[Vision2020] The Big Money Behind State Laws

[Art Deco]

  [image: The New York Times] <http://www.nytimes.com/>


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February 12, 2012
The Big Money Behind State Laws

It is no coincidence that so many state legislatures have spent the last
year taking the same destructive actions: making it harder for minorities
and other groups that support Democrats to vote, obstructing health care
reform, weakening environmental regulations and breaking the spines of
public- and private-sector unions. All of these efforts are being backed —
in some cases, orchestrated — by a little-known conservative organization
financed by millions of corporate dollars.

The American Legislative Exchange Council <http://www.alec.org/> was
founded in 1973 by the right-wing activist Paul Weyrich; its big funders
include Exxon Mobil, the Olin and Scaife families and foundations tied to
Koch Industries. Many of the largest corporations are represented on its
board.

ALEC has written model legislation on a host of subjects dear to corporate
and conservative interests, and supporting lawmakers have introduced these
bills in dozens of states. A recent
study<http://www.progressva.org/alec/ProgressVA%20-%20ALEC%20in%20Virginia.pdf>of
the group’s impact in Virginia showed that more than 50 of its bills
were introduced there, many practically word for word. The study, by the
liberal group ProgressVA, found that ALEC had been involved in writing
bills that would:

¶Prohibit penalizing residents for failing to obtain health insurance,
undermining the individual mandate in the reform law. The bill, which ALEC
says has been introduced in 38 states, was signed into law and became the
basis for Virginia’s legal challenge to heath care reform.

¶Require voters to show a form of identification. Versions of this bill
passed both chambers this month.

¶Encourage school districts to contract with private virtual-education
companies. (One such company was the corporate co-chair of ALEC’s education
committee.) The bill was signed into law.

¶Call for a federal constitutional amendment to permit the repeal of any
federal law on a two-thirds vote of state legislatures. The bill failed.

¶Legalize use of deadly force in defending one’s home. Bills to this
effect, which recently passed both houses, have been backed by the National
Rifle Association, a longtime member of ALEC.

ALEC’s influence in the Virginia statehouse is
pervasive<http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/2011/12/21/gIQA9ccRLP_story.html>,
the study showed. The House of Delegates speaker, William Howell, has been
on the board since 2003 and was national chairman in 2009. He has sponsored
or pushed many of the group’s bills, including several benefiting specific
companies that support ALEC financially, like one that would reduce a
single company’s asbestos liability. At least 115 other state legislators
have ties to the group, including paying membership dues, attending
meetings and sponsoring bills. The state has spent more than $230,000
sending lawmakers to ALEC conferences since 2001.

Similar efforts have gone on in many other states. The group has been
particularly active in weakening environmental regulations and fighting the
Environmental Protection Agency. ALEC’s publication, “E.P.A.’s Regulatory
Train Wreck,”<http://www.alec.org/publications/epas-regulatory-train-wreck-2/>outlines
steps lawmakers can take, including curtailing the power of state
regulators.

There is nothing illegal or unethical about ALEC’s work, except that it
further demonstrates the pervasive influence of corporate money and
right-wing groups on the state legislative process. There is no group with
any comparable influence on the left. Lawmakers who eagerly do ALEC’s
bidding have much to answer for. Voters have a right to know whether the
representatives they elect are actually writing the laws, or whether the
job has been outsourced to big corporate interests.


-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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