ALEC needs the light of day

How ironic that I wrote yesterday about the "coincidence" of such similar bills proliferating across the country, and today, an article about ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) is brought to my attention. In this well-written blog post by Bill Cronin, he suggests that the conservative agenda is being set and coordinated by this supposedly non-partisan group that has flown under the radar for nigh on 40 years. I highly suggest you read his post and the associated comments, if you want to get a feel for what is happening on a national scale.

Some highlights from the article, in my opinion:

• ALEC has a closed membership, and does not make their rolls accessible to non-members - so, we have no idea about who is privy to the internal workings of this group.
• Since the rolls are not public information, any gathering of this group could arguably circumvent the open meetings law. I say "arguably" because, as the author points out, both major parties have exemptions for caucus meetings. Some might argue that these meetings qualify. I would disagree, partly because of the inclusion of the private sector members, but no one has asked my opinion.
• ALEC creates template bills that legislators can then use back home. An example of one of their template bills is SB1070 from Arizona (the illegal immigration bill).
• Coordination and template bills allow them to move forward with a concerted effort to transform American to their vision.
• There is currently no real equivalent on the left. Personally, I am not surprised. We liberals don't easily fall into the hierarchical, arguably militaristic, mindset that allows for this kind of lock-step approach, even if that promotes a concerted effort. In many ways, this mindset is anathema to us.

Although their web page claims to be non-partisan, the slogan of "Limited Governments, Free Markets, Federalism" seems to make it pretty clear who would be welcome. I agree that freedom to assemble gives groups like this the right to exist and even to do what they do. However, any group that is this influential in state and federal politics should, in my opinion, be pressured to release membership rolls at least! I also think that questions need to be raised about the circumvention of open meetings laws. I think it is also reasonable to shine a little more attention on their events and activities, whenever possible.

ALEC's bills include many of the anti-healthcare bills, those that are anti-EPA and regulation, anti "big" government legislations, including suggesting constitutional amendments, and much more. I recommend people spend some time browsing the site and looking at the suggestions that they do make publically available (only a small portion of the 1000 pieces of legislation they claim to introduce each election cycle).

This information is not light reading, by any means. It is easy to peek at this stuff and have our eyes glaze over as we realize that we aren't truly understanding what we are reading. Legislation tends to be that way, with all the "legalese" that is deemed necessary to define the intent of the author. I often think that legislators on both sides like it that way, as it prevents the average person from understanding what they are trying to do. If you can wade through some of these templates, I suggest you do. It is an eye-opening experience, to say the least!

There are watchdog groups listed in the blog, which might help in understanding this from a liberal perspective. He was unable to find any more objective / non-partisan analysis, and I admit that I am not surprised there either. These are emotional issues, and we are in a time of stark polarization in this country.


A concerned centrist's look at ALEC:
http://scholarcitizen.williamcronon.net/2011/03/15/alec/
NPR's take (I wonder if this is part of the reason they want to defund NPR so badly?):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130891396
ALEC:
http://www.alec.org/