Investigating Power
The pamphlets, handbills, and brochures were unanimous: though ending the constitutional right to abortion was a long-awaited victory, there was still plenty of work to be done. That is where ALEC lawmakers could step in.
A senior operative in Leonard Leo’s influence network now holds a seat on the Energy, Environment and Agriculture task force of the American Legislative Exchange Council—a task force that is increasingly dominated by anti-woke warriors and leaders in the fossil fuel industry.
At last week’s annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a fossil fuel industry consultant teamed up with a right-wing culture warrior to lobby ALEC lawmakers to move legislation that punishes companies embracing sustainable business practices.
One of Leonard Leo’s funding vehicles is once again the top contributor to the Republican Attorneys General Association, according to an analysis of the group’s latest 2023 IRS filing by the Center for Media and Democracy.
At ALEC’s 50th annual meeting in Orlando this week, outlawing abortion is clearly on the docket.
Republican state lawmakers, corporate lobbyists, and right-wing operatives are descending on Orlando this week for the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council ready to fight “woke capitalism,” extend a lifeline to big polluters, ban ranked-choice voting, attack bodily autonomy, and consider an array of other model policies.
A review of hundreds of tax filings by the Center for Media and Democracy has uncovered 39%—or $16.4 million—of the $41.7 million ALEC received in contributions between 2017 and 2021.
Republican state lawmakers and corporate lobbyists in the American Legislative Exchange Council will consider model legislation this week that creates new barriers to union organizing efforts across the country.
Representatives from the firearms industry and free-market think tanks are criss-crossing the country advocating for legislation that severely curtails—and often outright prohibits—state governments from considering environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors when making decisions about investments and contracts.
Buried in the 200-plus page bill known as the ACE Act are provisions that would gut donor disclosure requirements and allow nonprofits to circumvent certain campaign finance regulations, paving the way for an even larger deluge of dark money in politics under the aegis of protecting the political speech of conservative donors and corporations from government overreach.