gig Economy Is Not “the Future of Work” (Truthout) Family Fund Gifted $3.2 Million to Conservative Nonprofits During DeVos’ First Year in Office (Maplight) 'Kill the bill! Save the land!' Native protectors disrupt Texas legislature (Indian Country Today Media Network) Editorial: Opportunity lost (Eastern Arizona Courier) More preemptive ALEC strikes (High Plains Reader) Opinion | Knopf: Fakenomics and the Kochtopus (Summit Daily News) Alabama Senate prevents ban on plastic bag bans from coming to vote (Montgomery Advertiser) Can't Pay That Traffic Fine? Try an Installment Plan (Crime Report) Anti-Protest Legislation Is Threatening Our Climate (EcoWatch) Please Let's Never Call Uber “The Future of Work” Ever Again (In These Times) Sense of Place: 'Whose idee was this?' (The Daily Post-Athenian) Liberal Millionaires Will Spend Big in States in 2020 (Splinter) The danger of Republican voter suppression | Opinion (Sun Sentinel) Two Views: Adler was right: The state aims to take self-government away (Austin American-Statesmen) A user's guide to "Cultural Marxism": Anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, reloaded (Salon)
Click here to find archived news articles.

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.

A Charity for Lawmakers? ALEC Legislator Resigns to Become Lobbyist

Rep. Ben Harbin resigned after two decades as a Georgia legislator the same day as 11ALive reporters asked him for an interview about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) meeting where he was found behind closed doors with the top state lobbyist for the cell phone industry. Atlanta's 11Alive follows up on its behind-the-scenes investigation of ALEC.

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