What is ALEC?
According to their official
website,
ALEC is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that “provides a
constructive forum for state legislators and private sector leaders to
discuss and exchange practical, state-level public policy issues.”
If you’re scratching your head after
reading that definition or thinking, “That doesn’t seem so scary,” allow
me to clarify it for you. Simply put, ALEC is a conservative group
comprised of state legislators and corporate leaders that allows
corporations to help write, or in some cases, just hand over legislation
that the “official lawmakers” can then take credit for and formally
propose. Though ALEC may have originally been founded with the hope of
creating improved legislation, it seems to now be more “for the profit”
than “for the people.”
“…ALEC is like the house guest that
never leaves. At first you’re glad to see them, but as time progresses
you wonder what their motives are for sticking around. They initially
provided legislators with some good legal concepts but then over time
they became a Trojan Horse working their way into the law-making process
with an agenda that isn’t exactly pro-people.”
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD)
conducted research into ALEC’s funding while looking into Exxon Mobil
and the company’s wrongdoings regarding climate change denial. CMD found
that 98% of ALEC’s funding comes from private sources other than state
legislators. This means that ALEC is basically entirely funded by global
corporations, including Exxon Mobil.
Legislators pay a yearly membership fee
of $50, whereas corporations pay anywhere between $7,000 to $25,000
annually. It’s no surprise that corporations and other special interest
groups have paid anywhere from 50 times to 500 times more than lawmakers
to guarantee their spot in ALEC, since the ultimate payoff is far
greater for them. This fee doesn’t include the additional payments they
often make to fund special “ALEC Task Forces” or other workshops and
meetings with lawmakers. You can read the official letter from CMD
here.
Examples of Legislation ALEC is Responsible For
One of the more recent examples of legislation ALEC was responsible for creating was exposed in the documentary
13th, which discusses the 13th amendment and how slavery was never truly abolished
(check out our article on it
here).
The documentary shows that some of the legislation ALEC helped develop
supports harsher and longer prison sentences as well as the
privatization of prisons.
It’s important to note that one of the
organizations that funds ALEC is Corrections Corporations of America
(CCA). This means that the more bodies that are in prisons, the more CCA
profits, and thus the more money ALEC gets. The American Bail Coalition
(ABC), an organization that profits from the privatization of bail,
also holds close ties to ALEC.
Another example of legislation influenced by ALEC, perhaps more famous than the former, is the pro-gun law in Florida titled “
Stand Your Ground,”
which allows people to use deadly force in situations of self-defence.
This law is now considered particularly controversial because it
essentially allowed police to free George Zimmerman after stalking and
murdering a black teenager, Trayvon Martin. ALEC took a lot of heat
during that trial and ended up losing many memberships as a result.
Plus, there were the
62 bills (backed
by ALEC) lawmakers tried to pass in 37 different states between the
years of 2011 and 2012. All of these bills proposed forcing voters to
show a government photo ID when casting their ballots. Although this
seems harmless, the courts were confused because the states proposing
the bills didn’t have any issues with voter fraud. This begs the
question: Was this a
“voter-suppression” bill?
Another example that is clearly not “for
the people” is the combined 67 laws proposed in 25 different states
between 2011 and 2013 that aimed to
lower minimum wage.
Not surprisingly, ALEC was behind all of these, in hopes of not only
reducing minimum wage levels but also weakening overtime protection and
halting states’ and cities’ ability to create local minimum wage laws.
Sadly, eleven of these bills were actually passed.
Lastly, and perhaps the most disturbing, is the ALEC-backed
Animal and Ecological Terrorism in America bill,
otherwise known as an “ag-gag” bill, a term coined in 2011 that refers
to state legislation that forbids the act of undercover filming or
photographing activities on farms. It’s not exactly surprising that the
people who profit from factory farms would try to prevent people from
exposing the cruelty that takes place there, but the statements made in
that document are practically humorous.
For example, the claim that taking pictures on livestock farms can “
defame the facility or its owner” is a little ironic given the fact that they torture and kill animals every day; how great can their reputations really
be? Additionally, ALEC proposed that violators be placed on a “terrorist registry.” This seems like a
ridiculous and immoral way to spend taxpayers dollars, enforcing a rule that would prevent people from actually doing the “right thing.”
John Oliver Video Exposes ALEC
Even though there’s nothing funny about
corporations creating immoral legislations for profit, John Oliver puts a
hilarious spin on a particular incident with a Minnesota lawmaker
caught on camera presenting an ALEC bill. The video also addresses the
Electricity Freedom Act, an ALEC document that aimed to take down renewable energy standards because they’re “a tax on consumers of electricity.”
Final Thoughts
ALEC has the ability to help create
incredible bills that could be both “for the people” and “for the
profit.” Business doesn’t have to go against people; you can make a
profit by serving people’s needs while creating a better world
simultaneously.
However, ALEC has clearly abused its
position of power and used it to manipulate and buy lawmakers into
proposing bills. Their actions speak volumes about all of the
individuals involved, whether it be lawmakers, special interests groups,
or corporate leaders.
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