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ALEC News

Blowing the Whistle on ALEC's Little Brother ACCE By Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata 270 It’s true. I plopped down my $50 and became a member of ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council), dedicated to the three principles of limited government, free markets, and federalism. This is the basis of a right-wing movement in America to repeal existing government legislation that promotes social justice and economic equity, and stop any future such legislation. “The goal of ALEC is to foster efficient, effective, accountable and transparent government that respects hardworking people.” Heck, I’ve always campaigned supporting these goals and I don’t know anyone right or left who wouldn’t. So I was intrigued by how such commonly shared goals could lead to such divergent paths toward a more democratic America. Read the rest of this item here. Scott Walker Is the Belle of the ALEC Ball By Rep. Chris Taylor (D-WI) Wisconsin has become the new ALEC darling, and took center stage on the second day of the 42nd ALEC conference. It is easy to see why. Since the 2010 Tea Party takeover of our state, a deluge of ALEC model bills have become law, from policies to privatize public education to the hallmark, anti-worker package of laws that launched Scott Walker into the national spotlight and now provides his basis for running for president. And then there is ALEC golden boy Scott Walker, the keynote morning speaker at the morning breakfast. Read the rest of this item here. Under a Shroud of Secrecy and Security, ALEC Conference Gets Underway By Rep. Chris Taylor (D-WI) 270 My 5th ALEC conference started like the others—under a shroud of secrecy and security. The night before, I attempted to register at the host hotel, only to be told by hotel staff that they were under strict orders not to give out any information about ALEC to anyone who wasn’t staying at the hotel (I wasn’t). Though ALEC is known for trying to slide under the radar, this level of secrecy exceeded previous efforts. As I left, I noticed a police car outside. Read the rest of this item here. ALEC Conference Funding Dominated by Big Polluters At the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) 2015 annual meeting in San Diego, California, dirty energy companies and their supporters--including ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Duke Energy--continue to dominate the funding of activities, according to a list of conference sponsors obtained jointly by the Center for Media and Democracy and Greenpeace. Read the rest of this item here.