Widescreen signaling

American Legislative Exchange Council, Discusses Budget, Education and War on Terror

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• published: 16 Apr 2012
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The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a 501(c)(3) American charitable and educational organization composed of conservative thinkers, state legislators of both parties, businesses and foundations that exists for the purpose of drafting research, policy papers and model legislation to assist and influence state legislatures and promote free-market and conservative ideas. According to the organization's website, members share a common belief that "government closest to the people" is "fundamentally more effective, more just, and a better guarantor of freedom than the distant, bloated federal government in Washington, D.C."[1][6] The organization has been described as a "collaboration between multinational corporations and conservative state legislators."[7] ALEC is perhaps best known for drafting model legislation on issues such as tax treatment of corporations, tightening voter identification rules, minimizing environmental protections, and promoting gun rights.[5][8][9] Model legislation drafted by ALEC is designed to be easily adopted by state legislators and introduced as legislation.[9] ALEC also serves as a networking tool among state legislators, allowing them to research the handling and "best practices" of policy in other states.[9] ALEC's role in drafting and distributing model legislation through its lawmaker members has been the subject of controversy. The New York Times wrote that "special interests effectively turn ALEC's lawmaker members into stealth lobbyists, providing them with talking points, signaling how they should vote, and collaborating on bills affecting hundreds of issues like school vouchers and tobacco taxes."[5] BusinessWeek noted that progressive advocacy groups like Common Cause questioned ALEC's non-profit status.[10] ALEC responded by denying that it engaged in lobbying, and arguing that liberal groups were attacking ALEC because "they don't have a comparable group that is as effective as ALEC in enacting policies into law."[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALEC