ALEC forced to make public "hundreds" of model bills.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

(Credit: Shutterstock/ suravid)


It’s been public knowledge for a number of years that the American Legislative Exchange Council is responsible for writing model legislation for major industries and then pushing them, through Republican lawmakers, into statehouses nationwide. Until these model bills pop up on legislative agendas, however, little is known about the group’s legislation penning.

On Friday, following a two-year campaign by watchdog groups, ALEC published hundreds of its model bills online. The coalition of organizations pushing for greater transparency included the Center for Media and Democracy, ColorOfChange, Common Cause, Greenpeace, People for the American Way, Progress Now and a variety of labor organizations.

The full list of model bills is available down below second link. It includes template bills pertaining to stand-your-ground laws, charter schools, climate (mis)education, union-busting right to work bills, workplace drug testing laws and more.

http://www.salon.com/2013/03/15/alec_makes_public_hundreds_of_model_bills/

http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/

[bettyellen]

1. wow- stand-your-ground laws, charter schools, climate (mis)education, union-busting...

....right to work bills, workplace drug testing laws "

[Blue_In_AK]

17. Every single one of these is being passed through Alaska's legislature this year

thanks to gerrymandering that assured that Dems would have no voice. I'm sick about what's happening here. They're destroying our spirit.

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. Okay ...

Now we have the templates bills ... some watchdog agency, or intrepid researcher, should start scanning state legislatures for corresponding laws; then issuing Public Information Requests for communications between legislators and alec; then, corelate campaign finance information.

Who wants to bet, there will be a positive correlation?

[robinlynne]

3. I like it.

[freshwest]

5. For sure - follow the money. This could herald the start of the great push back against this!

[malaise]

7. DUers will do this before weekend

Just watch

[KoKo]

32. It's Done...Check this link to find if Your Rep is part of Alec

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_American_Legislative_Exchange_Council#South_Carolina

[malaise]

37. Duress are simply the best

:fist bump:

[DonRedwood]

15. Remember when it was the media that did that kind of work?

Yup...Media used to be the watchdog, not the lapdog.

[BlueCaliDem]

35. Corporate Media replaced our Fourth Estate to benefit corporations

over We the People. American media are lapdogs for the rich and influential.

Two categories where I believe we MUST keep corporations out of: our fourth estate and our health care insurance. The glaring fact is, a corporation's sole fiduciary responsibility is to make as much profit as they possibly can for their shareholders. That's all. That's it. When it comes to the public good, corporations should have no leadership part in it.

[hootinholler]

21. Sure, but I want a crime to be found.

I don't think there is evidence as yet of pay to play. A lexical analysis of enacted state laws and the templates would be interesting. I doubt there was much tweaking, and I'm aware of one instance of a template being passed as is with language that was intended to have been stripped.

[AC_Mem]

28. If memory serves

They submitted legislation that had another states info on it.

Outstanding news. Let the sun shine on all of this corruption!

[oldhippydude]

39. actually before the election Rachel Maddow covered ALEC extensively

apparently a lot of their commercial juice (heavy hitting sponsors) have abandon ALEC.. primarily over voter caging issues.. from what I remember Color of Change was the prime mover (the folks that scared of Rush Limbaugh's sponsors)

I would suggest anybody interested in "what can I do?" contact them

[KoKo]

40. Yes...many companies cut their ties with ALEC in response

to the activism. Whether they truly cut the tie or just said they did is probably open to question since so many corporations got benefits from the legislation ALEC managed to get through ... Plus it's possible that those corporations who cut ties due to pressure had already gotten the pieces of legislation through Congress and so didn't mind cutting the tie with Alex when they were exposed.

Anyway...those elected officials who profited from campaign donations by ALEC and it's affiliates should hopefully be penalized in the ballot box.

[oldhippydude]

41. indeed my freind... we are preaching to the chior here...

I kind of halfway expected the DOJ to step in ... obviously there was evidence, of a conspiracy to deny voting rights

[madville]

4. Kind of like how Republicans

And the insurance companies wrote the Affordable Care Act.

[freshwest]

6. Enthusiastic K & R!

[littlemissmartypants]

8. LMSP kicking...n/t

[Mnemosyne]

9. They are sickening. K&R! nt

[secondwind]

10. This is good stuff! K&R

[jsr]

11. Recommend

[meow2u3]

12. Now we need to indentify the corporations that wrote all this tripe

nt

[midnight]

16. Once we identify the corporations that wrote this trip, and repeal it immidiately....

[KoKo]

33. The list is at this Link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_American_Legislative_Exchange_Council#South_Carolina

[rurallib]

13. marking to return to

I am one who has been dogging ALEC in Iowa. Will pass on to others.

[quakerboy]

14. "Forced" how?

Theres no apparent indication of why they published these. Which would lead me to believe that they did so of their own volition because they have reason to believe doing so will not harm them, and may in some way be used to dupe their opposition.

These are perhaps the 10 year old versions, and when the R's bring the new versions to their legislatures, and are accused of being Alec stooges, they can point out its not the same as what alec published? I dunno. But im pretty sure its a scam somehow.

[mountain grammy]

19. The article mentions "watchdog groups" but I can't see the

rich and powerful behind ALEC being scared of anything.

[HiPointDem]

26. A two-year campaign by a coalition of public interest groups has pushed the American Legislative

Exchange Council (ALEC) to release hundreds of pieces of “model” state legislation secretly developed and pushed into law by corporate interests. The coalition includes the Center for Media and Democracy, ColorOfChange, Common Cause, Greenpeace, People For the American Way, Progress Now, Voters Legislative Transparency Project, and a variety of labor organizations.

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/03/12024/alec-corporate-bill-mill-posts-some-model-bills-online-first-time-watchdogs-say-m

[quakerboy]

47. So ALEC did it by choice

there was no force involved.

and I stand by my assessment that they would not have done so, without actual force, unless they believed the result would not harm their cause.

[HiPointDem]

48. That may be. It also may be that the backstage coercion did indeed force their hand.

we can't know based on the very limited information in the media.

[annabanana]

18. About damn time we tore the mask of these fuckers.

ALEC should be as well known as NASCAR.

(kick, rec, Tweet & face)

[erinlough]

20. MICHIGAN! Just look at the emergency manager law.

Al Pscholka comes to the congress and within weeks introduces it with the same ALEC language. We've been aware they are using ALEC bills directly sometimes not even changing the language to meet existing law in Michigan. I hope this gets people to take notice.

[MichiganVote]

45. +1

[cantbeserious]

22. The Trail Of Money That Funds This Organization Leads To The Source Of America's Destruction

eom

[ZRT2209]

23. cut and paste "democracy"

[HiPointDem]

24. kr, get the whole stinking mess out and arrest the perps.

[Fire Walk With Me]

25. "Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state

and corporate power." ~Benito Mussolini

[malaise]

29. That's why I love Gramsci

http://books.google.com.jm/books?id=Sq89AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA226&lpg=PA226&dq=gramsci+corporatism&source=bl&ots=LAMz0YqTht&sig=SJRwkMpDK_FKjlZg26s3pEMbP78&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8FtEUdDPGZPj4APN-4DgCQ&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=gramsci%20corporatism&f=false

[bonniebgood]

27. don't be fooled or mislead. ALEC wrote the drug law bill and a

lot of democrats signed them into law. More than 10 years ago ALEC bragged and admitted that
democratic senators and members of congress sat on their board of directors. Dems has always known
about ALEC so don't go blaming the republicans for all the drug laws, private prisons, charter schools nor the demise of the
post office and social security. dems and repug are two heads of the same 1% beast.

[Walk away]

31. But only Democrats will try to stop it. So we have to know who to battle...

to beat back these laws.

[datasuspect]

43. which ones? who are they? where are they?

[HiPointDem]

46. This is a partial list of politicians that are known to be involved in, or previously involved in,

the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Not all dues-paying members of ALEC are included below because ALEC does not post its full list, but the following list includes politicians who have been in a leadership role in ALEC as a member of a task force or other publicly known role. It also includes politicians who have been featured speakers or who have accepted awards at ALEC meetings. (If you have additional names, please add them with a citation. The names in this original list were verified as of posting.)

Legislators who have cut ties with ALEC publicly are also listed here.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC_Politicians

[BumRushDaShow]

30. "ALEC Exposed" website

http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed

Deserves a perusal.

[KoKo]

34. And WIKI has the List of State and National Politicians, Corporations

Founders, Affiliates, Here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_American_Legislative_Exchange_Council#South_Carolina

[BumRushDaShow]

36. Fortunately, none of my federal, state, or local reps are involved in that vomitous group.

Yet this group has hijacked democracy itself. Ironically, just yesterday, after the PA gotchanator's effort to privatize the lottery was rejected by our new SAG, he ignored her and resubmitted the proposal again anyway - all while I started seeing ads last night on TV protesting our next door neighbor gotchanator Christie's effort to do the same in NJ with the lottery (ad paid for by the CWA). They are walking zombies that believe if they keep banging into that wall enough times, they will break through.



It's time to take our country BACK!

[cantbeserious]

38. Thank You For The Link

eom

[WillyT]

42. HUGE K & R !!!

[KansDem]

44. ALEC -- the *other* Congress