How ALEC helps conservatives and businesses turn state election wins into new laws
Republicans have long been viewed as more effective than Democrats in pushing their policy priorities in state legislatures. One reason why? A group called the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, that has helped push state-level conservative proposals. ALEC has helped develop and popularize a host of ideas designed to benefit businesses, as well as the Stand Your Ground bills that became so controversial after Trayvon Martin's death — and it frequently manages to get its proposals enacted into law.
This year, Republicans control 30 state legislatures, and control one chamber in 8 more. So it's more important than ever to understand what ALEC actually is — and what it does.
1) What is ALEC?
Essentially, ALEC is a group that helps craft and standardize various conservative and pro-business policies so they can be pushed in state legislatures across the country. It has facilitated collaboration among state legislators, businesses, and conservative think tanks and advocacy groups to craft many "model bills" — bills those legislators can then introduce in their home states, and perhaps get passed into law. In recent years, about 1,000 of ALEC's model bills have been introduced to state legislatures across the country, and around 200 usually become law, the group has estimated.
While ALEC is technically run by its state legislators, it raises the bulk of its yearly funding — around $8 million a year — from corporations and conservative groups or foundations. Accordingly, ALEC's model bills tend to reflect the business interests of those corporate members. In 2010, ALEC's policy director told NPR, "Most of the [model] bills are written by outside sources and companies, attorneys, [and legislative] counsels." The charitable interpretation of this is that ALEC helps policy experts and stakeholders share their knowledge with state legislators who might not have the legal expertise to write high-quality bills on their own. The more critical take is that ALEC is just helping state legislators more effectively do the bidding of corporate and conservative interests.
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http://www.vox.com/2014/11/17/7186057/american-legislative-exchange-council
