ALEC Exposed

ALEC Corporate Bill Mill Posts (Some) Model Bills Online for First Time; Watchdogs Say Move Falls Far Short on Transparency

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 15, 2013

CONTACT: Brendan Fischer, brendan@prwatch.org

A two-year campaign by a coalition of public interest groups has pushed the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to release hundreds of pieces of "model" state legislation secretly developed and pushed into law by corporate interests. The coalition includes the Center for Media and Democracy, ColorOfChange, Common Cause, Greenpeace, People For the American Way, Progress Now, Voters Legislative Transparency Project, and a variety of labor organizations.

James O’Keefe Pays $100K Settlement after Deceiving Public about ACORN (and ALEC Helped Take Down ACORN)

James O'Keefe, the right-wing activist famous for his undercover and ethically questionable sting operations on prominent liberal organizations, has settled a lawsuit filed against him for $100,000 from a former ACORN employee. O'Keefe's misleading ACORN videos led to the collapse of the organization, which was hugely successful in registering minority and low income voters. Less well known is how the American Legislative Exchange Council helped in the larger campaign to take down ACORN.

Wave of "Ag Gag" Bills Threaten Food Safety and Freedom of the Press

Remember "fecal soup"? A CBS "60 Minutes" exposé in 1987 documented widespread food safety violations by the poultry industry, making use of undercover video from a hidden camera placed by the "60 Minutes" crew. The episode vindicated U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) whistleblower Hobart Bartley, who had been ignored and threatened by his superiors and finally transferred to another plant when he warned of unsanitary conditions at a Simmons Industries plant in Missouri.

From Tabloids to Tablets: News Corp Spends Big on LA School Board Race, Sets Sights on Public Education "Market"

A subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp -- parent company of Fox News and the Wall Street Journal -- has spent a whopping $250,000 on the Los Angeles school board race, just as the corporation focuses on making money off of public education. News Corp and its for-profit education subsidiaries are also members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and the education initiatives promoted by News Corp's preferred candidates track the ALEC agenda.

Community-Owned Internet, Long Targeted by ALEC and Big Telecom, Under Fire in Georgia

Members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in the Georgia Legislature are pushing a bill to thwart locally-owned internet in underserved communities, an industry-sponsored effort that effectively reinforces the digital divide. (UPDATE: HB 282 failed on a 94-70 vote on March 7.) If Georgia had passed the bill it would have been the twentieth state to eliminate community control over internet access.

New Study by National Employment Law Project Documents ALEC’s Attack on Wages

Since the Center for Media and Democracy's launch of ALEC Exposed in July 2011, CMD has known that the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and its corporate funders are accelerating the race to the bottom in wages and working conditions for America's working families. ALEC has a raft of "model bills" to lower wages and slash benefits for workers, even one to repeal state minimum wage laws.

Walker Walks Away from "John Doe" Investigation, Pushes Budget Deal Only ALEC Could Love

On March 1, 2013, Milwaukee Country prosecutors shut down the long running "John Doe" probe into corruption in Scott Walker's office during the time he served as Milwaukee County Executive. Six people were charged and convicted, including three former Walker staff, but no charges were brought against Walker. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm issued a brief, telling statement: "After a review of the John Doe evidence, I am satisfied that all charges that are supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt have now been brought and concluded."

"Racial Entitlements?" Long-Term Effort to End Voting Rights Act and Affirmative Action May Finally Pay Off

The U.S. Supreme Court may roll back two pillars of the civil rights era this term -- the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and affirmative action -- both of which have long been targeted by the right-wing and whose challenges are backed by the same set of deep-pocketed ideological funders.

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