American Legislative Exchange Council

History

1973 to 2010

ALEC was founded in 1973 in Chicago as the Conservative Caucus of State Legislators, a project initiated by Mark Rhoads, an Illinois state house staffer, to counter the Environmental Protection Agency, wage, and price controls, and to respond to the defeat of Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election.

Conservative legislators felt the word "conservative" was unpopular with the public at the time, however, so the organization was renamed to the American Legislative Exchange Council. Bill Moyers and Greenpeace have attributed the establishment of ALEC to the influential Powell Memorandum, which led to the rise of a new business activist movement in the 1970s.

ALEC was co-founded by conservative activist Paul Weyrich, who also co-founded The Heritage Foundation. Several members of Congress also were involved in the organization during its early years, including Rep. Jack Kemp of New York, Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina, Sen. James L. Buckley of New York, Rep. Phil Crane of Illinois, and Rep Eric Cantor of Virginia.

In the 1980s, ALEC opposed U.S. disinvestment from South Africa, a movement to put pressure on the South African government to embark on negotiations with a goal of dismantling apartheid. In 1985, ALEC also published a memo that opposed "the current homosexual movement", portrayed homosexuality as a result of a conscious choice, and said that pedophilia was "one of the more dominant practices within the homosexual world". ALEC spokesman Bill Meierling discussed the document in 2013 and said that ALEC does not draft model bills on social issues, and added, "I'm also sad that the critics would not acknowledge that organizations change over time."

Duane Parde served as the executive director from December 1996 to January 2006. Lori Roman, who served in the same role from 2006 to 2008, had an imperious style that led to financial difficulties and the departure of two thirds of ALEC's staff. Ron Scheberle became executive director in 2010 after acting as a lobbyist for Verizon Communications (previously GTE) and as an ALEC board member.

By 2011, the number of ALEC legislative members had reached 2,000, including more than 25 percent of all state legislators nationwide. Approximately 1,000 bills based on ALEC language were being introduced in state legislatures every year, with approximately 20% of those bills being enacted.

Since 2011

Prior to 2011, ALEC's practices and its ties to specific pieces of legislation were little known outside of political circles. In July 2011, The Nation published a series of articles produced in collaboration with the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) that showcased some of the ALEC model bills and described ties to the Koch family, and CMD launched a website "ALEC Exposed" that documented more than 800 of ALEC model bills, the legislators and corporations that had helped to draft them, and the states that enacted them.

The joint effort, and particularly its coverage of ALEC's push for tough voter ID laws, prompted the advocacy group Color of Change to launch a public campaign to pressure corporations to withdraw their ALEC memberships.

The criticism among media outlets and political opponents was that ALEC was secretly subverting democratic institutions to further the aims of its corporate benefactors. Oregon state representative and ALEC member Gene Whisnant said in December 2011, "We're getting a lot of attention saying we're trying to destroy the earth and everything on it." ALEC staff and members promoted the organization as promoting public-private partnerships for the advancement of free market principles. ALEC senior director of membership and development Chaz Cirame said, "The hook about some conspiracy or some secret organization is a lot better story than one about bringing state legislators together to talk about best practices around the country."

In 2012, ALEC was the subject of an Occupy movement protest, an Internal Revenue Service complaint by Common Cause, and calls for attorney general investigations in several states.

The killing of Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012, led to increased public attention on "Stand-your-ground" gun laws that ALEC had supported. More than sixty corporations and foundations, including Coca-Cola, Wendy's, Kraft Foods, McDonald's, Amazon.com, General Electric, Apple, Procter & Gamble, Walmart, the Gates Foundation, and the medical insurance group Blue Cross and Blue Shield dropped support of ALEC in the ensuing weeks or let their memberships lapse. Thirty-four legislative members also left ALEC.

ALEC responded by releasing a statement describing efforts by its critics as a "campaign launched by a coalition of extreme liberal activists committed to silencing anyone who disagrees with their agenda". Doug Clopp of Common Cause credited ALEC Exposed for the successful campaign, saying that "for 40 years you couldn't get the kind of accountability we're seeing now because ALEC, its members, its legislators, its bills were secret."

Former Visa Inc. lobbyist, Newt Gingrich aide, and GOPAC executive director, Lisa B. Nelson, succeeded Scheberle as CEO of ALEC in 2014.

In late 2014, a number of technology-oriented companies such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, eBay, and Yahoo! announced that they were ending their ties to ALEC. Multiple companies cited environmental concerns as a point of contention with the organization. Yahoo!, Uber, and Lyft also announced withdrawals later that same week. Occidental Petroleum and Northrop Grumman also cut ties with ALEC. In response to the departure of Northrop Grumman, an ALEC spokesperson said, "Like any other membership group, membership in ALEC ebbs and flows, and in 2014 we gained far more private-sector members than we lost." T-Mobile and BP severed ties with ALEC in 2015.

In 2023, ALEC held its fiftieth anniversary celebrations in Washington, D.C. The celebrations included a gala event at the National Portrait Gallery.

ALEC is a member of the advisory board of Project 2025, a collection of conservative and right-wing policy proposals from The Heritage Foundation to reshape the United States federal government and consolidate executive power should the Republican nominee win the 2024 presidential election.

Organization

As of December 2013, ALEC had more than 85 members of Congress and 14 sitting or former governors who were considered "alumni". It also has approximately 300 corporate, foundation, and other private-sector members. The chairmanship of ALEC is a rotating position, with a new legislator appointed to the position each year. , 28 out of 33 of its chairs had been Republicans.

ALEC has nine task forces that generate model bills that members may customize and introduce for debate in their own state legislatures. Private sector members effectively have veto power over model bills drafted by the task forces.

The ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force, which promoted stand your ground gun laws and voter identification requirements, was disbanded in April 2012. Thereafter, the National Center for Public Policy Research announced the creation of a voter ID task force to replace the one discontinued by ALEC.

Bills drafted by the task forces must be approved by the ALEC board of directors, composed exclusively of legislators, before they are designated as model bills. Former ALEC co-chairman Noble Ellington said in 2011, "I really kind of think of us as one board," although he added, "It's certainly not our goal to sit there and do everything that business wants to have done."

Day-to-day operations are run from ALEC's Arlington County, Virginia, office by an executive director and a staff of approximately 30. ALEC's bylaws specify that "... full membership shall be open to persons dedicated to the preservation of individual liberty, basic American values and institutions, productive free enterprise, and limited representative government, who support the purposes of ALEC, and who serve, or formerly serve, as members of a state or territorial legislature, the United States Congress, or similar bodies outside the United States."

ALEC also has a Board of Scholars that advises staff and members. The board is composed of Arthur Laffer, an economist who served on Ronald Reagan's Economic Policy Advisory Board; Victor Schwartz, chair of Public Policy at Shook, Hardy & Bacon; Richard Vedder, economics professor emeritus at Ohio University and adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute; and Rob Natelson, a constitutional scholar.

ALEC also has ties to the State Policy Network (SPN), a national association of conservative and libertarian think-tanks. SPN is a member of ALEC, and ALEC is an associate member of the SPN. SPN encourages its members to join ALEC, and many members of SPN are also members of ALEC. Some of the think tanks in the SPN write model legislation, which then is introduced at ALEC private meetings. ALEC is "SPN's sister organisation" according to The Guardian. ALEC is also a member of the Atlas Network, a global organization of free-market think tanks.

As of 2012, ALEC is registered as a charity in 37 states.

Notable policies and model bills

The ALEC website states that its goal is to advance "the fundamental principles of free-market enterprise, limited government, and federalism". In 2003, Donald Ray Kennard, then a Louisiana state representative and ALEC national chairman, said, "We are a very, very conservative organization... We're just espousing what we really believe in."

Although ALEC originally focused on social issues such as abortion, which it opposed, in more recent years the group has focused more on business and regulatory matters.

A Brookings Institution study of state legislation introduced in 2011–2012 found that ALEC model bills that became law were linked most often to controversial social and economic issues. The study concluded that this phenomenon has hurt ALEC because, "Dirtying its hands with social issues undermines ALEC's ability to exercise influence over fiscal ones."

According to research by Columbia University political scientist Alex Hertel-Fernandez, ALEC model legislation during the late 1970s focused primarily on social issues, such as abortion, drugs, gun laws, religious freedom and anti-busing. By the 1980s, the focus was primarily on criminal justice. By the 1990s, the focus was overwhelmingly on business deregulation.

'Stand Your Ground' laws

Stand-your-ground laws expanded to 30 states through the support of ALEC, after Florida passed its law in 2005. After the Florida law had been passed, ALEC adopted a model bill with the same wording. In the wake of the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012, ALEC's support for Stand Your Ground laws ultimately led to the departure of high-profile corporate members such as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Bank of America, and General Motors.

Voter ID laws

After Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election, ALEC's internal publication (which it provides to paying members) asserted, without evidence, that voter fraud contributed to his victory. ALEC said that groups like ACORN had engaged in voter-registration fraud whereby fake voter registrations were submitted.

Prior to 2012, legislation based on ALEC model bills was introduced in many states to mandate or strengthen requirements that voters produce state-issued photographic identification. The bills were passed and signed into law in six states. Voter identification bills introduced in 34 states would have made voting more difficult for students, the elderly, and the poor. According to research by Columbia University political scientist Alex Hertel-Fernandez, "Of the 62 ID laws states considered during the 2011 and 2012 legislative sessions, more than half were proposed by lawmakers who... were all participants in the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. In exchange for their payments of $50 per year in membership dues, those legislators had access to a draft proposal for strict voter ID requirements".

Immigration

The "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act", an Arizona law commonly known as "SB 1070", was drafted during an ALEC meeting in December 2009 and became an ALEC model bill. Enacted in 2010, SB 1070 was described as the toughest illegal immigration law in the U.S. Portions of SB 1070 were held by the Supreme Court to be preempted by federal law in 2012.

Bills similar to SB 1070 were passed in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, and Utah, and have been introduced in 17 other states.

A 2018 study characterized ALEC as highly influential in the spread of policies intended to curb sanctuary cities (jurisdictions where immigration enforcement is not a law enforcement priority).

Labor policy

The organization publishes a Labor Reform Policy document which it says champions "worker freedom". The document advocates for right-to-work laws, endorses the Supreme Court's Janus v. AFSCME decision that allowed public sector workers to choose whether or not to pay union dues, and contains state-by-state fact sheets on the prevailing minimum wage, union landscape, and public and private sector union membership rates.

In 2011, longtime ALEC member and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker helped pass Wisconsin Act 10, which implemented an ALEC policy of restricting the collective bargaining rights of state and local government employees.

ALEC's model bills include a Resolution to Align Pay and Benefits of Public Sector Workers with Private Sector Workers, which would mandate that "retirement benefit obligations to all state and municipal workers shall be immediately adjusted to a level comparable to that of private-sector workers." Another ALEC model bill is a Paycheck Protection Act, which would require that unions establish separate segregated funds for political activities, and prohibit the collection of union dues for those activities without the express authorization of the employee. ALEC has also drafted a model law called the Living Wage Mandate Preemption Act. It prohibits a local municipality, city, county or township from enacting a living wage that is greater than the state's minimum wage.

Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act

One of ALEC's model bills is the "Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act", which classifies certain property destruction, acts of intimidation, and civil disobedience by environmental and animal rights activists as terrorism. This model bill appeared across the U.S. in various forms since it was drafted in 2003. The federal "Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act" has notable similarities, and at points almost verbatim language, to ALEC's model "Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act". The Senate version of the "Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act" was sponsored by Senator James Inhofe, a long-time member of ALEC.

Many ag-gag bills are also similar to ALEC's model "Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act", which would make it against the law to film, videotape, or take photographs on livestock farms in order to "defame the facility or its owner". People found to be in violation would be put in a "terrorist registry".

Criminal sentencing and prison management

According to Governing magazine, "ALEC has been a major force behind both privatizing state prison space and keeping prisons filled." Critics argue that by funding and participating in ALEC's Criminal Justice Task Force, private prison companies directly influence legislation for tougher, longer sentences. Corrections Corporation of America and Wackenhut Corrections, two of the largest for-profit prison companies in the U.S. (), have been contributors to ALEC. ALEC also has worked to pass state laws to allow the creation of private-sector for-profit prisons.

Marie Gottschalk, professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, said that ALEC has played a major role in "liberating the private sector to employ penal labor and expand the privatization of corrections." Economist Paul Krugman wrote in 2012 that ALEC had "a special interest in privatization—that is, on turning the provision of public services, from schools to prisons, over to for-profit corporations," and as such played a significant role in the "penal–industrial complex". As an example, Krugman wrote that the American Bail Coalition had declared publicly that ALEC was its "life preserver."

By 2013, ALEC disbanded the task force that favored harsh sentencing and supported reducing prison overcrowding and lowering the costs associated with the criminal justice system. At that time, ALEC promoted investing taxpayer money in alternatives to incarceration, such as electronic monitoring.

Energy and the environment

ALEC pushed for deregulation of the electricity industry in the 1990s. Maneuvering between two private sector members, the former energy trader, Enron, and the utilities trade association, Edison Electric Institute (EEI), resulted in EEI withdrawing its ALEC membership. Enron's position on the matter was adopted by ALEC and subsequently, by many state legislatures.

In 2011, ALEC adopted model legislation having to do with public "right to know" laws regarding what fluids are used in hydraulic fracturing (also known as "fracking") that was promoted as a victory for the right of consumers to know about potential drinking water contaminants, in spite of the fact that the bill contained "loopholes that would allow energy companies to withhold the names of certain fluid contents, for reasons including that they have been deemed trade secrets".

ALEC has promoted a model bill that called plans in 2011 by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, a "train wreck" that would harm the economy, and it has supported efforts by various states to withdraw from regional climate change compacts.

In 2013, ALEC planned legislation that would weaken state clean energy regulations and penalize homeowners who install their own solar panels and redistribute the electricity back into the grid, whom ALEC has described as "freeriders" because they do not pay for the infrastructure costs of recirculating their generated power.

Also in 2013, ALEC adopted a model bill saying that the role of human activity in causing climate change was uncertain, that man-made climate change could be "deleterious, neutral or possibly beneficial," and that the cost of regulating greenhouse gas emissions could cause "great economic dislocation." ALEC also has invited climate change deniers, such as Craig Idso, to speak at its national meetings. In 2015 Common Cause and the League of Conservation Voters pointed to such behavior to accuse ALEC of denying climate change. ALEC responded by threatening legal action, denying that ALEC supports climate change denial, and saying it has more recently welcomed debate on the subject and supported renewable energy and carbon tax policies to curb global warming.

Several corporations have announced that their affiliations with ALEC will be allowed to lapse over disagreement with the group's opposition to action on climate change. These include Ford, BP, Microsoft, Google and Shell. A statement by Shell said "its stance on climate change is clearly inconsistent with our own...We have long recognized both the importance of the climate challenge and the critical role energy has in determining quality of life for people across the world." An ALEC spokesperson responded "Climate change activists have conflated our opposition to the government picking winners and losers as climate change denial."

In December 2016, Tesla Motors (not an ALEC member) hosted an ALEC event in Washington, D.C., where ALEC promoted its "Energy Innovation Project", that was partly funded by the ClearPath Foundation. The project guides states toward innovation and entrepreneurship surrounding U.S. energy resources.

ALEC has promoted draft bills for restrictions on single-use plastic drinking straws. The draft bill contains exemptions for fast food and fast casual restaurants, and preempts municipalities from imposing stricter regulations.

Telecommunications and information technology

AT&T and Verizon drafted ALEC model legislation prohibiting public broadband services and "sunsetting" the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Names of its 172-member task force, the agenda of a December 2010 meeting, and its minutes that included a resolution regarding traffic pumping were published by Common Cause. In February 2014, Senate Bill 304 in Kansas was introduced, "prohibiting cities and counties from building public broadband networks and providing internet service to businesses and citizens". The bill contains an "underserved area" exemption for public wi-fi, but the exemption criterion is not met anywhere in Kansas. The city of Chanute, Kansas, which has led broadband development since the 1980s, financed through its public electricity company, including free wi-fi in its college, hospital, and public spaces, and a 4g mobile data network, felt under attack by the bill.

Health care

In 1989, ALEC published the draft "HIV Assault Act", which made it a crime for someone who is knowingly infected with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) to have sex with a person who is not infected, without disclosing the HIV infection. The bill made having such sex without disclosure a criminal offense, even when HIV was not transmitted. Alan Smith, who worked on the draft, said the proposed law was a response to worries that people with AIDS were deliberately infecting others, "to make sure more people got it so more research money could be devoted to curing it".

ALEC opposes the individual health insurance mandate enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly known as the "ACA" or "Obamacare"). ALEC filed an amicus brief in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, urging the Supreme Court to strike down the individual mandate of the ACA. In 2011, ALEC published the "State Legislators Guide to Repealing ObamaCare", which has served as a road map for repeal efforts. ALEC also has drafted a variety of model bills designed to block implementation of the law.

In August 2013, ALEC approved the "Health Care Freedom Act" as a model bill that aims to strip health insurers of their licenses to do business at the federal health care exchanges of ACA if they accepted any subsidies under the system. Sean Riley, the head of the ALEC Health and Human Services task force, said the aim of the proposed legislation was to protect businesses from the ACA's employer mandate. Health insurance experts have predicted that if the bill were widely adopted by Republican-controlled states, it would seriously disrupt the exchange and threaten the ACA. Wendell Potter, former health insurance executive and CMD fellow, said, "You cannot build the healthcare system based on the free market unless you have subsidies. If they are taken away the whole thing collapses."

LGBT rights

In the 1980s, ALEC pushed anti-gay propaganda, and urged legislators to oppose attempts to "homosexualize society." ALEC said that homosexual relations were "probably some of the most destructive and degrading institutions in America today". ALEC claimed homosexuality caused psychological harm, led to pedophilia, and that homosexuals sought to recruit the young.

An investigation by the Southern Poverty Law Center and The Center for Media and Democracy found that ALEC is part of a coalition of groups called Back to Neutral who oppose "'woke' corporations that act to diversify their leadership or take a public stance on social and democracy issues." According to the SPLC, the Back to the Neutral coalition includes "right-wing think tanks, advocacy groups, media organizations and two anti-LGBTQ hate groups."

Smoking

In 1986, while ALEC was funded by the tobacco industry, it disputed the science linking tobacco smoke to health harms.

In July 2012, The Guardian reported that ALEC had taken action to oppose plain cigarette packaging laws outside the United States, including the UK and Australia. Karla Jones, a task force director for ALEC, said that the brands were the corporations' most valuable assets. ALEC stated that generic cigarette packaging increased cigarette consumption, rather than reduced it.

Other issues

ALEC has worked to privatize public education, frequently promoting model bills that expand public-private partnerships in education.

It has provided model legislation that led to the enactment of aggressive personal and corporate income tax cuts in Kansas in 2012. Governor Sam Brownback, who promoted and signed the legislation, was advised by the supply-side economist and ALEC board member, Arthur Laffer, who said at the time that the cuts would pay for themselves and lead to increased growth. By fall 2014, however, the tax cuts had led to the depletion of a $700 million budget surplus, and although Kansas had experienced 6.6% job growth from 2010 to 2013, that figure lagged behind the nation's overall 8.8% job growth for the same period.

It also has promoted a model bill that limits liability for parent companies that acquire subsidiaries responsible for asbestos-related injuries.

Training and assistance

In addition to providing a forum for the drafting of model legislation that may be adapted easily, ALEC also provides assistance and training to its legislative members. The Oregon co-chairman of ALEC, Gene Whisnant, described the organization in 2012 as a "great resource" for part-time legislators with limited staff resources. At one ALEC meeting, media experts gave messaging advice and taught legislators how to use Twitter to move ALEC bills through their chambers. Attendants also offered to write op-ed articles in local newspapers for the legislators and to put lawmakers in touch with other subject matter experts.

Secrecy and transparency

Although Governing Magazine reported in 2003 that ALEC meetings traditionally had been open to the public, Shortly after the Milbank incident, the Brookings Institution reported that ALEC's activities during its closed-door meetings are "still a mystery", and that "ALEC could have a tremendous influence over lawmaking in the American states, or it could have none at all—we just don't know." In 2014, Nebraska legislator and former ALEC member Jeremy Nordquist described ALEC as a "faceless organization", saying, "It's allowing these corporate interests to just duck and cover, and hide from really stepping into the public square and putting their ideas forward."

ALEC does not disclose its membership list nor the origins of its model bills.

One exception to this pattern came in November 2011, when former Florida State Representative Rachel Burgin introduced legislation to call on the federal government to reduce its corporate tax rate. She mistakenly included the boilerplate "WHEREAS, it is the mission of the American Legislative Exchange Council to advance Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty..." When the inclusion of the ALEC mission statement was discovered, the bill was withdrawn and resubmitted without the phrase. The American Prospect journalist Abby Rapoport wrote that the incident "seems to confirm what many have assumed was occurring in state legislatures—and while Burgin's bill was hardly a major piece of legislation, ALEC's reach in important policy areas seems hard to overestimate."

Critics sometimes argue that by adopting ALEC model bills without disclosure, state officials are handing off the duty of doing their own work to a business-centered lobby. Arizona House of Representatives Assistant Minority Leader Steve Farley, sponsor of the Arizona bill, argued that corporations have the right to present arguments, but not secretly.

Prior to 2013, access to ALEC model bills was restricted, and its website required a password to access them. The leak has been credited with triggering critical coverage about ALEC in both left-wing and mainstream media outlets. although the Brookings Institution wrote in 2013 that there was "reason to believe" its list was incomplete.

On October 1, 2012, Common Cause, a liberal political advocacy group, along with the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), filed a lawsuit under a Wisconsin open records law alleging five Republican lawmakers did not disclose whether they had used personal e-mail accounts for correspondence with ALEC. In one instance, a Wisconsin legislative representative had requested of ALEC in June 2012 that all correspondence be sent to his personal account. According to CMD, the legislators settled the suit in late October 2012, allowing their personal e-mails to be searched for such contacts and paying $2,500 in court costs as part of the settlement.

In 2013, ALEC's North Carolina state chairman Jason Saine described the organization as "a resource for experts you can tap that follow a philosophy that you do from a less government viewpoint", and said, "It's not just some big secretive organization that it's been portrayed."

Corporate influence and allegations of lobbying activity

Corporate influence

The level of influence that the ALEC private-sector members hold over its public-sector members has been controversial. According to The New York Times, special interests have effectively turned ALEC's lawmaker members into "stealth lobbyists" for conservative causes. The Guardian has described ALEC as "a dating agency for Republican state legislators and big corporations," to set rightwing legislative agendas. The Free Lance-Star has reported that ALEC had become "one of Big Business's most effective lobbying tools". Bloomberg Businessweek described the organization as a "bill laundry" that "offers companies substantial benefits that seem to have little to do with ideology."

ALEC legislative members generally deny being overly influenced by the organization or its model legislation, and argue that corporate input in the drafting process helps to promote business growth. "ALEC is unique in the sense that it puts legislators and companies together and they create policy collectively," said Scott Pruitt, then an Oklahoma state representative and ALEC task force chair. Vance Wilkins, a former Republican speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates and ALEC member, said in 2002, "Just because business writes a bill doesn't make it bad. We get bills from all angles. And we still have to debate the issue." Whisnant, ALEC's Oregon co-chair, acknowledged in 2012 that corporations sometimes write model bills to promote their own interests and added, "But that doesn't mean I'll support them." Harvey Morgan, another former Virginia delegate and ALEC member, said of ALEC conferences, "You know before you go that the big-business view will prevail, and that's not necessarily bad. I still would like them to be a little more objective."

Alan Rosenthal, a former Rutgers University political science professor and expert on state legislatures and lobbying, said in 2012, "Legislators don't sit down with a quill pen and draft legislation. I think legislators should have the right to turn to wherever they want to get the ideas they prefer... I have some confidence that they're not being flimflammed."

Experts agree that, regardless of its propriety, the ALEC model has been very effective. Bloomberg Politics reported in 2014 that ALEC had "no equal" in accessing conservative policymakers. OpenSecrets has said, "What makes ALEC different is its effectiveness in not just bringing the people together but selling a piece of legislation that was written by the industry and for the industry and selling it as a piece of mainstream legislation."

Allegations of lobbying activity

In April 2012, Common Cause filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service objecting to ALEC's tax status as a nonprofit organization and alleged that lobbying accounted for more than 60% of its expenditures. ALEC formally denied lobbying, although Delores Mertz, who had previously served as chairwoman of the ALEC board, said she was "concerned about the lobbying that's going on, especially with [ALEC's] 501(c)3 status".

ALEC responded to the original Common Cause complaint by denying it engaged in lobbying, while saying that liberal groups were attacking ALEC because "they don't have a comparable group that is as effective as ALEC in enacting policies into law." , the IRS investigation remained open.

Statutes in Colorado, South Carolina, and Indiana exempt ALEC, specifically by name, from having to register as a lobbyist and report lobbying expenditures. In 2013, ALEC created a 501(c)(4) organization called the "Jeffersonian Project" that, according to The Guardian, "would allow Alec to be far more overt in its lobbying activities than its current charitable status as a 501(c)(3)".

Funding

, corporation, think tank, and trade group members accounted for almost 99% of ALEC's $7 million budget. ALEC's total revenue in 2011 was $9 million.

In 2010, ALEC received $100,000 each from AT&T, Allergan, and RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company to be named as "president level" sponsors at its annual meeting. Eleven other members, including Pfizer (PFE) and the Institute for Legal Reform, paid $50,000 each to be named as "chairman level" sponsors. , Altria, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, and BP America were also $50,000 chairman level sponsors.

ExxonMobil's foundation donated $30,000 to ALEC in both 2005 and 2006. Alan Jeffers, an ExxonMobil spokesman, said the company paid $39,000 in dues in 2010 and sponsored a reception at the annual meeting in San Diego for $25,000. In August 2011, Exxon spent $45,000 to sponsor a workshop on natural gas. According to the Center For Public Integrity, ALEC received $150,000 from Charles and David Koch in 2011. Greenpeace claims that ALEC has received $525,858 from Koch foundations between 2005 and 2011.

Corporate members also pay $3,000 to $10,000 for seats on task forces.

According to a December 2013 article in The Guardian, ALEC faced a funding shortfall after "losing more than a third of its projected income" when some 400 state legislators left its membership, along with more than 60 corporate donors. On its 2016 tax return, ALEC reported an increase in total revenue from $9.0 million the prior year to $10.3 million.

References

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24. Cole, Michelle. (May 26, 2012). "ALEC gains foothold in Oregon, with one-fourth of legislators as members". [[The Oregonian]].
25. Bedard, Paul. (April 4, 2012). "Coke caves in face of Democratic boycott threat". [[The Washington Examiner]].
26. McVeigh, Karen. (April 6, 2012). "Coca-Cola and PepsiCo sever ties with group behind stand-your-ground laws". The Guardian.
27. Kroll, Andy. "The Gates Foundation Is Done Funding ALEC". [[Mother Jones (magazine).
28. Kroll, Andy. (April 10, 2012). "McDonald's Says It Has Dumped ALEC". Mother Jones.
29. (April 12, 2012). "Reed Elsevier, Wendy's drop conservative group". [[Reuters]].
30. Overby, Peter. (April 13, 2012). "Companies Flee Group Behind 'Stand Your Ground'". [[National Public Radio]].
31. Duda, Jeremy. (April 13, 2012). "American Traffic Solutions leaving ALEC, joining APS". azcapitoltimes.com.
32. Pecquet, Julian. (April 17, 2012). "Blue Cross Blue Shield quits conservative legislative organization ALEC".
33. Zielenziger, David. (May 31, 2012). "Wal-Mart Leaves ALEC, 22nd Company To Exit Conservative Lobbying Group". [[International Business Times]].
34. Abowd, Paul. (May 8, 2014). "ALEC exempted from lobbyist status in three separate states". [[Center for Public Integrity]].
35. (March 5, 2013). "Center for American Progress adds Carmel Martin – Visa revamp continues – Bloom hangs a shingle – Tackett founds Wexford Strategic Advisors". [[Politico]].
36. Chokshi, Niraj. (July 8, 2014). "ALEC, the free-market group liberals love to hate, gets a new boss". [[The Washington Post]].
37. Codrea-Rado, Anna. (December 19, 2014). "Ebay joins Google and others in dumping Alec over climate stance". The Guardian.
38. Fung, Brian. (September 22, 2014). "Google: We're parting with the climate change skeptics at ALEC". [[The Washington Post]].
39. "Facebook set to become latest tech giant to abandon rightwing lobby group Alec". The Guardian.
40. (September 29, 2014). "Silicon Valley's Done With American Legislative Exchange Council". U.S. News.
41. "Yahoo, Yelp, Facebook, Google and Microsoft reconsider their relationship with free-market group ALEC". [[The Washington Post]].
42. (2014-09-25). "Silicon Valley Companies Follow Google's Lead By Cutting Ties with ALEC". vice.com.
43. (September 29, 2014). "Large Oil Company Bolts From ALEC". The Atlantic.
44. Volz, Dustin. (January 28, 2015). "Northrop Grumman Cuts Ties With ALEC".
45. Volz, Dustin. (April 8, 2015). "T-Mobile Drops Membership in Conservative Group ALEC".
46. Marois, Michael B.. (March 23, 2015). "BP Ends Involvement With American Legislative Exchange Council".
47. Pearson, Arn; Armiak, David, ''[https://prospect.org/power/2023-10-04-alec-50-years-right-wing-law-factory/ After 50 Years, This Right-Wing Law Factory Is Crazier Than Ever: The American Legislative Exchange Council is where corporations and far-right groups go to buy government policy]'', ''[[The American Prospect]]'', October 4, 2023
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49. Mascaro, Lisa. (August 29, 2023). "Conservative Groups Draw Up Plan to Dismantle the US Government and Replace It with Trump's Vision". [[Associated Press News]].
50. "ALEC documents collection". The Guardian.
51. Bykowicz, Julie. (December 6, 2014). "The Corporations, and Dentists, That Still Love ALEC". [[Bloomberg Politics]].
52. (April 18, 2012). "New Voter Identification Task Force Announced". [[National Center for Public Policy Research]].
53. Ryan J. Reilly, [http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/04/alec_voter_id_national_center_for_public_policy_research.php "Conservative Group With Abramoff Scandal Ties Picks Up Voter ID Issue Where ALEC Left Off"] {{Webarchive. link. (April 22, 2012 [[Talking Points Memo]])
54. (2012-03-01). "ALEC's 2009 IRS Form 990". Scribd.com.
55. Holden, Emily. (June 22, 2018). "New Pruitt Question: Where-are-his-emails?". [[Politico]].
56. "Leadership".
57. Cohen, Rick. (November 14, 2013). "Corporate Money in Network of Right-Wing State Policy Think Tanks". Nonprofit Quarterly.
58. Kopan, Tal. (November 13, 2013). "Report: Think tanks tied to Kochs". [[Politico]].
59. "SPN & ALEC: A Model Relationship". [[State Policy Network]].
60. Blumenthal, Paul. (November 14, 2013). "Meet The Little-Known Network Pushing Ideas For Kochs, ALEC". [[The Huffington Post]].
61. (December 5, 2013). "State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax". The Guardian.
62. (2023-09-12). "Meet the Shadowy Global Network Vilifying Climate Protesters".
63. "About ALEC". American Legislative Exchange Council.
64. Frank, John. (May 6, 2013). "Private conservative group ALEC carries sway in legislature". [[The News & Observer]].
65. Hertel-Fernandez, Alex. (2019). "State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Businesses, and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States — and the Nation". Oxford University Press.
66. (April 7, 2012). "'Stand Your Ground' laws coincide with jump in justifiable-homicide cases". The Washington Post.
67. Reilly, Ryan J.. (March 22, 2012). "ALEC, NRA Pushed 'Stand Your Ground' Legislation At Center Of Trayvon Martin Killing". Talking Points Memo.
68. Goodman, Howard. (March 23, 2013). "NRA's Behind-the-Scenes Campaign Encouraged 'Stand Your Ground' Adoption". [[Florida Center for Investigative Reporting]].
69. Hertel-Fernandez, Alex. (2019). "State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Businesses, and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States — and the Nation". Oxford University Press.
70. Hertel-Fernandez, Alex. (2019). "State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Businesses, and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States — and the Nation". Oxford University Press.
71. Sullivan, Laura. (October 28, 2010). "Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law". [[NPR]].
72. Archibold, Randal C.. (April 23, 2010). "Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on Immigration". [[The New York Times]].
73. Barnes, Robert. (June 25, 2012). "Supreme Court upholds key part of Arizona law for now, strikes down other provisions". [[The Washington Post]].
74. (2018-11-28). "Sustained Organizational Influence: American Legislative Exchange Council and the Diffusion of Anti-Sanctuary Policy". Policy Studies Journal.
75. (2024). "Labor Reform Policy: 50 State Factsheets". ALEC.
76. Oszkay, Yotala. (2023). "Collective Bargaining Retrenchment in Union Country: The Politics of 2011 Wisconsin's 'Budget Repair' Bill". [[Studies in American Political Development]].
77. Lafer, Gordon. (July 21, 2017). "Work Hard, Die Poor: The Corporate Attack on Employee Pensions".
78. (July 23, 2013). "Just How Low Can Your Salary Go? 117 ALEC Bills in 2013 Fuel Race to the Bottom in Wages and Worker Rights". [[Center for Media and Democracy]].
79. Wilpert, Marni von. (August 26, 2017). "City governments are raising standards for working people—and state legislators are lowering them back down". [[Economic Policy Institute]].
80. Potter, Will. (April 26, 2012). "'Ag Gag' Bills and Supporters Have Close Ties to ALEC". Green is the New Red.
81. Oppel Jr., Richard A.. (April 6, 2013). "Taping of Farm Cruelty Is Becoming the Crime". The New York Times.
82. [[Bill Moyers]]. [http://billmoyers.com/2013/07/10/alec-activists-and-ag-gag/ Ag-Gag Laws Silence Whistleblowers] {{Webarchive. link. (July 16, 2013 . [[Moyers & Company]], July 10, 2013.)
83. Beall, Pat. (November 22, 2013). "Big business, legislators pushed for stiff sentences". [[The Palm Beach Post]].
84. Cheung, Amy (September 2004) [http://www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/inc_prisonprivatization.pdf "Prison Privatization and the Use of Incarceration"] {{webarchive. link. (2007-07-14 . The Sentencing Project.)
85. (2011). "The Hidden History of ALEC and Prison Labor". [[The Nation]].
86. Marie Gottschalk. ''[http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10731.html Caught: The Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics] {{Webarchive. link. (May 24, 2017 ''. Princeton University Press, 2014. [https://books.google.com/books?id=CzDFCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 p. 61] {{Webarchive). link. (December 14, 2019)
87. link. (November 9, 2016 . ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved December 20, 2014.)
88. [https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/842268-alec-2013-annual-meeting-policy-report.html ALEC 2013 Annual Meeting Policy Report] {{Webarchive. link. (June 15, 2016 via The Guardian)
89. (December 4, 2013). "ALEC calls for penalties on 'freerider' homeowners in assault on clean energy". The Guardian.
90. (April 5, 2015). "This conservative group is tired of being accused of climate denial — and is fighting back". [[The Washington Post]].
91. Pilkington, Ed. (17 February 2016). "Ford becomes latest corporation to sever ties with conservative Alec lobby". The Guardian.
92. Westervelt, Amy. (23 March 2015). "BP joins list of companies fleeing Alec". The Guardian.
93. [https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/250569-shell-to-leave-alec-over-climate-change-stance/ Shell to leave ALEC over climate change stance] . [[The Hill (newspaper). The Hill]], 7 August 2015.
94. (December 1, 2016). "Tesla Hosts Lobby Group Shunned by Ford Over Climate Stance". Bloomberg.com.
95. (December 1, 2016). "Tesla Hosts Lobbying Group Shunned by Ford Over Climate Stance (Mirror)". Bloomberg/Yahoo.
96. (March 2019). "How business groups are fighting a wave of anti-plastic straw laws".
97. Kushnick, Bruce. (July 24, 2012). "ALEC, Tech and the Telecom Wars: Killing America's Telecom Utilities". Huffington Post.
98. (2010). "Telecommunications & Information Technology Task Force Meeting ALEC States & Nation Policy Summit – Washington, DC". Common Cause.
99. Lefler, Dion. (February 1, 2014). "Proposed bill to outlaw community broadband service in Kansas met with opposition". Wichita Eagle.
100. (2014). "Cable co. blames "misinformation" for failure of municipal Internet ban".
101. Hernandez, Sergio. (December 1, 2013). "Sex, Lies and HIV: When What You Don't Tell Your Partner Is a Crime". [[ProPublica]].
102. Weigel, David. (December 17, 2013). "Obamacare Is Over (If You Want It)". [[Slate (magazine).
103. Hertel-Fernandez, Alex. (2019). "State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Businesses, and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States — and the Nation". Oxford University Press.
104. (7 December 2021). "Leading Free-Market Policy Network Enabling Anti-LGBTQ Hate".
105. Hertel-Fernandez, Alex. (2019). "State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Businesses, and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States — and the Nation". Oxford University Press.
106. Doward, Jamie. (July 14, 2012). "US free market group tries to halt sales of cigarettes in plain packets in UK". The Guardian.
107. ALEC's advocacy against "plain packaging" of tobacco products was cited as partial motivation for an academic study on the effectiveness of plain packaging, which found that "plain packaging can reduce positive perceptions of smoking and dissuade tobacco use."Collin N. Smith, John D. Kraemer, Andrea C. Johnson & Darren Mays, [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4396458/ Plain packaging of cigarettes: do we have sufficient evidence?] {{Webarchive. link. (September 8, 2018 , ''Risk Management and Healthcare Policy'' 2015, 8: 21–30. [[doi:10.2147/RMHP.S63042]].)
108. (December 10, 2013). "How ALEC Serves As A 'Dating Service' For Politicians And Corporations". [[NPR]].
109. Rothschild, Scott. (December 17, 2013). "Brownback says perception of ALEC influence is 'overblown'". [[Lawrence Journal-World]].
110. Wistrom, Brent D.. (August 14, 2012). "Economist Arthur Laffer says tax cuts will help Kansas grow". [[The Wichita Eagle]].
111. (November 2, 2014). "Brownback Faces Blowback as Kansas Tax Cuts Shutter Classrooms".
112. Rizzo, Salvador. (April 1, 2012). "At Arizona gathering, ALEC teaches lawmakers how to turn conservative ideas into law". [[The Star Ledger]].
113. Jackman, Molly. (December 6, 2013). "ALEC's Influence over Lawmaking in State Legislatures". [[Brookings Institution]].
114. (January 22, 2014). "Why ALEC is so effective".
115. Rapoport, Abby. (February 3, 2012). "In Case You Were Underestimating ALEC's Role". [[The American Prospect]].
116. "Full Show: United States of ALEC". Moyers & Company.
117. Nichols, John. (July 13, 2011). "ALEC Exposed".
118. (October 2, 2012). "Wisconsin: Groups sue over lawmakers' emails, contact with conservative organization ALEC".
119. [http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/group-sue-5-gop-lawmakers-over-email-records-c272lu2-172169791.html Groups sue 5 GOP lawmakers over email records] {{Webarchive. link. (October 4, 2012 , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Patrick Marley, October 1, 2012.)
120. (October 30, 2012). "CMD and Common Cause Prevail in Open Records Lawsuit Against ALEC Legislators in Wisconsin". [[Center for Media and Democracy]].
121. Shaw, Hank. (June 10, 2002). "ALEC's friends bill taxpayers: Biggest industries come to control lobbying council". [[The Free Lance-Star]].
122. Friedman, Matt. (July 11, 2013). "Alan Rosenthal, politically influential New Jersey academic, dies". [[The Star-Ledger]].
123. Vekshin, Alison. (November 28, 2013). "San Jose Pension Crush Spurs Bid to Ease California Pacts". [[Bloomberg News]].
124. Baker, Mike. (April 23, 2012). "Advocacy group files IRS complaint against ALEC". Associated Press.
125. (July 29, 2013). "Supplemental Submission IRS Whistleblower complaint on ALEC".
126. Salant, Jonathan. (April 23, 2012). "Republican Group Subject of IRS Complaint on Lobbying". [[Bloomberg Businessweek]].
127. Keefe, Brendan. (July 3, 2015). "A charity for lawmakers? ALEC feeds them bills". [[WXIA-TV]].
128. Abowd, Paul. (May 8, 2012). "ALEC exempted from lobbyist status in three separate states". [[Center for Public Integrity]].
129. (December 3, 2013). "ALEC facing funding crisis from donor exodus in wake of Trayvon Martin row". The Guardian.
130. Fitzgerald, Alison. (2011-07-21). "Koch, Exxon Mobil Among Corporations Helping Write State Laws".
131. Abowd, Paul. (January 31, 2013). "Koch brothers pour more cash into think tanks, ALEC". [[The Center for Public Integrity]].
132. "Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)". [[Greenpeace]].
133. The organization's 2013 tax return indicated a 13% drop in total revenue from $8.4 million to $7.3 million.[http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2013/520/140/2013-520140979-0aba236c-9.pdf 2013 Form 990] {{Webarchive. link. (September 24, 2015 from [[GuideStar]])
134. [https://www.alec.org/about/public-reporting/ 2016 Form 990] {{Webarchive. link. (October 6, 2018 from ALEC website)