Reply #99: From 2002: Outing ALEC... [View All]

I found the link at Third World Traveler, but it is originally from the American Prospect. I can not find the link at that site anymore.

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Corporations/Outing_ALEC.html

"How does ALEC work? The council connects corporations to state legislatures via conferences and forums. Under the aegis of "legislative exchange," these gatherings allow corporations access and influence for which they'd otherwise be publicly scrutinized. ALEC also produces reams of model legislation-drafts that meet the needs of ALEC's corporate allies and that legislators can send to their statehouse floors, with or without amendment.

The organization's reach is impressive: More than one-third of state legislators are ALEC members, and about 100 hold senior leadership positions. Nine sitting governors and more than 80 members of Congress either pay dues or are alumni, including Republicans Dennis Hastert of Illinois, Tom DeLay of Texas, and Don Nickles of Oklahoma. ALEC doesn't publicly release its membership list but, according to spokesman Bob Adams, about 65 percent of its members are Republicans and 35 percent Democrats. ALEC's $6 million budget-which pays for 30 staffers in prime Washington office space-is mostly provided by large corporations (Enron included) and right-wing foundations, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and the John M. Olin Foundation among them.

ALEC specializes in nothing if not the intertwining of private and public power: Each of its issue-based "task forces" is cochaired by a "public-sector chair" (a state legislator) and a "private-sector chair" (a corporate executive); similarly, the council has a "national board" of elected officials and a "private enterprise board" of business leaders. But the organization's real ingenuity is its exploitation of a deep vulnerability in the nation's political system: State legislatures tend to function only part time. Only seven states have full-time state legislatures; in six states the legislature convenes just every other year; and in 38 states, legislators have no paid staff.

If you're a politician looking to sponsor a bill, but your time and resources are limited and you only meet with your colleagues once every few months, ALEC provides one-stop shopping. As Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said of his days attending ALEC conferences in the 1970s,' 'Myself, I always loved going to these meetings because I always found new ideas and then I'd take them back to Wisconsin, disguise them a little bit, and declare that it's mine." Legislators who might otherwise gain little or no national distinction are able to do so within ALEC. It connects them to VIPs and strokes their egos by handing out "Legislator of the Year" awards."