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ALEC Accountability and Disclosure
By Hyung Nam (Contact)
To be delivered to: The Oregon State House, The Oregon State Senate, and Governor John Kitzhaber
Petition Statement
We demand public disclosure on the workings of American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in the state of Oregon and that ALEC operate within the rules established for lobbying organizations.
Formed in 1973 as a "nonpartisan" group for "conservative state lawmakers" interested in "limited government, free markets, federalism, and individual liberty," ALEC creates model legislation that has resulted in the introduction of 1,000 bills a year at the state level, with 20% becoming law, its website claims. ALEC finances trips for state lawmakers to learn about its model legislation while connecting them to corporations, including big tobacco, oil, and for-profit prisons. We cannot allow our democratic process to be undermined by the secretive manipulations of corporations.
Over the last several years ALEC has successfully promoted legislation to eliminate collective bargaining, require voter identification, and allow for school vouchers to be used. Wisconsin and Arizona are both engaged in a current debate over collective bargaining legislation similar to what ALEC has been promoting.
Lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin have introduced legislation requiring transparency on the workings of ALEC in their states. Arizona State Rep. Steve Farley (D-Tucson) and Wisconsin State Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) have separately put forward legislation designed to disclose ALEC's funding sources. The bills, called the ALEC Accountability Act, would redefine ALEC as a lobbying organization since it develops model legislation.
"It is a pretty big lobbying group," Rep. Farley told HuffPost. "People deserve to know who is funding ALEC," added Farley, who has collaborated with Pocan as well as discussed the issue with legislators in other states. Among the two bills' provisions would be an attempt to define any organization promoting model legislation as a lobbying group and require disclosure of its funding sources. Pocan described ALEC as a "dating service" matching model legislation with lawmakers in various states, according to a Center for Media and Democracy release.
Formed in 1973 as a "nonpartisan" group for "conservative state lawmakers" interested in "limited government, free markets, federalism, and individual liberty," ALEC creates model legislation that has resulted in the introduction of 1,000 bills a year at the state level, with 20% becoming law, its website claims. ALEC finances trips for state lawmakers to learn about its model legislation while connecting them to corporations, including big tobacco, oil, and for-profit prisons. We cannot allow our democratic process to be undermined by the secretive manipulations of corporations.
Over the last several years ALEC has successfully promoted legislation to eliminate collective bargaining, require voter identification, and allow for school vouchers to be used. Wisconsin and Arizona are both engaged in a current debate over collective bargaining legislation similar to what ALEC has been promoting.
Lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin have introduced legislation requiring transparency on the workings of ALEC in their states. Arizona State Rep. Steve Farley (D-Tucson) and Wisconsin State Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) have separately put forward legislation designed to disclose ALEC's funding sources. The bills, called the ALEC Accountability Act, would redefine ALEC as a lobbying organization since it develops model legislation.
"It is a pretty big lobbying group," Rep. Farley told HuffPost. "People deserve to know who is funding ALEC," added Farley, who has collaborated with Pocan as well as discussed the issue with legislators in other states. Among the two bills' provisions would be an attempt to define any organization promoting model legislation as a lobbying group and require disclosure of its funding sources. Pocan described ALEC as a "dating service" matching model legislation with lawmakers in various states, according to a Center for Media and Democracy release.
Petition Background
We demand public disclosure on the workings of American Legislative Exchange Council in the state of Oregon and that ALEC operate within the rules of lobbying organizations.
Formed in 1973 as a "nonpartisan" group for "conservative state lawmakers" interested in "limited government, free markets, federalism, and individual liberty," ALEC creates model legislation that has resulted in the introduction of 1,000 bills a year at the state level with 20 percent becoming law, its website claims. ALEC finances trips for state lawmakers to learn about model legislation it pushes at the state level while connecting them to corporations from big tobacco, oil and for-profit prisons. We cannot allow our democratic process to be undermined by the secretive manipulations of corporations.
Over the last several years ALEC has successfully promoted legislation to eliminate collective bargaining, require voter identification, and allow for school vouchers to be used. Wisconsin and Arizona are both engaged in a debate over collective bargaining legislation that is similar to model legislation that ALEC has been promoting.
Law makers in Arizona and Wisconsin have introduced legislation requiring transparency on the workings of ALEC in their states. Arizona state. Rep. Steve Farley (D-Tucson) and Wisconsin state Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) have separately put forward legislation designed to disclose ALEC's funding sources. The bills, called the Alec Accountability Act and pending in their respective Republican-controlled legislatures, would redefine ALEC as a lobbying organization since it develops model legislation. "It is a pretty big lobbying group," Farley told HuffPost. "People deserve to know who is funding ALEC," added Farley, who has collaborated with Pocan as well as discussed the issue with legislators in other states. Among the two bills' provisions would be an attempt to define any organization promoting model legislation as a lobbying group and require disclosure of its funding sources. Pocan described ALEC as a "dating service" matching model legislation with lawmakers in various states, according to a Center for Media and Democracy release.
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