ALEC And Us, Part IV: Corporate Influence In State and Local Politics
Editor’s note: This is the most recent in what is now an ongoing series regarding the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and its influence of State – and now local – legislation and decision making. A list of web resources used to prepare this article, and two tables containing associated information, are presented at the end of the article.
by John Weckerle
Back in 2012, New Mexico Central ran several articles on the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC):
- ALEC and Us
- ALEC and Us – IRS Complaint and Lobbying Issues
- East Mountain Representative Smith Reveals sordid ALEC Past
As the ALEC and Us article notes, ALEC was the involved in the drafting and passage of “Florida’s now-infamous ‘Stand Your Ground'” law. Further research into ALEC at the time revealed that the organization, which has often been described as a corporate-sponsored “bill mill,” is an association of industry associations, corporate entities, and State legislators that drafts industry-friendly legislation, then sending it to State legislatures via its legislative members and supporters for introduction, sponsorship, or other support. The Nonprofit Information Networking Association article describes ALEC’s activities as follows:
ALEC drafts “model” state legislation for conservative members of state legislatures. The model legislation sometimes becomes law, such as Arizona’s infamous immigration law. ALEC has also generated state resolutions against EPA regulation of greenhouse gasses, bills on privatizing public education, restricting public employee unions, and opposing state aspects of President Obama’s national health care reform. Many of the ALEC-generated model bills are seen as industry-friendly, in part because corporations pay well for participation at ALEC conferences giving them access to state legislators. However, despite its influence with many model bills, ALEC’s visibility with the public is limited and legislators often don’t disclose that the bills they are introducing come from ALEC.
In our 2012 article, we listed New Mexico State legislators in the House and Senate who were identified by Sourcewatch as members of ALEC’s various task forces. For some time after these articles were published (and certainly not as a result of those articles, as bigger fish were targeting ALEC), ALEC seemed to fall on hard times. The organization’s web site was static for some time, and it seems that corporations were abandoning it in droves (last year, Enterprise Rent-A-Car joined and rapidly left ALEC following an outcry from its customers). ALEC has been accused in many articles as essentially being a lobbying organization masquerading as a charity (the entity is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization), and its tax-exempt status has been challenged.
Since 2012, ALEC has reasserted itself as a force to be reckoned with, and seems as influential as ever. As always, the organization seems reticent to publish its list of members; however, some information can be gleaned from its website, and we can now at least begin to identify its supporters. One of the most likely suspects is…
…You.
If you enjoy wine by Chateau Ste. Michelle, or smoke tobacco produced by Phillip Morris (both owned by Altria), buy your insurance from State Farm Insurance Companies, acquire cell phone services from AT&T, send packages or otherwise pay for shipping via UPS, purchase electricity through any of the nation’s rural electric cooperatives, or spend money in any number of states and municipalities, some amount of your expenditures is probably headed for ALEC.
At the end of this article, we are providing two tables we have compiled from information on the ALEC web site regarding the membership in its committees. Note that this is not the entire membership; again, the organization does not publish a comprehensive membership list, and it is likely that the majority of its members cannot be easily identified.
We believe that citizens have a right to know where the bills being introduced in their legislatures originate. Accordingly, we have sent the following questions to our State Representative, Jim Smith, and our State Senator, James B. White:
- Are you a current or former member of ALEC?
- Have you attended any ALEC-sponsored meetings or events? If so, when, how many and what was the focus of the meeting (s) or event(s)?
- Have you participated in any of ALEC’s task force activities?
- Have you introduced, sponsored, co-sponsored, voted for, or otherwise supported legislation resulting from ALEC’s activities?
- Have you received campaign contributions or other support from ALEC, its members, or its supporters?
We’ve requested responses by January 28, 2017, and will share what we receive with our readers – as well as the results of other research we are conducting into the matter. We also encourage our readers to pose these questions to their State and local legislators (ALEC has created a subsidiary organization focusing on local government, the American City County Exchange (ACCE)).
Among the articles and resources we reviewed on this issue include (but are certainly not limited to):
- The American Legislative Exchange Council
- ALEC Corporations – Sourcewatch.org
- American Legislative Exchange Council – Guidestar.org
- List of membes of the American Legislative Exchange Council – Wikipedia.org
- ALEC Energy, Environment and Agricultural Task Force – Sourcewatch.org
- ALEC Exposed – Center for Media and Democracy
- Exxon Illegally Funded ALEC under Tillerson’s Tenure, CMD Tells Committee – Center for Media and Democracy
- ALEC Pay to Play on Display in Washington, DC – Steve Arnold, Mayor of Fitchburg, Wisconsin via Center for Media and Democracy
- American Legislative Exchange Council – Sourcewatch.org
- American Legislative Exchange Council – Wikipedia
- Fact Sheet on the IRS Whistleblower Complaint against ALEC – Common Cause via PRWatch.org
- Groups File IRS Complaint Alleging ALEC is a Lobbying Vehicle, Not A Charity – DESMOG
- Exxon and ALEC Running Illegal Lobbying Scheme, Watchdog Groups Charge In IRS Complaint – Center for Media and Democracy
- List of members of the American Legislative Exchange Council – Wikipedia
- The Hidden Influence of the American Legislative Exchange Council – Nonprofit Information Networking Association
- American Legislative Exchange Council – Guidestar.org
- ALEC Corporations – Sourcewatch.org
| ALEC Private Enterprise Advisory Council | |
| Affiliation | Member |
| American Bail Coalition | Bill Carmichael |
| Exxon Mobil Corporation | Cynthia Bergman |
| Peabody Energy | Michael Blank |
| VISTRA Energy | Sano Blocker |
| PhRMA | Jeff Bond |
| Pfizer, Inc. | Josh Brown |
| NetChoice | Steve DelBianco |
| Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company | Marianne Eterno |
| UPS | Mike Kiely |
| AT&T | Bill Leahy |
| K12 Inc. | Don Lee |
| Not specified (Americans For Prosperity) | Frayda Levin |
| Not specified (Heritage Foundation) | Stephen Moore |
| Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC | Michael Morgan |
| Asian American Hotel Owners Association | Chip Rogers |
| Altria Client Services | Daniel Smith |
| State Farm Insurance Companies | Roland Spies |
| National Federation of Independent Business | Steve Woods |
| State Budget Solutions (ALEC) | Bob Williams |
| Automotive Trade Association Executives | Jennifer Colman |
| ALEC Task Forces | ||
| Affiliation | Member | Role |
| American City Council Exchange (ACCE) | ||
| Mayor, Gulfport, Mississippi; Capitol Gain, LLC; Billy Hewes Real Estate; Former State Senator/Senate President Pro Tempore | Billy Hewes | Public Chair |
| Not Sepcified (formerly of American Bail Coalition | Nick Wachinski | Private Chair |
| ACCE | Jon Russell | Director |
| Civil Justice | ||
| Tennessee State Senate | Brian Kelsey | Public Chair |
| Shook, Hardy and Bacon LLP | Mark Behrens | Private Chair |
| ALEC | Amy Kjose Anderson | Director |
| Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development | ||
| Iowa House of Representatives | Dawn Pettengill | Public Chair |
| United Parcel Service | Frank Morris | Private Chair |
| ALEC | Ben Wilterdink | Director |
| Communications and Technology | ||
| South Carolina House of Representatives | Garry Smith | Public Chair |
| National Cable and Telecommunications | Rick Cimerman | Private Chair |
| ALEC | Jonathon Hauenschild | Director |
| Criminal Justice Reform | ||
| Oklahoma Legislature | Lisa Billy | Public Chair |
| Stop Child Predators | Stacie Rumenap | Private Chair |
| ALEC | Ronald J. Lampard | Director |
| Education and Workforce Development | ||
| Utah State Senate | Howard Stephenson | Public Chair |
| Goldwater Institute | Jonathan Butcher | Private Chair |
| ALEC | Inez Feltcher | Director |
| Energy, Environment, and Agriculture | ||
| Illinois House of Representatives | David B. Reis | Public Chair |
| National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association | Jennifer Jura | Private Chair |
| ALEC | John Eick | Director |
| Federalism and International Relations | ||
| Oregon House Public Chair | C. Gene Whisnant | Public Chair |
| Americans for Tax Reform | Lorenzo Montanari | Private Chair |
| ALEC | Karla Jones | Director |
| Health and Human Services | ||
| Georgia Senate | Judson Hill | Public Chair |
| Takeda Pharmeceuticals, U.S.A. | John Schlatter | Private Chair |
| ALEC | Mia Heck | Director |
| Tax and Fiscal Policy | ||
| New Hampshire House of Representatives | Ken Weyler | Public Chair |
| Altria Client Services | Amanda Klump | Private Chair |
| ALEC | Joel Griffith | Director |
| ALEC | Elliot Young | Staff |
| ALEC | Chritine Smith | Staff |
| ALEC | Ted Lafferty | Staff |
| ALEC | Kati Siconolfi | Staff |
| ALEC/Center for State Fiscal Reform | Jonathan Williams | Director |