ALEC

The corporate front group the American Legislative Exchange Council helps corporations write bills and then get state legislatures to pass them. But the group has beenAi??hemorrhagingAi??members since itsAi??involvementAi??in passing “Stand Your Ground” and voter suppression laws.

Yesterday, two renewable energy associations announced that they’d be leaving ALEC in response to it fighting green technology at the state level:

The American Wind Energy Association and the Solar Energy Industries Association joined the industry-backed coalition for a year because they wanted a “seat at the table” to discuss hot energy issues, said AWEA spokesman Peter Kelley.

But the groups decided to drop out afterAi??ALECAi??adopted theAi??“Electricity Freedom Act”Ai??model bill in October, which would end requirements that utilities generate a set amount of electricity from renewable sources, such as wind and solar (E&ENews PM, Nov. 5, 2012). SEIA allowed its one-year membership to expire last fall, and AWEA dropped out earlier this month.

Click here to join our campaign calling on Democratic lawmakers and major corporations to dump ALEC.

Tommy Thompson’s health “reforms” are ones we already have.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a powerful corporate-funded group that works to secretly pass Big Business-friendly legislation in state legislatures around the country. It is the same group that is responsible for the proliferation of voter suppression and “Shoot First” laws.

Here’s how powerful the group is. Former Wisconsin governor and state legislator Tommy Thompson — who’s currently running for a Senate seat in the state — once told an ALEC conference that he’d “loved going to these meetings because I always found new ideas. Then Iai??i??d take them back to Wisconsin, disguise them a little bit, and declare that ai???Itai??i??s mine.” With that sentence Thompson basically admitted that he’d take corporate-written ALEC bills and work to pass them without anyone ever knowing their origin.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s watchdog blogger Dan Bice recently attended a Thompson campaign event and asked him about his remarks about ALEC. Thompson, clearly not knowing how to answer, shook his head and claimed he didn’t remember the words. Watch it:

It’s shameful that Thompson is refusing to talk about his servitude to ALEC and its corporate agenda. The voters of Wisconsin need a senator who will be honest about where the legislation he or she is advocating for comes from.

ALEC doesn’t need its own Senator. Click here to sign up to make calls for his bold progressive opponent Tammy Baldwin.

An anti-ALEC protest in Minnesota last March. (Photo credit: Flickr user Fibonacci Blue)

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the most powerful corporate front group most Americans have never heard of. ALEC works with lawmakers to secretly pass pro-corporate legislation in state legislatures nationwide.

Journalist Bill Moyers premiered his new mini-documentary on the group: “The United States of ALEC” during this morning’s broadcast of Democracy Now! ” Watch the documentary, which explores how the group has successfully passed corporate-written bills in states like Scott Walker’s Wisconsin:

Take action with PCCC and call on Democrats to dump ALEC.

Rep. Jon Brien

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a powerful corporate front groupthat lets Big Business draft legislation to pass in state legislature. Most of its allies are Republicans, but a few are Democrats, too.

Rhode Island state representative Rep. Jon Brien is one of those Democrats. He even serves on ALEC’s board. But Brien received some bad news late yesterday, as a firefighter who challenged him in his Democratic primary defeated him by 50 votes.

Stephen Casey, an area firefighter, will be replacing Brien on the Democratic ticket this fall. “I’m not surprised,” he told the press during a victory celebration. “We worked hard. Weai??i??re in a climate that people are looking for new ideas and new people to help out at the State House.”

According to a local press report, Brien’s reaction at his planned victory party was a little different. He “stared at a placard listing the poll numbers with an expression of grim disbelief.”

Take action with PCCC and tell Democrats to dump ALEC.

Schumer at the convention.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is able to advance a powerful corporate agenda Ai??in state legislatures because it is bankrolled almost exclusively by big business. Following the outrage over its support for voter suppression and Stand Your Ground laws, businesses have been fleeing the group.

The Energy Action Coalition decided to confront Senator Chuck Schumer (NY) — the second-most powerful Democrat in the Senate — over Duke Energy’s support for ALEC. When asked about the company’s ALEC membership, Schumer replied that he would urge it to “get out of ALEC ASAP.” Watch it:

Schumer’s words are important given Duke Energy’s close ties to Democrats. The company has actually extended a $10 million line of credit for the Democratic convention, and its CEO is a major donor to the event as well.

Rhee’s group was coordinating with an astroturf organization in Connecticut. (Photo credit: Flickr user angela n.)

Next month, the filmAi??Won’t Back Down will be released in theaters nationwide. This drama starring Maggie Gylenhall and Viola Davis — and backed by Walmart and the right-wing Anschutz Film Group — promotes the “parent trigger,” an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) idea that would make it easier for schools to be turned over to private firms and for teachers to be fired.

The Daily Change has obtained documents showing collaboration between StudentsFirst — the group started by the anti-union former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee — and a group in Connecticut, the Connecticut Parents Union (CTPU), that is promoting Won’ t Back Down and ALEC’s parent trigger bill.

On March 14th, Rhee’s group held a rally on the steps of the Connecticut capitol to promote Ai??its education “reforms,” including the parent trigger. In doing so, it allied with CTPU. Unfortunately for Rhee and CTPU’sAi??educationAi??privatization agenda, very few people showed up to the event. Governor Malloy (D) declined to make an appearance, saying through a spokesman that Rhee had been a “divisive figure.”

The letter we received shows bitter infighting between StudentsFirst and CTPU. In a letter to CTPU, StudentsFirst General Counsel Angelia Dickens complains of the Connecticut astroturf group’s “effort to obtain financial compensation from StudentsFirst.” Dickens notes that StudentsFirst had repeatedly told CTPU founder Gwendolyn Samuel that it will not offer direct payments to her group and that Rhee’s group declined repeated requests from Jason Bartlett, a former state representative that now works with CTPU, to “put him on a financial retainer.”

In short, the letter exposes CTPU as being just as interested in if not more interested in enriching …

An anti-ALEC protest in Minnesota last March. (Photo credit: Flickr user Fibonacci Blue)

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a powerful front group that works to pass corporate-friendly legislation in state legislatures. But since the backlash against voter suppression and Stand Your Ground laws, a flood of corporations have exited the group.

Today, Color Of Change announced that six more corporations are leaving ALEC.Ai??General Electric, The Western Union Company, Sprint Nextel Corporation, Symantec Corporation, and Reckitt Benckiser Group plc. have all announced that they have cut ties with ALEC.

Americans continue to slowly learn more about this secretive corporate front group. E-mails released earlier this month show the strong ties between the group and right-wing lawmakers. In Ohio, e-mails “were sent through … [a] lawmaker’s office last year to arrange free meals and other perks for legislators from lobbyists at events sponsored by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council.”

Join With PCCC And Tell AT&T To Drop ALEC

Five more companies, including Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), the No. 1 computer maker, have left the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) since the Feb. 26 killing of Trayvon Martin, 17, in Sanford, Fla… after the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and other liberal groups launched anti-ALEC activities. Nearly 30 companies and nonprofits have quit by now.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the No. 1 U.S. retailer, said Thursday it had quit the American Legislative Exchange Council, a Washington, D.C.-based group that lobbies for conservative laws in state legislatures. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee coordinated efforts to get companies to quit ALEC. Others that previously opted out include Apple, the world’s most valuable technology company; Procter & Gamble, the No. 1 consumer products maker and Coca-Cola, the biggest drinks maker.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has spearheaded several national campaigns, like the push to recall Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker and with Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s U.S. Senate bid. The PCCC has been working for months to encourage lawmakers in other states to drop their ALEC memberships. Now, PCCC state director James Ploeser says the group is focusing on three Kentucky Democrats: Gerald Neal, Walter Blevins and Kathy Stein.

Online retailer Amazon dropped its membership with American Legislative Exchange Council. The decision comes after groups like the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and other organizations put pressure on the company. Since April, 20 companies have dropped out.

Kristiane Skolmen with Bold Progressives announces that she will deliver over 500,000 petition signatures asking Amazon to pull support of the American Legislative Exchange Council. Moments later is was announced that the Seattle-based online retailer pulled its support for the group.

The storm surrounding the American Legislative Exchange Council, Alec, has gathered pace with the fresh defection of 11 Democratic state legislators who have cut off ties with the lobbying network. The defections bring the number of Democratic representatives in state assemblies across the country who have dumped Alec to 39. The network, which brings together big corporations with local politicians to forward right-wing and anti-union legislation, has come under sustained pressure from campaigns such as the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), an online activist group, announced that they will be putting pressure on the minority of Democrats who are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to dump ALEC. PCCC held a phone call on April 20 to launch the effort, and Wisconsin state Senator Chris Larson spoke about the harm that ALEC legislation has caused in Wisconsin.

On Friday afternoon, PCCC held a press call to describe the next phase of its efforts: targeting “ALEC Democrats.” Over the coming days and weeks, the group and others will disseminate information about Democrats in government who align themselves with ALEC. The activists already have on board a coalition of progressive state legislators from Wisconsin, South Dakota, Montana, New Mexico, New York, and Washington, many of whom spoke with reporters today about the importance of getting more Democrats to denounce ALEC. “It’s a sham to project that [ALEC] is bipartisan in nature. And no Democrat should give aid and comfort to this organization by participating in it, to promote its alleged ‘bipartisanship,'” said New York State Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries.

On a Friday conference call with reporters and supporters, state legislators aligned with the PCCC called on their Democratic colleagues to part way with the organization, citing its involvement in legislation with which they disagreed. Some, including New York state assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, who called the group a “sham,” were critical of ALEC’s role in “stand your ground” legislation, a law brought to national prominence in the February shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin.

Joined by a handful of Democratic state officials, the grassroots organization Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) announced today it will be targeting “bad Democrats” who are affiliated with ALEC to drop their association with the group. According to PCCC, there are 26 states with Democratic lawmakers that belong to ALEC. South Dakota state Sen. Angie Buhl said the group’s corporate agenda “is the antithesis of what we stand for as Democrats.”

The foundation, run by the co-founder of Microsoft Corp. and his wife, contributed more than $375,000 to ALEC in the past two years and was the target of an online petition launched today by the liberal Progressive Change Campaign Committee that garnered more than 23,000 signatures in a matter of hours.