Investigating Power
State lawmakers, corporate lobbyists, and right-wing operatives got together in Scottsdale, Arizona last week for the 2023 States and Nation Policy Summit hosted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The summit — one of the largest annual gatherings of the ALEC faithful, along with the summer meeting — caps off ALEC’s 50th anniversary year.
Charles Koch contributed $52.6 million in grants to colleges and universities through his Charles Koch Foundation in 2022, an analysis of the personal foundation’s latest IRS filing obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy found.
To hide their identities from public scrutiny, megadonors used the Koch political network’s favorite conduit, DonorsTrust, to funnel $134 million to groups promoting the Right’s culture wars and spreading climate misinformation, Trump’s big lie, and hate, as indicated in IRS filings obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy.
The American Legislative Exchange Council is where corporations and far-right groups go to buy government policy.
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.
The American Legislative Exchange Council meets this week in Washington, D.C., for its annual States and Nation Policy Summit at the four-star Grand Hyatt Washington, where rewriting the U.S. Constitution, “woke” capitalism, and protecting hate speech and misinformation are at the top of the agenda.
Billionaire Charles Koch’s personal foundation disclosed $81.7 million in grants to 140 colleges and universities in its 2021 IRS filing.
DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund, the favorite donor conduits of the Koch political network, distributed $123 million in grants in 2021 to right-wing advocacy groups, litigation centers, media outlets, climate deniers, extremists, pro-gun groups, and other tax-exempt organizations that make up America’s right-wing infrastructure, the latest tax filings from both groups detail.
Recent documents acquired by the Center for Media and Democracy reveal a new initiative targeting local politicians–especially school board candidates–with right-wing messaging, policies, and financial resources.
The $152 million represents a 27% increase over the $120 million CMD calculated the network brought in almost three years ago.