Reply #377: AK (Alaska) Legislators run up bills at interim gatherings (including ALEC) Anchorage Daily N Aug 21 [View All]

More than a dozen Alaska legislators went to a conference in Hawaii this month at state expense, with Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman spending six nights in a suite with a bill averaging more than $900 a night. Two other legislators just got back from state travel to a New Orleans meeting of a pro-business group that crafts "model legislation" for lawmakers to use back home.

'MODEL LEGISLATION'
The state sent two other legislators to the annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council in New Orleans, from Aug. 3-6. (break)
Bloomberg News reported last month that companies including Exxon Mobil and Koch Industries have helped craft ALEC "model legislation" by paying to be members of the organization and to join one of the group's legislative-writing task forces. The idea is that legislators from around the nation can take the legislation and use it in their states.
Palmer Rep. Gatto cited ALEC's model legislation, the "Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act," this year when he introduced his "Alaska Health Freedom Act." It sought to prevent the state from enforcing the new federal requirement that people must purchase health insurance. Similar bills were introduced in 42 states.
Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River and Rep. Wes Keller, R-Wasilla, went to the ALEC conference this year at the New Orleans Marriott.

Keller is the Alaska state chairman for ALEC. He said the conference included task forces on pressing issues, and that he was a member of the education task force. He said he's also particularly involved in health care issues with the group. "I think it's a fabulous organization, it has really helped me. Because what it does is it gives you the perspective of what's going on in other states," he said.

Keller said he sometimes gets ideas from the organization's model legislation but he doesn't introduce the language verbatim as his own bills. He said he doesn't recall specifically whether Exxon is a corporate sponsor but that it is common for such legislative organizations to have sponsors. Keller said he likes that the private sector has a vote in crafting the group's model legislation.

"That's the beauty of ALEC, really, because you see the vetting is not just with the politicians," he said.