Reply #129: ALEC in Alaska: state rep seen at meeting w/ ALEC rep introduces bill copying ALEC [View All]

Bill would restrict bargaining rights of some public workers

SOME EXEMPTIONS: Alaska measure is similar to Wisconsin's.
By BECKY BOHRER
The Associated Press
Published: March 21st, 2011 10:46 PM
Last Modified: March 23rd, 2011 01:35 AM


JUNEAU-- Collective bargaining rights would be restricted for many Alaska public employees under a bill introduced Monday by a state lawmaker.

Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, said the bill is similar to one passed recently in Wisconsin and is aimed at keeping the state on sound financial footing. It keeps intact bargaining rights for wages but strips them for such things as health and retirement benefits. The measure exempts police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians, who Gatto says cannot strike.

He likened his bill to the Legislature's doing away with a defined benefits program for workers and replacing it with a defined contribution system. The state is still paying an unfunded liability from the old system, and without the change, "we would've been another $20 billion in the hole," he said. "To get ahead of things is my goal."

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Thursday, February 24, 2011
ALEC's Clinton Woods Helping Legislators Fight Obamacare, the EPA, and Other Conservative Nightmares


Like lots of other people, I looked into room 106 of the Capitol because it was lunch time and someone had provided free sandwiches, potato chips, fruit, and cookies to attract legislators and staffers to their talk. I had no idea who was talking. The bins were full. You can see that lots of folks made off with sandwiches. But only a few stayed. I got a sandwich for a nearby staffer, but there was nothing vegie, and I had brought my own, so I only took a banana for me.

It turned out to be the American Legislative Exchange Council - an organization I hadn't heard of. A young man named Clinton Woods was recruiting people for this organization which is a smaller competitor of two other organizations state legislators traditionally belong to:

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I noticed Rep. Carl Gatto there. He reported last year getting $2249.68 to attend a Heartland Institute conference in New York on International Climate Change. Heartland doesn't believe much in Climate Change and pushes market solutions in any case. Also present were Reps. Keller and Tammie Wilson and Sen. Dyson.

Their brochures made their position on the political spectrum fairly clear. This is not a neutral better government organization. It's an anti-government organization.

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