Did ALEC Found SPN? 1991 Report Suggests So, Exposes SPN Agenda

[unhappycamper]

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/20635-did-alec-found-spn-1991-report-suggests-so-exposes-spn-agenda



Did ALEC Found SPN? 1991 Report Suggests So, Exposes SPN Agenda
Saturday, 14 December 2013 12:41 By Rebekah Wilce, PR Watch | Report

The Madison Group, the predecessor to the State Policy Network (SPN) -- which was exposed recently in a Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) report, followed by the release of funding proposals detailing its coordination by The Guardian -- was "launched by the American Legislative Exchange Council or ALEC . . . and housed in the Chicago-based Heartland Institute." So says a 1991 report by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) that was housed in the University of California-San Francisco's Legacy Tobacco Documents and uncovered by DeSmog Blog's Steve Horn.

The case is strengthened by an October 1987 ALEC directory also available via the Tobacco Documents that says, "The Madison Group is chaired by Mrs. Constance Heckman [now Constance Campanella, founder of the lobbying firm Stateside Associates], Executive Director of ALEC . . ." (PDF, p. 3). A speakers list also available in the Tobacco Documents says in Constance Campanella's biography, " She was a co-founder and first President of The Madison Group, the first network of free-market state think tanks" (PDF, p. 3).

NCRP also reported that the Madison Group's annual meeting was at that time "sponsored by Heritage [Foundation] and the Free Congress Foundation," which was led by Paul Weyrich.

One of the gems found in the report is the following quote by the then-president of SPN's Pennsylvania affiliate, Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives, Don E. Eberley:

"We simply will not have power on the national level until we declare war on state legislatures."

[Triana]

1. Dupe!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024178179