ALEC ain't a secret no more!

ALEC has been in the media spotlight this week because the Center for Media and Democracy obtained and released an archive of more than 800 of ALEC's model bills and resolutions. 

FROM:

A Discreet Nonprofit Brings Together Politicians and Corporations to Write ‘Model Bills’

by Lois Beckett 

ProPublica, July 15, 2011, 3:39 p.m.

 “Through the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, global corporations and state politicians vote behind closed doors to try to rewrite state laws that govern your rights.

 These so-called "model bills" reach into almost every area of American life and often directly benefit huge corporations. Through ALEC, corporations have "a VOICE and a VOTE" on specific changes to the law that are then proposed in your state. DO YOU?”

FROM:

ALEC Exposed

This is just one of the more than 800 ALEC's model bills and resolutions exposed by The Center For Media and Democracy:

"PAYCHECK PROTECTION ACT COMMENTS:
The so-called "Paycheck Protection movement" is said to have developed in the mid-1990s by conservative Christians in California. The pro-school-voucher group the Education Alliance focused on electing conservative Christians to local school board positions but were frustrated by the opposition of teacher's unions. 

Education Alliance took up the Paycheck Protection Act effort to drain unions of resources. The effort was soon adopted by right-wing political operative Grover Norquist, who scaled it up to a nationwide level with his group Americans for Tax Reform, using model ALEC legislation. The National Education Association wrote a report in 1998 telling of a plot by the "far-right" called "The Real Story Behind Paycheck Protection - The Hidden Link Between Anti-Public Education Initiatives: An Anatomy of the Far Right.") 

Paycheck Protection initiatives have been proposed in the following states: 

- California: Proposition 226 (1998) and Proposition 75 (2005) were ballot referendums that each failed, approximately 53% - 47%; a 2010 Paycheck Protection Act petition failed to qualify for the ballot.
- Oregon: Ballot Measure 59 (1998), Ballot Measure 98 (2000), and Ballot Measure 64 (2008) were each narrowly defeated.
- Colorado: "Ask First" Initiatives appeared on local ballots in three Colorado cities in 2007, passing in Centennial and failing in Greeley and Englewood. A statewide initiative in 2008, The Limitation on Public Payroll Deductions Initiative, Amendment 49, was defeated 61% - 39%. )Various "Paycheck Protection Acts" were introduced at the federal level throughout the 1990s, the most prominent from Senator Don Nickles (R- Ok.) in 1997.)Later ALEC model legislation like the "Voluntary Contributions Act" and "Political Funding Reform Act" went further by prohibiting public employers from collecting union dues that would be used for political purposes. 

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker went even further in 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 and stopped collecting public employee union dues entirely. ) 

This bill makes it very difficult for public employee unions to raise funds for political activities. It would significantly impact public employee unions like teacher's unions and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), whose expenditures primarily benefit Democrats. This bill requires that unions establish separate segregated funds for political activities, and prohibits the collection of union dues for those activities without the express authorization of the employee."