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.
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.
With very little fanfare, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a host of new legislation in April—including SB 473, a bill that prohibits union dues from being automatically deducted from public school teachers’ salaries.
A decade-long push by Koch’s political and policy network to get more states to flatten or abolish income taxes is finally beginning to pay off, thanks to billions in federal Covid relief funds flowing to the states.